Amanda Layton Whiteman has been working for Wolf Trap as a Master Teaching Artist since 2005, providing professional development workshops and classroom residencies all over the country, integrating the performing arts with literacy, math, and science.  In conjunction with Wolf Trap, she developed and received a math focused research grant from the U.S. Department of Education, evaluating STEM teaching through the performing arts. In November 2013, Amanda presented the keynote address with her Wolf Trap colleagues at the National Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Washington, DC. Amanda has also presented nationally for Wolf Trap about the connections between dance and nature. 

Amanda has been choreographing and teaching dance in Northern Virginia since 1998 in schools and community organizations such as Creative Cauldron, Reston’s Young Actor’s Theatre program and several area dance companies. In 2008, after years of working with young dancers in the community, Amanda founded GroundWorks Dance Ensemble as a way to bring together her work with students and professional dance artists. As artistic director, choreographer and playwright, Amanda’s work with GroundWorks strives to develop meaningful, artistic experiences for students and professional artists through collaboration and community building. Amanda holds a BFA in Dance and a BA in Integrated Studies with a specialization in Dance Therapy from George Mason University.