Emma Portner is a Canadian professional dancer and choreographer who is the ex-wife of Elliot Page, the Canadian actress who works in the American and Canadian film Industry.
Wiki/Biography
Emma Dior Portner [1]Dance Magazine – YouTube was born on Saturday, November 26, 1994 (age 26 years; as of 2020), in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. When she was three years old, she started dancing at a competitive studio in Ottawa. She graduated with honors in dance from Canterbury High School. At the same time, she took summer training in dance for two seasons at The National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. She then studied at Leeming Danceworks and found her passion for moving and creating in all styles, working with choreographers like Teddy Forance, Nathan Makolandra, Matt Luck, Eryn Waltman, and David Norsworthy. At the age of 17, she shifted base from Ottawa to New York City. In New York, she trained in dance at The Ailey School after her application to study at The Juilliard School was rejected. She later dropped out of Ailey School because she was suffering from mental health issues. She has studied dance in many other institutions including NYC’s Broadway Dance Center (where she took Michelle Dorrance’s tap dance classes) in 2013 and Montreal’s dance company RUBBERBANDance in 2014. [2]Dance Spirit Four years after staying in New York City, she moved to Los Angeles. She is a queer. [3]Dance Magazine
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 3″
Hair Color: Brown (dyed pink, brown, and blonde)
Eye Color: Green
Family & Ethnicity
Not much is known about her father. Her mother was an employee at a museum. In 2017, Emma and Elliot Page began dating each other; Elliot reached out to Emma after he saw her on Instagram. In January 2018, Elliot declared that he was married to Emma.
Emma Portner with Elliot Page
The couple separated in the summer of 2020, with Elliot filing for a divorce in January 2021.
Career
Dance & Choreography
Emma began her career as a dance assistant. When she was sixteen and training at the Leeming Artworks, she met Matt Luck, the Los Angeles-based dancer. Together with Matt, she choreographed and recorded ‘Dancing In the Dark’ and posted it on YouTube. The video was a success and received a large number of views and likes and positive responses.
When the video caught the eye of the New Zealand dancer and choreographer Parris Goebel, who was working on the ‘Purpose’ visual album of Justin Bieber, Parris contacted Emma and asked her for a collaboration. Emma accepted the offer and starred and choreographed the music video of ‘Life is Worth Living’ by Justin.
After seeing Emma’s work, Nick DeMoura, the creative director of Justin’s Purpose World Tour offered Emma to choreograph a piece of the tour, which she accepted. She also worked with choreographer and dancer Michelle Dorrance in her company’s work ‘Myelination’ in 2015. In 2017, she choreographed ‘Bat Out of Hell: The Musical’ by Jim Steinman, which premiered in Manchester, England. The musical tour then explored the stages in London, Canada, and Broadway.
She made appearances in BANKS’ (American singer and songwriter) music videos of Till Now (2019), Gimme (2019), and Contaminated (2019). She has also done movement direction for American music artists like Maggie Rogers, BANKS, and Dev Hynes, and has given performances in venues like The Guggenheim Museum, Jacob’s Pillow, the Oslo Opera House, and New York City Center. As of 2020, her works have been featured on platforms like Apple, Netflix, Vogue, Sony Pictures. She also produces short choreography videos and films like Lavender, Slack Jaw, and Sit Bones. Her full-length compositions include A Primitive Cinema (2016) and Femme Debout (2018).
Emma Portner in Femme Debout (2018)
Teaching
Emma Portner runs a dance company called Emma Portner and Artists (formerly Flock’d) in New York City. She has given classes in jazz and contemporary dance in New York, Los Angeles, and Canada. She is also a member of the New York-based tap dance company Dorrance Dance. She has formerly taught at Intrigue Dance Intensive and Peridance Center in New York City. She is a faculty of contemporary and jazz at Broadway Dance Center in New York.
Awards & Achievements
- Named one of 13 young choreographers who are “changing the dance world”
- Listed in Paper Magazine’s ‘ PAPER Predictions’ 100 People to Watch in 2019′
- A top placement at the Capezio A.C.E. Awards in 2014
- Named 2012’s Young Choreographer of the Year in the American Dance Awards
Controversy
In June 2019, after Scooter Braun’s (American media proprietor) label acquisition of Taylor Swift’s (American singer) former label Big Machine Records, Braun’s label got the ownership of Taylor’s first six studio albums. In November 2019, Taylor alleged that Braun and Scott Borchetta (her former label CEO) had inhibited Taylor from performing her old hits. Where many supported Taylor, the Canadian singer Justin Bieber (who is managed by Scooter Braun) defended Braun and called out Taylor for using her loyal fans as a media to bully Braun. After Justin’s defense on Braun, Emma tweeted that she regretted working with Justin and accused him of degrading women. [4]iHeart Radio She wrote,
I gave your universe my naive body, creativity, time, and effort. Twice. For content that you made millions off of. While I made zilch. Natta (sic). Barely anything. Less than minimum wage for the hours I invested. I couldn’t afford to eat. I was sweeping studio floors to be able to practice my craft. I will gladly purchase and send you some books that will change the way your traumatized brain thinks. You depend on proper guidance to move forward. I BEG that you find it. A straight white pastor/manager can’t be your only major source of world view. I have so much to say but mostly … I really hope you educate yourself beyond your bible. You have IMMENSE power. Use it to STOP DEGRADING WOMEN. We should all be ‘checking on you’ and Chris Brown because you both need to be held accountable.”
Favorite Things
- Snack: Popchips Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips
- Dancer(s): Pina Bausch, Michael Jackson
- Artist: Marcel Dzama
- Sport: Hockey
- Hockey Team: Los Angesles Kings
Facts/Trivia
- Apart from dancing, Emma indulges in activities like hiking, traveling to her favorite destination, and watching hockey. She also spends her time learning how to play the piano and about neuroscience.
- Growing up, she was a silent girl and often had difficulty in carrying out a conversation. After she learned that dancing can be useful in communication, she came out of her silence through dance. According to her,
When I realized dance could help people hear what I had to say in a clear way, that’s when I started to love it.”
- In her childhood, she loved dirt, skateboarding, road hockey, and Nintendo 64 (video game). Her grandmother used to take her to opera concerts, which introduced high art to her. Emma says that her style can be described as the point where dirt and high art meet.
- She has been recording herself dancing since she was twelve. According to her,
I started recording myself when I was 12. I used to spend three hours a night watching the day’s footage forward and in reverse, not out of a narcissistic impulse, but as a tool to improve her improvisational technique. I use it to break patterns. If I start to develop a go-to movement, that means I’m stale.”
- She found inspiration for her fluid movements mainly from the choreographers like Crystal Pite and Pina Bausch, artists like Marcel Dzama, and Michael Jackson.
- The first time that she watched a film of Elliot Page was at the age of twelve with one of twelve. Her friend told her that Elliot seemed to be like her. Emma, talking about Elliot in an interview, said,
I knew we’d cross paths someday — I just wasn’t quite sure when or how.”
- In 2020, she made an appearance in episode four of the TV series documentary short ‘Figures.’
- Emma has also made dance videos with Elliot on YouTube and Instagram.
- Dance Spirit, Elle, and Dance Magazine are some of the magazines to feature Emma on their cover.
Emma Portner on the cover of Dance Spirit
- Emma has a self-titled YouTube channel, where she posts videos of dance and collaborations. She has around 20K subscribers on her channel.
References
| ↑1 | Dance Magazine – YouTube |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Dance Spirit |
| ↑3 | Dance Magazine |
| ↑4 | iHeart Radio |