Professional Training: Emma Harrison (she/her)
Tuesday 9 September
Through a series of imagery and rhythmic propositions, we will focus on releasing and creating tension in the body, and increase our awareness of breath, and gaze. We will challenge our physical boundaries by exploring new movement pathways with some phrase material, and of course get sweaty to some groovy music.
About Emma
Emma is a dance and theatre performer, choreographer, movement director, and educator on Gadigal and Dharug country, Sydney Australia. Her practice is rooted in contemporary dance and theatre, blending humour with highly physical movement, and is shaped by her nomadic upbringing across regional Queensland and New South Wales. Drawing from her working-class and regional upbringing, Emma uses dance to explore the systems that shape us, questioning dominant narratives, and creating work that resonates with both personal and collective experiences.
Emma works independently and collaborates with choreographers and directors across Australia and is part of the Artistic Directorate of Dance Makers Collective.
As a choreographer, Emma was commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre to create 'High Octane', 2025. In 2024 her dance theatre solo work ‘Wolverine’ was commissioned by Sydney Festival. Emma choreographed and performed ‘Arlington’ by playwright Enda Walsh, directed by Anna Houston in 2024.
Performance highlights include Marrugeku’s ‘Cut the Sky’ (dir. Rachael Swain, choreographed by Dalisa Pigram & Serge Aimé Coulibaly), ‘The Lost Boys’ (Little Eggs Collective, dir. Craig Baldwin & Eliza Scott), ‘All in’ (Dance Makers Collective, dir. Miranda Wheen for Sydney Festival 2025) “Cue Lab’ (choreographer Emma Riches), and Tra Mi Dinh’s ‘(UP)HOLDING’.
Emma was the inaugural recipient of the RAPPORT international artist residency through Dance Makers Collective and South East Dance in 2022, travelling to Brighton with sound designer Amy Flannery (Wiradjuri) to develop 'Wolverine'. She is a 2025 ATLAS scholar, supported with a five-week residency and workshop programme at Impulstanz Vienna, mentored by Christopher Matthews.