Emma Portner is a Canadian star in contemporary dance and choreography who has broken boundaries with her inquisitive, inventive, honest, and versatile movement and has stirred the dance world with her imagination that knows no limits. Her choreography has amassed millions of international views and attained top placement in the 2014 Capezio A.C.E. Awards. The “Capezio Athlete” has also produced, managed, and directed her own short films and dance company.
Born Name
Emma Portner
Nick Name
Emma
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Born Place
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Residence
New York City, New York, United States
Nationality
Education
Growing up in Ottawa, she initially attended St Peters School and then changed to Canterbury High School of the Performing Arts, enrolling at the specialized arts program in the institution’s dance stream and graduating with honors.
During the summers, she trained with the National Ballet School of Canada as well as Leeming Dance Works. At the age of 16, she moved from Ottawa to New York City and studied contemporary dancing at The Alvin Ailey School.
Occupation
Dancer, Choreographer
Family
Father – Don Portner
Mother – Heather Portner
Siblings – Dylan (Brother), Quinn (Brother)
Manager
She is represented by Bloc Talent Agency.
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 3 in or 160 cm
Weight
53 kg or 117 lbs
Girlfriend / Spouse
She has dated –
Elliot Page (2017-2020) – Portner married her girlfriend, Canadian actress and producer Ellen Page on January 3, 2018. After over 2 years of togetherness, they separated in the summer of 2020. In January 2021, they had also filed for divorce.
Race / Ethnicity
White
She is of Canadian descent.
Hair Color
Dark Brown
She often tends to dye her hair ‘light brown’ and ‘blonde’.
Eye Color
Blue
Sexual Orientation
Lesbian
Distinctive Features
Petite stature
Moles on face
Thick eyebrows
Shoe Size
7.5 (US) or 38 (EU) or 5 (UK)
Emma Portner Favorite Things
Pre-Performance Ritual – Arriving hours early to prepare mentally, do abdominals and push-ups, have caffeine and “save it for the stage”
Signature Outfit – Loose black T-shirt and baggy gym shorts
Although she went to a ballet school, Portner did not continue for long since she felt ballet could not hold the myriad ways in which she desired to express herself.
She has disclosed that her work is about exploring her own “brokenness” and that pain in artistic work can attract some people.
She got her big break as a teenager. Portner and Los Angeles-based dancer Matt Luck choreographed and starred in a performance named Dancing In the Dark which went viral in 2012 garnering thousands of viewers after which she was offered to choreograph and appear in a video of Justin Bieber.
She came into the limelight with her work in Bieber‘s 2015 video Life Is Worth Living after it went viral amassing more than 50 million views.
Portner became the youngest woman to choreograph a musical in London’s West End which is akin to the Broadway of England, by choreographing Bat Out of Hell: The Musical, which was premiered on February 17, 2017, at Manchester Opera House in Manchester.
She drew a lot of attention in January 2018 when news spread of her marriage to the actress Ellen Page, and she began posting intense and sensual videos of the two dancing together.
The most incredible feature about Portner’s work and her own dancing has been that while the unique movement cannot be categorized into a particular genre, there is an intuitive, natural, and lively feel to it, which has an element of delightful surprise as well as shock in it, that is magnetic yet destabilizing for the audience.
Her choreography has shattered gender norms in the dance world and she has challenged expectations with her androgynous look, black T-shirts, and potent movements. She has revealed that she wanted to put on boys’ clothes as a young dancer and always rejected the long-established ballet dress code of a leotard and tights.
Emma launched a dance company in New York named Emma Portner and Artists which she has managed and directed herself, always urging her students to explore, share, and go outside their own boundaries.
She has stated that dance is what she has wanted to share with everyone since her days as an introverted, quiet child, the art form being her source of sustenance, her safe zone, refuge, and solace, where she feels heard and loved and albeit hated at times, too, the fact hardly having any effect on her. The one thing that has always been constant in her life is her hope that come what may, she should always be dancing.