Miss Emily Hunter began her dance training at the age of eight under the instruction of Penny Askew at the Western Oklahoma Ballet Academy and was a performing company member of the Western Oklahoma Ballet Theatre for six years.

Upon graduating high school, she attended the University of Iowa on a Dance Department scholarship, received the Francoise Martinet ballet scholarship in 2000, and graduated with a BFA in dance in 2003. While in Iowa, she was able to study technique and choreography not only with the UI faculty but also with guest teachers and choreographers such as Joan Buttram, David Capps, Nacho Duato, Miguel Gutierrez, Nicholas Leichter, Lars Lubivich, Ben Stevenson, and Twyla Tharp, among others.

In addition to performing in original works by the UI Dance faculty, several works of her own choreography were selected for UI Dance presentations. Throughout her training, she has been awarded scholarships to study at summer intensive programs such as American Dance Festival, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Long Beach Summer Ballet, and Regional Dance America’s Craft of Choreography Conference. These opportunities allowed her to train with renowned teachers like Patricia Barker, Thom Clower, David Dorfman, Mark Haim, Gelsey Kirkland, Jennifer Nugent, Clay Taliaferro, Edward Villella, and David Wilcox.

She has performed with Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth, Dancers In Company, Duarte Dance Works, Charlotte Adams & Dancers, Push Comes to Shove, and UI Dance Company, in addition to guest artist work. She is now dancing with Texas Dance Theatre where she also serves as the company’s Ballet Mistress.