Meet Emily Miller, Emerging Choreographer and Bun-Head

As a kid, she was a self-described bun-head, but today, senior dance major Emily Miller refers to herself as an emerging Chicago choreographer--and rightly so. At age 22, she has completed five works at the collegiate level and is currently hard at work perfecting her fifth.

Among others, she has worked with teachers and choreographers alike including Dardi McGinley-Gallivan, Angie Hauser, Carrie Hanson, Jan Erkert and Pam McNeil. Miller even was the recipient of the Alfred P. Weisman grant that was used to create Songs for the Hearted which premiered at the end of the summer.  

But, things didn’t always come so easy for this dancer, and the road wasn’t exactly smooth. After getting turned down by four prestigious New York dance schools following high school graduation, this California native turned to Columbia’s open admissions policy as her lifeline. “I was always a little bitter about the New York thing, but being put into an environment with master teachers, a rotating adjunct faculty, people who stretched my brain and challenged my assumptions on a daily basis, mentors who actually committed to my personal growth, and an incredible creative nurturing really changed my feelings about New York being the right place for me,” she says, “there was so much new information here.” 

Now, four and a half years later and settled into Chicago, Miller has made quite the name for herself. Her next big performance is part of the Senior Concert Series 2008 at the dance center titled Bring It On Home and debuts December 4 and 5. Mixing ballet and modern dance, the piece focuses on the emotional environment of a dancer and is a very abstract take on what it means to be home.

After graduation Miller plans on sticking around Chicago for at least a year and a half, working with a crew of grads and students in the GET DOWN/PICK UP Company. “After that, I may be off to New York,” she says.  “I would very much like to dance for David Dorfman and while that doesn't require being in New York, I would love to live and dance there for a period of time.”

While studying the art and technicality of dance is clearly priority, learning how to market yourself and your skills is just as important. “Learn to be a jack-of-all-trades. If you know something about lighting, costuming, music, public relations, and grant writing as well as dancing or choreographing-- then you can step into those roles easy-sneazy,” Miller says.

- Liz Olszta
  Magazine Journalism