Dance & Ballet

Emily's ballerina journey began as an energetic kid who loved to dance “Swan Lake” and “Le Corsaire” in her bedroom. This slowly grew into a young teen training 7 hours a day under full-scholarship at Gelsey Kirkland Academy and later at Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program (both based in Manhattan.) These thorough foundations lead to dancing full-time as a company member with Ballet West in 2016, becoming the cover star for Pointe Magazine in the Summer of 2019 (a magazine loved by Emily as a young tween,) and being promoted to a Soloist dancer in 2020.

The urge to seek a more artistically aligned and sustainable lifestyle lead to her retirement from Ballet West in 2021, and a new chapter of aspirations has since unfolded. Emily currently approaches dance with a vision to collaborate with artists from different artistic backgrounds. From an interview with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet’s blog: “ I… would love to lend a hand in the rise of consciousness within the arts and society at large.”

Stepping away from the structured world of ballet stemmed from Emily’s desire to have artistic freedom and explore uncharted territories. Having extensive training in classical Vaganova technique, she has since branched out into other forms of contemporary movement, utilizing her skills and personal taste to navigate the art sphere as a freelancer. A fan of live-performance and a broad spectrum of musical genres, she wholeheartedly believes in the power of merging her ballet and dance-centered roots with the radically unifying communities of live music.

Inspired by the mystifying affect of performance artists like The Talking Heads, Solange, Stereolab, Mazzy Star, and the Velvet Underground (amongst many others,) Emily seeks to collaborate with creators who share similar inspirations. She dreams of exploring unconventional performance spaces, taking dance out of traditional settings and into the hearts of accessible audiences. In alignment with these aspirations, Emily has served as a collaborative choreographer, dancer, and performer with Chicago music groups Grapetooth and Hazel City. She can be seen dancing in the music video for “Rain.”

Emily believes when artists from different skillsets and backgrounds come together, it is a method of practicing synergetic magic. Each connection and collaboration brings forth unique expressions that go beyond the walls of respective pasts. In the Winter of 2023, Emily was invited by multidisciplinary virtuosos Nereida Patricia and Lileana Pryde Davis Moore to perform and collaborate in Nereida’s work TRAP DOOR, at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, where this magic felt deeply affirmed.