Emily Haussler (she/her) is the Artistic and Executive Director of RESILIENCE Dance Company (RDC), founded in 2019 in St. Louis, MO. Overall, her work centers on building healthier, more sustainable dance communities by equipping dancers with resources for their mental health, physical wellbeing, and artistic success. She believes in the power of collaboration and in challenging the toxic norms of the dance world, seeking to create engaging, visceral dance works inside of healthy dance spaces. During her tenure with RDC, Emily has choreographed seven evening-length works, the most recent of which, Benchmarks 9.0, was performed in both St. Louis and Chicago. Her notable short works have been shown in St. Louis, MO (Washington University, The Link Auditorium, The Mahler Ballroom), Kansas City, MO (The Gem Theater), Detroit, MI (Detroit Institute of the Arts), Cape Girardeau, MO (Southeast Missouri State University), Nashville, TN (The Looby Theater), and Durham, NC (American Dance Festival). Furthermore, her dance film, There Are No Rules, was shown at Exchange Choreography Festival 2020. She serves as an adjunct professor at Webster University (Contemporary Partnering, Modern) and has taught master classes at several universities across the St. Louis region, including Lindenwood, Principia, Washington University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and more. 

 

Prior to founding RDC, Emily danced professionally with Common Thread Contemporary Ballet (2017) and Emily Duggins Ehling (2020), and as a trainee with Nashville Ballet (2018) and The Big Muddy Dance Company (2019).  Emily holds a B.A. in Dance and Biology from Washington University in St. Louis where she was the recipient of the Ian D. Cramer Prize for Dance (2018) and the Marcus Artist in Residence Award (2022).

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