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EM PAPINEAU

Em Papineau is a dance artist, musician, athlete, and non-practicing barista who grew up dancing to music videos by pop stars and memorizing and inventing television ad jingles. After moving to Portland, ME at age 8, Em danced at Casco Bay Movers under the direction of Kate Marchessault and performed in works by Dante Brown, Shakia Johnson, Meredith Lyons, and Allie James through Portland Youth Dance. Em went on to attend Smith College and has performed in works by David Dorfman, Chris Aiken, Doug Varone, Xan Burley + Alex Springer, Jenna Riegel, Toni Craige, Nikki Lee, and Dante Brown through the Five College Dance Department, in addition to being a recipient of the Virginia J. Wagner Scholarship.  Em's 2018 solo, With Pulp, has been presented at the Queerly Contemporary Festival at Manhattan's 14t Street Y, as well as Smith College. Em also has an ongoing collaborative practice with Sofia Engleman. Their first work together, Where the air is light and clear (2017), was presented at the National College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Since then, they have held artistic residencies at The Living Room, Ponderosa, the Dance Complex, and School for Contemporary Dance and Thought. The pair have performed iterations of their recent project, INSTANT SAVIORS (just add water), at Movement Research at the Judson Church, FRESH Festival, EstroGenius Festival at the Kraine Theater, HUT at the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, The Dance Complex, and AS220's Providence Movement Festival.