Artist of the Year: Amy Wang Twirling into Success

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 collective sigh sweeps the room as senior Amy Wang spins on one foot, twirling into a graceful pirouette with ease. The silence shatters as the crowd bursts into applause, dazzled by her cordial smile and composure. 

Wang is a proctor in Dunbar Hall, co-head of Lionettes, member of the belly dance group Abs, avid pianist and dance choreographer.

Wang has been dancing for twelve years and has learned a variety of styles of dance. “I started dancing when I was six years old with lessons in tap and ballet,” Wang said. “I started contemporary and lyrical dance in middle school, and since coming to Exeter have focused on ballet and contemporary dance.”

While she finds many branches of dance fascinating, Wang is most focused on contemporary dance. “My favorite style to perform is contemporary because it is more emotive than other more technical dance styles such as ballet or modern,” Wang said. 

Yet despite her enormous success in contemporary dance, she still desires to further her dance resumé. “My favorite style to watch is hip hop or street dance,” Wang added. “[It’s] so precise and athletic... I would love to get into it in college.”

Wang’s adviser, English instructor Eimer Page, commented on her adamant dedication to arts and dance. “Amy has had a deep-seated commitment to the arts since her arrival at Exeter as a prep,” Page said. “She's a superb dancer and pianist, and she combines her passion for art with a real love of learning across disciplines.”

Senior Andrea Conde, a close friend of Wang, agreed, and was amazed by Wang’s ability to juggle so many activities. “Part of what most impresses me about Amy is that her talents are so multifaceted,” Conde said. “She can help me with a combination during class, explain a chemistry concept and still have time to be a great proctor and friend,” Conde said. “Her extensive work with the dance program here not only shows her incredible versatility and commitment but has also inspired us to be better people.”

Wang has proved herself adept not only at dance, but at the interpretation of music; she is able to match the mood of the music to the rhythm of her dance. “I feel like dance combines the complexity of the human condition with the more intuitive movement of the body to create a metaphor for emotions,” Wang said. 

Conde noted, “She is also great at communicating with her audience, whether it’s her cheerful smile during a musical theatre or a Lionettes performance, or distressed face during an emotional contemporary piece, the emotion with which she dances is both contagious and moving.”

“What resonates in Amy's work is a deep commitment to action and to take action with full determination, sensitivity, care and expressive force in all that she believes in, feels, identifies with, enjoys the challenge of,” Jon Sakata, her piano teacher, said. "Underlying this commitment and action is a thoughtfulness, a force of thought, that is not just an intellectual or mental practice but a thoroughly physicalized knowledge and capacity to think through the body as much as through the mind.”

Wang also takes great pleasure in choreographing dance, a special passion of hers. She particularly appreciates the freedom granted by Exeter’s dance program. “The most distinctive aspect of the Exeter dance program is that students are allowed to choreograph dances for themselves and other members of the company,” Wang said. “In a typical studio, choreography is always taught by the instructor, whereas at Exeter, students are the main force behind the Dance Company, providing much of the choreography of each dance concert.”

Wang also commented on the importance of dance as an emotional outlet. “My main goal when choreographing a piece is to make sure that the choreography expresses the emotions that I feel when listening to the music I have chosen.” 

Wang takes full advantage of the resources available at Exeter. “I will often go to the dance studio in the Thompson Gym to just improvise, like experimenting with choreography on the spot, without necessarily trying to remember it for later,” she said. “It allows me to tap into the core of my emotions and create something I think is beautiful, without feeling self-conscious or doubtful of my movements.”

Upper Kimberly Dawes agreed, impressed by Wang’s unfaulting confidence. “She’s always really great to watch in class because she always knows what she’s doing,” Dawes said. “She hears the music well to fit the dance to it.” 

Wang, a pianist, also attributes dance to her interest in music, another passion of hers. “Dance can feel like it’s telling a story, and so incorporating music with dance is complementary and they play off of each other, which I sometimes take for granted, but also find fascinating,” she said.

Outside of dance classes and Dance Company, Wang is a co-head of Lionettes and is a member of the belly dance group Abs. “I enjoy Lionettes because it gives me the chance to dance with my peers and do a different kind of dance than usual,” Wang said.

Whether in the studio dancing, choreographing a piece to perform, practicing piano or hanging around the dorm, Wang is sure to give it her all. This past spring term Wang pursued yet another one of her interests through the Washington Intern Program. “I know that the dance program will miss her this term when she's in the [program], and we'll miss her in the dorm, too,” Page said.

Ultimately, Wang says that she would like to share the joy she feels in dancing with others and hopes that they will be able to adopt the attitude toward life that she has gained from dancing. “Don’t be self-conscious and just go out there and enjoy it,” she said.