Washington, DC – Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance, is pleased to announce the appointment of AMY FITTERER as its new Executive Director. Ms. Fitterer brings a wealth of experience in arts advocacy and management, having served most recently as the Director of Government Affairs for both Dance/USA and OPERA America.

Paul King, Dance/USA board chair, led the Executive Director Search Committee. “Speaking on behalf of the Dance/USA Board of Trustees, after a rigorous year-long search process, I am delighted to welcome Amy Fitterer as Dance/USA’s incoming Executive Director. Amy’s dynamic vision and embrace of positive change were immediately apparent to both the Search Committee and Dance/USA Board, and she has our full support as she leads our organization and the professional dance field into the next decade.”

Ms. Fitterer will begin serving as Executive Director of Dance/USA on January 3, 2011, succeeding long-time Executive Director Andrea Snyder, whose years of leadership have greatly contributed to the dance field. Dance/USA will have the benefit of counsel from Ms. Snyder, who will be available in an advisory capacity until she officially leaves the organization on June 30, 2011.

King continued to state that “The Dance/USA Board extends enormous gratitude to Andrea Snyder for her brilliant and inspiring leadership for 11 years. It is a testament to Andrea’s strong leadership that our new Executive Director comes from Dance/USA’s gifted staff. Andrea and Amy will work together for a transition period. The Board wishes Andrea all the best in her future endeavors. She will remain a lifelong member of the Dance/USA family.”

Ms. Fitterer, a former ballet dancer and classical pianist, commented that she is “honored and excited” to step into the position of Executive Director for Dance/USA. “I look forward to working closely with the board, staff and members to design a strategy that will guide the organization into the future.”

As the Director of Government Affairs, Ms. Fitterer has proven to be a passionate advocate for the dance field with a strong ability for consensus building. Through coalition activities with the Performing Arts Alliance and the Cultural Advocacy Group, she has advocated in support of federal funding for the arts, arts education, cultural exchange opportunities, charitable giving incentives, and an improved visa process for foreign guest artists. She danced professionally with the Peninsula Ballet Theatre in the San Francisco Bay Area and served as Director of Lisa Spector’s Music School in Half Moon Bay, CA. Ms. Fitterer received her ballet training from the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Connecticut. She holds a B.S. in piano performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and an M.A. in arts administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.

The comprehensive search and transition plan established by Dance/USA’s Board of Trustees and directed by Paul King included a search committee of nine administrative and artistic dance leaders. They were Cookie Ruiz, Executive Director, Ballet Austin; Ken Tabachnick, Dean, Purchase College; Nancy Umanoff, Executive Director, Mark Morris Dance Group; Ken Maldonado, Director, Zia Arts; Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founding Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women; Wayne Hazzard, Director, Dancers’ Group; KB Brown, Professor, University of the Arts; and Johanna Seltzer, Independent Consultant. Dance/USA is grateful to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for its support of the search process.

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