Emily May is a British-born, Berlin-based arts writer and editor specialising in dance and performance. An alumna of Trinity Laban and member of the UK Critics’ Circle Dance Section, her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement, Frieze, ArtReview, Dance Magazine, Pointe, Kinfolk and Art Basel. Emily has also written programme essays for theatres including Sadler’s Wells and The Royal Opera House. Since 2024, she has served as editor of Dance Retailer News, an online industry magazine published by Dance Media.
Beyond writing, Emily produces and hosts the Terpsichore: Voices in Dance podcast and regularly moderates panels and post-show talks at international festivals such as Aerowaves Springforward.
She mentors emerging critics through Resolution Review at The Place, London, and Aerowaves’ Springback Academy, and has delivered guest lectures at institutions including ArtEZ, Amsterdam University of the Arts, and Bratislava Academy of Performing Arts.
In the European premiere of her technicolour new work, South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Anh—one of the most important artists of her country, often referred to as the “Pina Bausch of Asia”—confronts Western audiences with their generalisations about the East.
I, like many other writers, suffer from imposter syndrome. Before every pitch email I send, show I attend, or interview I conduct, I ask myself: “is anyone really interested in little old Emily May from Worcestershire’s opinion on this?”
