While Amanda Browning is settling into her third year at Taylor as adjunct instructor of dance, her teaching career represents yet another iteration of a lifelong commitment to the art.
“I feel like I’ve always taught dance,” Browning said.
She has been a part of several notable dance companies and projects, and her choreography work has brought life to many projects over the years. The majority of her professional work today is based out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
It is not Browning’s first time teaching at the university level — however, the past few years at Taylor have brought her into the classroom more than ever before.
The process a dancer follows from schooling to professional work is different than with other fields, she said.
“Often, as dancers are phasing out of a performing life or if they’re thinking about retirement, then they can go back and they receive their master’s degree and then that can qualify them to teach at the university level,” Browning said.
She was beginning to pursue her master’s degree when a former dance teacher at Taylor reached out to her about a position within the department. She believes her faith-based perspective on dance caused her to stand out from other professionals in the Indianapolis dance community.
For Browning, dance and faith are held closely together.
“I think just like any art form or any field of study, (faith) is the view in which you see your art form,” Browning said. “Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean I only make religious works, but I do feel like it impacts the way I approach my creativity, the way I approach interacting with other dancers in this space, the concepts I choose to work with or that I want to work with, what I’m trying to say to my audience. I think it’s all intertwined. I don’t know if you can separate the two of them.”
This semester, she is teaching ballet and an improvisational composition class. She works closely with the Taylor University Dance Ensemble, doing choreography and creative directing work.
Last year was the first time the performing ensemble was brought back after having been absent from Taylor’s programming for some time.
Browning met with the music and theatre faculty about starting the group up again after her dance students expressed a desire for it. Before this, those involved with dance classes could only get performance credit through theatre productions, she said.
“I think it was a learning experience for all,” Browning said. “I mean, I’ve directed many shows before, but it’s with professional dancers where I’ve had a lot of support from a tech team. It’s different working with students, which is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. There (are) skills that they need to be learning and should be learning, and I’m learning as well.”
She has hope that each year, the process of producing such a show will become smoother and smoother.
Fall is a busy time for the Dance Department, as this is when the dance ensemble performances take place. Yet Browning's work has continued to prove valuable this semester as well. Choreographing Taylor's production of "Guys and Dolls," Browning has only become more involved in her department.
Browning’s creative pursuits extend beyond campus’s borders.
Pulse Dance Project is a group born out of her master’s thesis research with the intention to bring together dancers in the area. The group is currently trying to achieve nonprofit status.
“We have a heart for collaborating with other art forms, so we’re currently in the beginning phases of planning a dance film that will work with a brilliant videographer that I’ve collaborated with before,” Browning said.
Creative collaboration is at the heart of everything Browning involves herself with.
Even as she’s been a part of countless projects and groups, she continues to find value in each new experience.
“I feel like with each group of people I work with, I learn more things about myself like what I love about dance, and how my dance life and my faith and family — how they all intersect,” Browning said. “I think the more that I’ve done, the more discerning I’ve become about where I spend my time or who I want to work with.”
Discernment is something she has to exercise as she considers how best to spread her efforts, both professionally and at home.
A mom of five, she is encouraged to come home to a family who understands her dependence on the creative process to operate at her best.
“Sometimes, unfortunately, in a phase that I’m in now, the creative side, the choreographic side sometimes takes a back seat because I’ve got ‘little people homework’ that needs to be done, and laundry and dishes and all the things,” Browning said. “Thankfully, I have a really supportive spouse who knows that I’m probably at my fullest when I’m in a creative stream of mind — when I’m able to do both.”
