Amberly M. Simpson (she/they) is a Choreographer, Dancer, and Dance Educator/Advocate originally from Glendale, California. She specializes in Modern, Post-Modern, and Contemporary Dance forms, creating work that is often interdisciplinary in nature to provide commentary on social issues and the human condition. By day, she is the Dance Director and Musical Theatre Co-Director at Noe Middle School, but by night she serves as the Artistic Director of Ambo Dance Theatre. Amberly's work with Ambo Dance Theatre has been presented at venues such as the American Dance Festival Movies by Movers, Brighton Dance Festival, the Going Dutch Festival, the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, the Elgin Fringe Festival, and Princeton Research Day where her collaboration with Dr. David Vartanyan received the Impact Award. In 2019, she was honored as one of the Hadley Creatives through the Community Foundation of Louisville, and in 2022 she worked alongside her Dance colleagues in the Jefferson County Public Schools to launch the first ever All County Dance program for the state of Kentucky. In her spare time, Amberly volunteers her time as a reviewer for Arts-Louisville, providing commentary and critique on professional dance productions in the greater Louisville area.

Mysti is a dancer/ choreographer/producer who grew up in Texas. She danced in Austin,  Texas for 16 years.  She received her dance degree from Austin Community College and attended Bates Dance Festival, The White Mountain Summer Dance Festival, a Bill Evans Teacher Workshop, Barber Metler dance classes with Lucy Dubois, and private dance lessons with Roman Morgan and Kathy Dunn Hamrick all to continue her modern dance education. Mysti has produced and performed in 6 of her own shows and had the honor of performing work for at least 20 different choreographers while in Austin, Texas. Her own choreography has been presented by 10 Minutes Max, Big Range Austin Dance Festival, Frontera Fest, KDH Book and Dance Affair, WIP in San Antonio, Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, Austin Dance Festival, and The Modern in Fort Worth to name a few. She is beyond excited to be dancing for Ambo Dance Theater and is looking forward to continuing her love of performing for audiences here in Kentucky.

Nakoma has been dancing in the Kentuckiana area for over 20 years.  She attended YPAS as a dance major while completing extracurricular training and performance at the University of Louisville Dance Academy.  She went on to graduate from UK with a minor in dance after completing 2 dance concerts and serving as dance captain in UK Opera Theatre's "Ragtime!".  Since graduating, she has trained and performed professionally with the Louisville Ballet, Waterworks Dance Theatre, Keene Dance Theatre, and Ambo Dance Theatre.  Nakoma's fierce advocacy for the local artistic community combined with her passion for growth and education led her to teaching dance during high school, and she never looked back!   She loves helping students find joy in movement, and creating the mind-body connection in young dancers.  Teaching allows her to play with choreographic concepts and find new inspiration often; she loves to understand how her dancers want to move, so she can create movement phrases that both work with and challenge their natural tendencies.  Nakoma currently teaches ballet, pointe, and modern classes at Dance Works Studio in New Albany, and she gratefully subs for Ambo classes.

Heather is an AMBO Dance Theatre company member as well as an instructor for AMBO Academy and Dance School. She has studied dance in Austin, TX, partaking in local festivals there as both a choreographer and performer. Her preferred style of dance is contemporary modern for its versitality and expressive qualities. She has choreographed for the NACHMO Festival in 2022 and 2023. 

Jade grew up training in Ballet and Tap from a young age and performing alongside her parents and sister in Opera and Musical. They trained in Theatre and Dance at Point Park University where they started directing and producing site specific and devised theatre. Jade has spent time living in New York and Philadelphia, exploring Butoh, Contact Improv, Post-Modern, Improvisational dance, and Tap. She has performed and directed political and ritual theatre with the Carnival de Resistance and the Caravan Stage Company, a nomadic tallship theatre. Jade has also directed five fully staged Operas and a film. Locally their choreography and movement direction has been seen in Afterculture Theatre’s Who Holds the Devil (Lexington, Jan. 2020), and depart/return in NACHMO Festival (Louisville Jan. 2023)

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For full portfolio visit: jdfrost22.wixsite.com/portfolio

Youth Apprentice

Bio coming soon!

