Emily Butcher is a queer contemporary artist in a traditional form. After graduating with a B.A. in Dance from Wesleyan University, they found their artistic home in Chicago among a vibrant community of theatre makers and circus performers. They attended the full-time Professional Training Program at The Actor’s Gymnasium in Evanston, taking specialties in contortion and tightwire, while studying physical theatre, clown, ensemble-based devising, juggling, partner acrobatics, tumbling, and aerial disciplines. They’ve performed and devised with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, Collaboraction Theatre Company, Okapi Theatre, and Haven Theatre, as well as appearing at local variety shows. Their original work is interdisciplinary by nature, drawing from dance, theatre, visual and sensory art, but rooted in traditional practices of contortion and acrobatics. Interested in bending the trick-applause circus economy into a more even dialogue, Emily uses circus to explore physicalized history, fantasy, and memory. See more at emilyfbutcher.com.