Photo by Alyce Johnson Photography
Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Emily Wright is a dancer, movement educator, and author with a passion for the transformative power of dance. An experienced teacher of dance for all ages and a scholar with numerous publications, Emily is available for workshops, master classes, lectures, writing, commissions, and consultation.
Emily began her training in German expressionist and Graham-based modern techniques at Dancers Studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, under the direction of Irena Linn.
She received her BFA in Dance from Belhaven University (2002), an MFA in Performance and Choreography from Arizona State University (2007), and a PhD in Dance Studies from Texas Woman’s University (2016). From 2017-2020, Emily studied Contact Improvisation with Nancy Stark Smith.
Emily is currently a Lecturer in Dance at the University of Virginia. Her teaching specializations include modern dance techniques, dance studies, somatic movement education, contact improvisation, eco-somatics, and intergenerational community dance. Emily also teaches classes, workshops, and residencies in community-based programs. She is a VCA Teaching Artist and an Associate Member of McGuffey Art Center.
As a socially engaged artist, a key part of Emily’s work is developing collaborative environments in which different voices, bodies, and experiences are valued and seen. She has developed interdisciplinary courses for arts-based community engagements, planned state-wide conferences that bring together multiple community partners in the arts, and created choreography that partners pre-professional dancers with community members ages 5-75.