Emily Adams is originally from Newtown, Pennsylvania. She trained at the School of American Ballet before joining Ballet West II in 2005 and the main company in 2007. She was promoted to principal artist in 2015. Career highlights include Odette/Odile in Swan Lake; Aurora, Lilac Fairy, and Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty; Cinderella and Fairy Godmother in Ashton’s Cinderella; Juliet and Lady Capulet in Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet; Diamonds Pas de Deux in George Balanchine’s Jewels; and featured roles in ballets by William Forsyth, Jiří Kylián, Val Caniparoli, Nicolo Fonte, Matthew Neenan, Edwaard Liang, and Helen Pickett, among others.

Emily began choreographing as a student, participating in the New York Choreographic Institute’s Spring Session 2004. She has created six ballets for Ballet West. Her most recent work, The Thing with Feathers, features an original score by Sundance Institute Fellow, Katy Jarzebowski. Emily was awarded the Utah Arts Festival’s Choreographic Commission in 2017. Her creation, Laden, is now included in Ballet West II’s repertoire. In August 2019, she collaborated with The Way of the Rain, Sibylle Szaggers Redford, and composer Tim Janis to create Earth Movements: A Symphony for Ballet. The ballet was performed by Ballet West and presented at the UN 68th International NGO Conference.