Emily Pierce

Background

About Emily Pierce

Emily Pierce (they/them/she/her) is an emerging movement artist, performer, and choreographer based in Athens and Columbus, OH. They recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ohio University Honors Tutorial College, receiving their BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography with a Certificate in Diversity Studies. Training in modern, ballet, jazz, and African dance techniques, Pierce’s movement versatility provided them with several opportunities to perform in guest artist, faculty, and student works during their time at Ohio University, including Alexandra Beller, Brian Brooks, Kelly Hurlburt, Travis D. Gatling, Christi Camper Moore, John Bohuslawsky, Anna Stover, Emma Prochaska, Lexi Bell, Emma J. Little, and with the Ohio University African Ensemble (dir. Dr. Zelma Badu-Younge and Dr. Paschal Yao Younge). As a choreographer, Pierce relies on kinesthetic experience and (auto)biographic context to create meaningful live performance work and short dance films that strive to connect to those who witness it. Their recent evening-length group work,"what does this mean for Us?"(2023), solo work,"you would let loose your longing"(2022), and short dance film,"Getting to Know You"(2023) were choreographed in conjunction with their undergraduate thesis project that explored what it means to negotiate queer intimacy in artistic practice, the importance of trauma-informed tools and practices in rehearsal processes, and how we continue to create, maintain, and support queer communities in artistic spaces. Their solo work,"you would let loose your longing," was selected to represent Ohio University’s School of Dance in the American College Dance Association’s East-Central Conference Informal Showing (2023). In addition to performance and choreography, Pierce has extensive production experience as a stagehand, lighting designer, video operator and stage manager, working behind-the-scenes at several Ohio University School of Dance concerts and at the Lancaster Festival in Lancaster, OH. They also recently served as the Publicity Coordinator for "Immerse," the Fall Senior Dance Concert at Ohio University (2022); Program Coordinator for "However, For Now," Ohio University’s Spring Senior Dance Concert (2023); and as President for The Movement Organization, a dance-focused student organization on Ohio University campus (2022-2023).