Amanda Trott has been dancing since she was three years old, when she was introduced to the beauty and freedom of the art by founder, Shirley Ubell. Born with spina bifida, Amanda navigates through the world via wheelchair, but that has never stopped her from doing what she sets out to do. It definitely doesn’t stop her from dancing. Starting with lessons Shirley developed especially for her, Amanda took classes at CMDE before branching out into other dance experiences, including with Meaningful Movements Dance Company and Marked Dance Project.

At one point, Amanda wanted to become a special needs teacher and to work with those, like her, born with a disability. A decade ago, she realized she could do that as a teacher at CMDE and so returned to the Center where she reached that goal by joining the faculty, and co-teaching a class, called Moving Experiences, which is for teens and adults with disabilities. She has taught at CMDE ever since.

Amanda represents CMDE and performs at the Abilities Expo in Edison each spring where those with disabilities can learn about job opportunities, new technologies, and can attend educational workshops in order to become more independent. Amanda also teaches three-to-five-year-kids with special needs at the CTC Academy in Fair Lawn.

Amanda holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from Ramapo College, and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Montclair State University. She continues to teach at CMDE. She is firm in her belief that anyone, even those with different abilities, can have a rewarding dance experience at CMDE. She believes modern dance is good exercise and gives those who would be otherwise too timid to start something new and different to come out of their shell, learn some technique, and have a good time being creative.