Dance Conversation with… Samantha Emanuel

Continuing my series of inspiring conversations I’m having with other amazing teachers who share my passion for preparing your body for the wonderful, intricate and expansive movements we do in our dance and minimising the risk of injury.

After obsessively watching this video around the time I got into dancing, I took my first class with Samantha Emanuel on a rainy Blackpool morning in 2007. It was a finger cymbals class, and she thoroughly bent my brain! Over the past 15 years she has continued to challenge me both physically and mentally in a myriad of ways, which of course is why I keep going back! She has been a massive influence both on my dance and, more recently on my teaching and 1:1 client work.

We talked a lot about how important cross-training is to supplement your dance practice for longevity and injury prevention and how to make your whole life your “practice.”

Sam also shared her thoughts about her work incorporating dance technique into a rehab setting in order for non-dancers to find new, therapeutic movement pathways without realising they're dancing!

Check out the full interview below!

More info about the Back 2 Roots internship here and on IG here. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to chat about the internship from a student perspective - I can’t recommend it highly enough!