Welcome

Emma Davis performing her choreography
in the gardens of Applewood Estate

Hello!

My name is Emma Davis and I'm a dance choreographer, performer, educator, and writer living in Flint, Mich. The purpose of this blog is to post my day-to-day activities as a professional artist. While my website serves as a portfolio, this blog intends to take a deeper look into the struggles and rewards of being a dancer in the post-industrial Midwest.

I am also looking forward to connecting with other artists doing community-engaged work. This approach is important to me because it provides opportunities for citizens to share their voice in a process that often explores topics in which the community has been disenfranchised. I also have an interest in the democracy that results from site-specific dance, and concert dance that dissects issues of social justice.   

In this blog, I plan to report on my performances, choreography, teaching, and writing. Included in each post will be a description of the event and I will always include photos or videos to enhance the user experience. Below is a brief biography of the work I am currently doing. Thank you for reading!

Emma Davis graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies with a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and a concentration in American Theatre. She also holds a BA Journalism, BA English with a specialization in writing, and dance minor from University of Michigan-Flint. Davis is a Lecturer II with University of Michigan-Flint where she teaches dance technique in tap, jazz, modern, hip hop, introduction to dance, and performance studies.

Davis has 6 years experience in community dance education, performance, and choreography. Her work is primarily site-specific, drawing on inspiration and research from personal experience, historical, architectural, spatial, and socio/economical aspects of the site. Davis recently directed the Riverbank Park Dance Project, a community-based, on-site performance that shared the stories and history of Flint's Riverbank Park through music, theatre, and dance.

Davis performs as a back-up dancer for singer Tunde Olaniran since 2011, performing in New York City, Chicago, and throughout the Midwest. She teaches dance outreach programs at Flint Institute of Music for senior adults, adults with different abilities, and women in residential treatment. Davis works with underserved youth of all ages during the school day as a Program Facilitator at Shop Floor Theatre Company, and is a teaching artist for the Buckham/GVRC Fine Arts Project where she developed a gender-based dance syllabus for at-risk females in juvenile detention.

Davis has received grants and awards for her work, including the Engaged Pedagogy Initiative Fellowship, King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship, Arts of Citizenship Graduate Student Grant in Public Scholarship, Share Art Flint, and New Leaders grant program of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.