Joe (he/him) grew up in Cedar Rapids, IA where he began tap dancing at the age of 6. He danced competitively with Donna's Dance Place and participated in many musical theatre productions through school and Theatre Cedar Rapids. Joe continued dancing in various capacities while at Iowa State University where he became President of the Tap Dancing Club as well as a cabinet member of the Orchesis I and Orchesis II dance companies. During this time, he also discovered modern dance and went on to train at the American Dance Festival, as well as perform at several American College Dance Association festivals, including as part of the Gala for the North-Central region in 2015. Following graduation, Joe has performed in the Going Dutch Festival, the Elgin Fringe Festival, and with Ambo Dance Theatre where he has choreographed for the Kentucky NACHMO Dance Festival and originated the role of Graham Cracker in The Graham Cracker: A Nutcracker Parody. He now acts as the Associate Director of Ambo Dance Theatre where he uses his mutual love of data and analytics to provide technical and artistic support to the company, helping to turn their various wild and weird artistic visions into organizational outcomes.

Candace began performing in plays and musicals at a very early age and training in dance in her teens.  Originally from Northern Ohio, she moved to Louisville more than 30 years ago and is happy to have raised a family here.  She has performed locally with several theatre companies including Music Theater Louisville, Center Stage, Bunbury Theatre, SCCT, CLT, Mummers & Minstrels, and LCP.  Favorite roles include Witch (Into the Woods), Mortica (Addams Family), Rizo (Grease), Sr. Robert Ann (Nunsense) and Domina (Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). Trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and modern, Candace brings a theatrical presence to her works.  She began dancing with Ambo in 2018 in Only Weeds Will Rise in Winter, and toured in There Will Always Be Strings the following year.  A member of the professional company since its incorporation, Candace enjoys being part of the collaborative creative process utilized at Ambo Dance Theatre.

MAC first encountered dance in a semester long class offered through a local youth alliance. Though this initial exposure only lasted a short season, it was enough to spark a lifelong love and curiosity. Throughout the remainder of their scholastic career, MAC found additional opportunities to study in various dance programs. Upon moving to Louisville, KY in 2007, MAC again searched around to see where to find that old love. MAC has studied ballet, bollywood, modern, and aerial dance forms, and has enjoyed performing with various troops over the years. They are excited to partner with Ambo Dance Theater to continue exploring the artistic world of dance.

Sheila is a dancer, dance educator, and mental health counselor in the Kentuckiana area. Sheila has studied different styles such as ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and improvisation. After graduating from high school and completing the Louisville Ballet School’s Pre-Professional program, Sheila went on to graduate magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance from the Ohio State University. It was there where she was able to work with world-renowned choreographers and teachers, and grew to love the art of dance pedagogy and using dance to help others. Sheila continues to combine her interests in counseling and dance, to help create a holistic approach in both of her fields of work. Sheila continues to be active in the Louisville dance scene through teaching, freelance work, and performing with Ambo Dance Theatre!

Tay (they/them) is a director, actor, and teaching artist from Louisville, Kentucky. They spent six years in Lexington, Kentucky creating interactive, immersive dance theater through their company Afterculture Theatre which produced original works, most notably a looping epic about Oppenheimer in 2017 entitled “Trinity,” and a post-apocalyptic adaptation of Faust in 2020 entitled “Who Holds the Devil.” They are trained in Theatre of the Oppressed facilitation and have experience teaching improvisation, clowning, and devised theater techniques to groups of all ages. They spent their 20s engaging in communal political theater experiments like Holy Fool Arts’ traveling project, “Carnival de Resistance.” Tay is passionate about the intersections of performance art and community organizing and is delighted to be working on inspiring new work at Ambo Dance Theatre.

Youth Apprentice

Bio coming soon!