Emily Herrin

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Emily leads the Education & Community Engagement department in advancing the mission of Every. Body. Dance. Through strategic partnerships with schools, community organizations, and internal teams, she advances initiatives that expand access to dance and remove barriers to participation for diverse communities through a lens of equity, inclusion, and community impact. Her role includes staff leadership, strategic planning, program development and evaluation, and organizational representation. She also continues to work as a Teaching Artist, providing training and direct instruction to both students and fellow educators.

After receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees in dance and psychology and a minor in French, she moved to Colorado and danced as a company member for Kim Robards Dance in 2015 and 2016 and worked briefly with Winifred R. Harris. Emily began dancing at the age of five in the Pacific Northwest and has studied a variety of dance idioms and pedagogical approaches with masters such as Anne Mueller, Maurice Watson, Brian Enos, in the United States and Europe. Following hip surgeries that required a transition away from performing, she refocused her career on teaching, arts administration, and leadership.

She pursued further professional training and education, including participation in the Summer Dance Institute for Teachers at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, Washington, where she studied directly with Anne Green Gilbert and Dionne Kamara and her completion of Leaders on the Rise with Lana Hailemariam of StandUp. 

Emily’s passion for expanding inclusivity in dance and dance education continues to shape her work and she approaches her career with joy and commitment. Her expertise includes arts integration, trauma-informed practices, social-emotional learning, positive youth engagement, and experience teaching individuals with disabilities. She is frequently invited to collaborate on initiatives that expand equitable access to the arts for historically marginalized populations.

She approaches leadership with a people-first perspective and draws inspiration from the work of Brené Brown. She is an accomplished presenter at local, national, and international conferences, including NDEO. Emily is a certified Pilates instructor and enjoys traveling, playing board games, rock climbing, parenting, and spending time with family.