Artist Spotlight: Emily Emerson
“It takes intense courage to pour your soul into a work and then put it on display and ask for people to critique it, yet this is the exact way that we improve as artists.”
A native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and a graduate of St. Olaf College, Emily Emerson has been organizing collaborative dance performances for the past several years, including a booth at Eaux Claires Music Festival in 2018. She strives to bring together writers, musicians, artists and dancers to expand the possibilities of what a “dance” performance can be—much like we’ll be doing at the Midwest Artist academy. She is the founder of e Dance Company. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
1.) Tell us a bit about your “art origin story”? When did you first fall in love with your art?
If you ask my parents, I started dancing about as soon as I started walking. I remember feeling the need to move practically any time I heard music, but I didn't formally start taking lessons until I was eight years old. While I dabbled in many styles, I really enjoyed ballet, until I got to college and discovered modern. I'm not entirely sure when I decided that dance was what I wanted to do with my life, I feel more like I just forgot to give it up as I got older!
2.) What role have teachers played in your development as an artist? Any one stand out?
Particularly in college, my professors really helped to to understand that the dance industry is competitive and therefore requires enormous work, yet if one gets too bogged down in the work, the creative side of the art really loses its soul. I mean to say that keeping one's body in peak performance shape requires daily commitment, but keeping one's mind ready to constantly create, edit, and challenge your own work requires equal commitment. One professor who stands out particularly to me is Janice Roberts, who taught modern along with choreography during my time at St. Olaf. She found a way to challenge our understanding of our art while nurturing our individual style through a very collaborative approach that really stuck with me.
3.) What advice would you give to young folks thinking about pursuing an education or career in the arts?
To advise younger artists, I would warn them that art requires bravery. It takes intense courage to pour your soul into a work and then put it on display and ask for people to critique it, yet this is the exact way that we improve as artists. It also takes courage to be genuine and honest enough with yourself that you can continue to create new material and constantly reinvent your work while staying true to your style.
4.) Describe how you use art and creativity in your craft as well as your everyday life.
My favorite aspect of dance is choreography, which requires enormous amounts of creativity, as you are creating art from seemingly nothing. The seemingly endless possibilities of how the body can move often feel overwhelming, which requires a choreographer to develop restrictions out of nowhere. I have often thought of choreography as piecing together a puzzle while crafting each piece as you go. It's more than stringing together moves that you already know. Good choreography invents entirely new ways of moving. Dance is an art of subtlety and precision, and I find that this translates easily into my daily life.
5.) How can art make the world a better place? Can you share a personal example?
While art can be a source for discussion and societal change, art can also be a source for personal development. I had the idea for my first dance event while I was in the darkest point of my life, and planning the event was a large part of what allowed me to heal. Art can bring people together, and that is great, but art can also bring one person back together, and that itself makes art worth pursuing.