Biography
Emma Draves is a dance artist and educator navigating intertextual spaces of identity. She draws from trainings in modern, bharatanatyam, ballet, jazz, and ethnography, to weave work of kinesthetic narrative - derived through colliding multiplicities of physical effort, idiosyncrasy, and emotional landscape.
Emma’s choreographic work has been shown internationally in Edinburgh (UK) & Vancouver (BC), as well as at NYU, Hamlin Park, High Concept Labs, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Columbia College Chicago, and Comfort Station; and commissioned by Danceworks Company and UW-Milwaukee. Scholarly works has been presented through Dance Studies Associate, World Dance Alliance, and Dance Across the Boards.
As a performer, Emma has worked with several companies and as an independent artists. Notable experiences include Mordine & Company, Hedwig Dances, Jonathan Meyer, and Archana Kumar; and theatrical productions at Victory Gardens and Lookingglass Theatre.
Trained in bharatanatyam under Smt. Hema Rajagopalan, Emma has enjoyed a long association with Natya Dance Theatre as a performing artist - participating in several national tours and international collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Project, NanJombang (Indonesia), and Astad Deboo (India) - grant-writer, archivist, and Executive Director.
Emma holds a GLCMA & MFA - and has served on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and OK State University.
Instructional Areas
Dance Studies, Contemporary/Modern Techniques, Ballet Techniques
Creative Practice and Research Interests
Indian Dance in the Diaspora / Pluralist Bodies, Identity of Individual and Community in Performance, Dance in Rural Communities, Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy
Degrees
B.A., Dance and Sociology/Anthropology Denison University 2001
M.F.A., Dance University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2012