EMILY ADAMS

Emily Adams is from Newtown, Pennsylvania. She joined Ballet West II in 2005 and the main company in 2007 and was promoted to Principal in 2015.  Emily trained at Studio Maestro with Deborah Wingert and Francois Perron; Ballet Technique with Julie Caprio; with Nancy Bielski and David Howard at Steps on Broadway; and privately with Christina Fagundes.  At 15, she was awarded an honorary scholarship to train full-time at the School of American Ballet. She participated in summer programs at San Francisco Ballet School, School of America Ballet, Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell, and the Royal Ballet School.  In 2007 she performed with Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center. With Ballet West, Emily has danced leading roles of Juliet in Smuin’s Romeo + Juliet, Odette/Odile in Sklute’s Swan Lake, Diamonds Pas de Deux in Balanchine’s Jewels, and Cinderella in Ashton’s Cinderella, to name just a few.

Emily began choreographing as a student and was invited by Peter Martins to participate in the New York Choreographic Institute’s Spring Session 2004.  Emily has created six ballets for Ballet West.  Her most recent work, The Thing with Feathers, featured an original score by Sundance Institute Fellow, Katy Jarzebowski.  She was awarded the Utah Arts Festival’s Choreographic Commission in 2017.  Her creation, Laden, is now included in Ballet West II’s repertoire.  In August 2019, Emily collaborated with The Way of the Rain, Sibylle Szaggers Redford, and composer Tim Janis to create Earth Movements: A Symphony for Ballet.  The ballet was presented at the UN 68th International NGO Conference, and featured dancers of Ballet West alongside the Utah Symphony.  In July 2022, Emily was one of four choreographers chosen to participate in National Choreographers Initiative under the direction of Molly Lynch.  Emily worked with dancers from companies across the country and created Mass Hysterical with an original score by Katy Jarzebowski. 

Emily has performed as a guest artist and in galas across the country, including for YAGP and the 50th Re-Opening Anniversary Gala of the Chicago Auditorium Theater.  She collaborated with artists from the Utah Symphony and Pioneer Theater Company in Intermezzo Chamber Music’s performance of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale Suite, both as a dancer and choreographer.  Emily has been featured in Pointe Magazine and other publications multiple times for her work as a dancer, choreographer, and her artistic projects outside the studio.