As someone who has a lot of trouble sitting still, Amantha May feels extremely fortunate to have trained in three practices that engage the body, stimulate the intellect and feed the soul. Her early years were spent in the theatre; as acting, musical theatre, ballet, tap, and jazz were the required support studies her childhood was filled with them. After receiving her BFA in Acting from DePaul University she performed for several years in Chicago. She attained her MFA in Directing from California Institute of the Arts, and her work as a director is typically characterized by the use of dance and movement to create resonant images. She has worked as a director in Chicago, L.A. and in New York at Looking Glass Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source and other companies around the city.

Amantha began studying Middle Eastern Dance in 2000 and has pursued it relentlessly, performing at Lafayette Grill, Café Figaro, Brick Lane Curry, Karma, Kush, Laila Lounge, the Bowery Poetry Club, the Brick Theatre, at events for Project Find, United Cerebral Palsy Foundation and more, and many private parties, weddings, women’s circles, etc. She teaches beginning bellydance and has recently begun combining her directorial skills with dance to choreograph theatrical bellydance. She created an evening of Middle Eastern Dance for the NY Public Library Donnell Media Center in May 2005 and another one is coming up in January 2006. She hopes to take the fusion of dance and theatre to new levels in the future.

Amantha studied massage therapy at the Swedish Institute of New York and is NYS Licensed and Prenatal Certified. She draws on her extensive background in dance and theatrical movement to inform her work as a holistic massage practitioner. Connecting all three practices is a desire to pursue transformation of spirit through working relationships with artists, practitioners, clients and audiences. There is very little danger that Amantha will stop moving any time soon.