Amanda Blair MacDonald
BIO
Education
BA University of the South (Sewanee)
MFA University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Classes Taught
Alexander Technique
About
Amanda Blair MacDonald is an AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher and current Chair of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), where she has served on the Board since 2022. She also serves as Associate Chair of DePaul University's Adjunct Faculty Advisory Committee (AFAC). Across both roles, she brings the same skill she brings to the studio and classroom: the ability to synthesize multiple frameworks and stakeholder needs into clear, workable structure — what she thinks of as her core strength as an educator and administrator alike.
Amanda completed AmSAT's 1600-hour Teacher Training program at the Dimon Institute in NYC and continuing education with Alexander Technique trainers including Joan and Alex Murray, Beret Arcaya, Luc Vanier, Judith Kleinman, Sue Merry, Mio Morales, and Alice Olsher. She holds an MFA in Dance (somatic movement focus) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a registered Movement Pattern Analyst (R-MPA) - Laban/Lamb. Her TEDx DePaul talk, "How We Move Is How We Think," explores the throughline between these disciplines.
Amanda has an extensive background as a performer and choreographer, having toured nationally and internationally in musical theatre before transitioning into teaching — first at conservatories and studios in New York including the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, the Ailey School, and the 92nd Street Y, and since 2019 at the DePaul University School of Music and The Theatre School at DePaul, as well as Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts, the University of Illinois Chicago, and the Music Institute of Chicago. She incorporates Alexander Technique, developmental movement, Brain-Compatible Lesson Planning, and anatomy mapping across a full spectrum of students, from conservatory-level performers to fellow educators.
Beyond the classroom, Amanda regularly develops and leads workshops, professional development sessions, and organizational programming for AT teachers nationally — including hosting over 60 sessions of AmSAT's "Taking Time to Connect" membership series since 2020 — and has been a guest on multiple podcasts discussing somatic education and movement.