About

Emma Davis is a community-engaged dancer, scholar, educator, and choreographer in Flint, Michigan. Davis is passionate about dance’s transformational power in non-traditional environments and the meaning it provides in people’s lives. Emma has more than a decade of experience creating community dance projects with university students, adults in community mental health, senior citizens, public school students, and incarcerated youth.

Davis is a PhD in Dance Candidate at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Advised by Dr. Adesola Akinleye, Emma’s dissertation research seeks to further understand how community dance practices serve as a method for community organizing and social change.

Davis also holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies American Theatre, a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, a Bachelor of Arts in English with a specialization in writing, and minor in dance from the University of Michigan-Flint. Emma is certified to teach Chicago-based Giordano Jazz through the advanced level, and has participated in intensive trainings with Anna Halprin, Liz Lerman, Bill Evans, American Dance Festival, and the Dance Exchange.

Davis has over a decade of professional performance experience and currently performs as a company member with Límon-based modern company, Detroit Dance Collective (DDCdances), and as a back-up dancer with singer Tunde Olaniran, performing nationally and internationally in England and France.

As a choreographer, Davis collaborates with dancers to integrate community narratives and local histories around social justice issues including climate change, incarceration, and water as a human right. Her dance work has been performed in numerous dance festivals, musicals, and public spaces.

As a dance educator, Davis draws on Feminist, Pragmatist, and community-based pedagogies for a student-centered approach that connects to students’ lived experiences. Emma has over a decade of experience lecturing in dance at University of Michigan-Flint and recently served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Alma College in Alma, Michigan.