Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Cargill.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began dancing at the age of 3 pretty much because every other woman in my family was a dancer at some point in their lives. My mom took dance lessons, her two sisters took dance lessons, and all five of my female cousins took dance lessons, as well as myself and my sister, so it pretty much was the ‘normal’ thing to do in our family. Luckily I loved every second of it and it was the only extracurricular activity I ever took part in, beginning in elementary school all the way up through receiving my MFA in dance performance and choreography from Florida State University in 2007. Following graduate school, I immediately moved to Atlanta, GA and began my professional career dancing with George Staib and Staibdance. After a brief stint (the first time) in Jacksonville, FL, I really started testing my professional choreographic legs, and began applying for modern dance festivals all over the East Coast. Right off the bat, my work was accepted into the Detroit City Dance Festival and the NYE 10 Dance Festival, which took place at the historic and renowned Dixon Place Theatre. That’s when I said, ‘Well, I guess I should start a dance company!” and this is when Emily Cargill and Dancers was born. Since then, we have performed in cities and venues all across the East Coast – I feel humbled and honored just thinking about it. My work has been presented in Boston, New York, Detroit, Richmond, Atlanta, Charlotte, Durham, Tampa, Jacksonville in such venues as The High Museum, The Mint Museum, The Ferst Center for the Arts, Dogtown Dance Theatre, Goodyear Arts Center, Emory University’s Performing Arts Center, among others. In 2021, the company relocated to Jacksonville, FL – a very vibrant and exciting city for the arts, and we just auditioned and hired new company members for our upcoming season, which begins this October. We have several exciting performances on our calendar for the 2022-2023 season, and we are also excited to offer the only professional-level open modern dance class in the city! Our company mission is to broaden Jacksonville dance on a regional/national level – touring work to other cities as well as heightening the caliber of professional dance in the Jacksonville area. I’m hopeful we are doing just that.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Oh boy. Are there any smooth roads in life?!? Being an art maker definitely has its’ challenges. Funding, audience building, performance opportunities, coupled with the eternal what ifs. What if I’m not actually not any good? What if no one cares about what I have to say or is it even relevant? And the big one – who even cares about modern dance? These questions circulate in my brain constantly and self-doubt creeps in every season. It’s very challenging to not constantly judge yourself and your art/process/aesthetic. I think to myself, why? Why in the heck do I torture myself with this? Yes, an artist makes art to feed their soul and to nurture their creative drive and instinct but ultimately we make art so that others can see it. So that others will see it and relate to it and love it and want to see more. So it’s a double-edged sword. Make art because you love it but make sure it’s interesting and relatable and palatable and unique and breathtaking and all the things. So when these ideas start manifesting, I really just have to take a deep breath, step back and remember why I do it. Yes, I want to create dances that bring fulfillment and beauty and visual pleasure to people, and awaken their soul and make something stir in their gut, but ultimately making dance is my way of expressing memories, pleasure, pain, joy, heartbreak, love, despair. As long as I stay true to my voice and artistic vision and aesthetic then hopefully these relatable human experiences will help others uncover and feel these visceral moments in their lives as well.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the Founder and Artistic Director of Emily Cargill and Dancers (ECD), a professional modern dance company based in Jacksonville, FL. ECD creates work that artistically and physically pushes boundaries; exploring movement that is bold, honest, intimate and human. Within the creation process, I encourage collaboration and an ongoing exchange of ideas between myself and the company members. For me, choreography is similar to journaling. All of my work is derived from very personal and memorable experiences, not just of my own, but of my dancers as well. We work in a very collaborative environment, sharing memories, stories, experiences that relate to the choreographic subject of the work in progress. Emily Cargill & Dancers is continually and constantly evolving, discovering, playing, seeking, work-shopping & digging deep to offer immersive, exploratory and engaging experiences for our dancers and audience members alike. The company explores situations, memories and personal circumstances of the human experience, which are reflected and rooted in the movements and dancer relationships of each work. By doing so, our intention is to connect with our audiences in an intimate, human and personal way.
I’m proud of who I’ve evolved into as a dance maker, of the way in which I am able to use my artistic voice to tell a story and stay true to my aesthetic in the process. I love seeing ‘humans’ on stage. Not dancers pretending to be humans. There’s a difference. There’s a subtlety in the nature of the work, the way in which the dancers interact with one another in real time, the nuanced humanity of the choreography, the ability to derive movement that captures and embodies the feeling or theme of the work, rather than kicking your leg up high, doing a twirl and saying that that means anger/joy/pain or any other emotion. I know I have a long way to go, I’ll never ‘be finished’ as an artist, a craftsman, a choreographer (And if you say that you are, then you definitely are.) but I feel proud of my artistic journey and I’m curious where it will take me from here.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’ll say that a huge resource that inspires me immensely and regularly is NPR Music. They consistently play obscure, interesting work by new (and established) composers and I’ve found many pieces of music that I am inspired to choreograph to by listening for hours upon hours, dreaming up choreographic inspiration as I journal furiously.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.EmilyCargillandDancers.com
- Instagram: @EmilyCargillandDancers
- Facebook: Emily Cargill and Dancers
Image Credits
Trib LaPrade, Mike Keeling, Taylor Jones, Daley Kappenman
