Amelia wrote Artist Profile #31 thirteen years ago. We are excited to catch up with her as she prepares for her latest project, WATER MOVES, May 7-9, 2026 in San Francisco at the Joe Goode Annex with her new company ARMA. 

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Hometown: Chicago

Current city: Oakland, CA

Age: 62

College and degree: BA, Swarthmore College

Graduate school and degree: MA, Graduate Theological Union

Website: https://www.ameliarudolph.com/

How you pay the bills: As a choreographer and teacher supplemented with strategic property rentals.

All of the dance hats you wear: Choreographer, dancer, producer, teacher.

Describe your dance life in your…

Teens: Studied with Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago beginning in 8^th grade. Was an apprentice with the company from 18-22 years old.

20s: Studied dance at Swarthmore College and with guest artists from New York.  Studied contact improvisation seriously and began to choreograph. Founded Project Bandaloop at 28.

30s: Built the company (Bandaloop) in my thirties. Created and performed in dances on buildings including the Space Needle, the NYSE and skyscrapers in Houston, to cliffs in Yosemite, and theaters including Artaud (now Z Space) many times, the Kennedy Center, and the Grand Auditorium in Macau. During this time I developed technique, safety protocol and choreographic lexicon with the dancers and riggers that is the basis from which the work is now continuing to grow. In 1997, we performed “Peregrine Dreams” – a six day five night ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite to perform the dance. In 2001, we realized “Crossing,” an 18 day performance across the Sierra from East to West.

40s: I continued to build on the momentum of the previous decade with Bandaloop, touring internationally more often. Highlights included mountain pieces as part of the European Capital of Culture in Stavanger, Norway in the mountains and performances in the Italian Dolomites as well as 14^th century towers and castles in Italy. I became a mother at 47 and this changed some aspects of how I was willing and able to spend my time, especially on the road touring. 

50s: This decade saw a lot of change for me and the world. I passed on the artistic leadership of Bandaloop to Melecio Estrella just as the pandemic hit. I took a little break and then began to reorient my priorities and consider my next move. I began to teach internationally and began a collaboration with an artist in Madrid named Juan Leiba that seeded new work. I launched my own website and began to discover who I was as a person and artist “post Bandaloop.”

60s: I am just beginning this decade and am more excited about making work than ever. It is a rebirth. I formally launched ARMA (Amelia Rudolph Movement Artist) as a project to support my work. I premiere my first full evening of work in May 2026 in San Francisco. The process of making dances with a mostly new group of dancers has been very rewarding and pleasurable. I am having more fun as an artist than I have in years. I am also producing, which is satisfying in many ways because we are small, nimble and I find making decisions without the weight of an organization on me empowering and freeing. I also enjoy the vessel of the Bandaloop Studios, where I currently rehearse, and feel so grateful that the organization (however heavy) continues to be an anchor for me and for the arts in West Oakland. 

Share a bit about WATER MOVES. What questions and curiosities guided the process/project?

Water lives in our bodies as life force, memory, momentum and vulnerability. WATER MOVES is an exploration of water as our elemental source. The show focuses on movement, often using a 5 gallon jug as a partner. It is an invitation to feel what it means to be suspended within forces larger than ourselves. The center piece of the evening, Source Water, is a piece that began with my collaboration with Juan Leiba in Madrid, Spain. I continued the work he and I started together with B Dean here in Oakland and with Juan’s support. This piece literally counterbalances the weight of the water in B the dancer with two 5 gallon water jugs while referencing the qualities of water as an element, the labor involved in moving water, and the human relationships that surround this life force.  

What do you look for in a dancer?

Intellectual curiosity, a wide range of movement capacities, fluidity and articulation, the ability to communicate, fierceness and gentleness. 

What’s on the calendar for 2026?

August 22-24:Eastern Sierra Workshop. A cliff dancing retreat in nature in collaboration with BANDALOOP.

Oct. 2-4: Redwood Retreat. A tree dancing workshop in Mendocino in collaboration with the Mendocino Dance Project.

Oct. 24-27: International Vertical Dance and Counterbalance Meet UP. Limerick, Ireland.

On lineage/mentors/teachers (who influenced and impacted you):

Lou Conte, Claire Bartaille, Nancy Stark Smith, Clay Taliaferro, Krissy Keefer, Brad Stohler, Bill T. Jones, Ohad Naharin, Antoine Le Menestrel, Doug Varone

What are 3 pieces of advice you want to give to aspiring choreographers?

Have a sense of humor and dispassion so you can self-critique without it hurting too much. Be brave, persistent, and willing to fail.

Know you are special and have a voice but don’t be precious.

Think about directing the eye of the viewer.

Last show that inspired you or lingers….

Momo, by Ohad Naharin. One of the greatest works of movement art I have ever seen. 

How would you describe the SF Bay Area dance ecosystem at this time?

Vibrant and alive in the face of the current climate and funding struggles. Innovative, ever changing.

Final thoughts: Hope/love/belief in the profession:

Finding connection and adventure through making art, and sharing that process through collaboration, teaching and performance infuse my life with purpose.