EMERGE125, previously known as Elisa Monte Dance, has been a fixture of the NYC arts community since 1981. Nestled in the heart of Harlem on 126th street, the group is focused on engaging with audiences and being “grounded in the vibrant artistic culture of Harlem”.
Much of the vision is inspired by the leadership of Tiffany Rea-Fisher who has been the Artistic Director since 2016. Her ten-year stewardship of the company is notably marked by a commitment to serving the community and her inspiring take on leadership.
Every year on Juneteenth, EMERGE125 can be found volunteering at the Juneteenth March which Rea-Fisher co-created with neighbor James Felton Keith in 2019. In its seventh year, the march continues to bring communities together for a day of reverence and celebration.
Whether it is the Juneteenth event or her approach to engaging with audiences, who she creatively and appropriately describes as “skimmers, swimmers, and divers”, Rea-Fisher maintains inclusivity as a common thread.
“This is the newest holiday of our lifetimes. That’s a really big deal.
And what I love about Juneteenth is it is a non-religious, non-gendered [holiday]. It is for everyone. It is a celebration of freedom. Period. And I don’t know if that exists in many places. So I think where it does exist, we need to come out, support it. And understand it so we can replicate it.”
– Tiffany Rea-Fisher
Rea-Fisher has a gentle, reassuring confidence and is naturally inspiring. Always on the move – literally and figuratively – I spoke with her during a precious spare hour of her week a few days prior to Juneteenth and an upcoming cultural exchange trip to Macedonia. We discussed her unique approach to arts leadership and why she prefers bold experimentation.
You may also like...
An Interview with Carlos Acosta: Enjoying Every Minute
Despite having already achieved countless accomplishments as an internationally-acclaimed artist and leader, Carlos Acosta continues to make debuts on and and off the stage.
An Interview with Davit Karapetyan: Creating Pathways for Growth
As Director of the School of Philadelphia Ballet, Davit Karapetyan is focused on creating a structure of continuity for his students as the organization moves on to a new chapter.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
You’ve been the Artistic Director of EMERGE125 for 10 years now, which is a really remarkable milestone. Looking back, how would you say the company has evolved over this time, both artistically and organizationally?
First of all, thank you for that. It feels like the shortest, longest time.
When I took over, one of the things that I wanted to ensure was that we were part of the cultural fabric of New York City. And in doing that, I feel that you have to be more than a dance company, you have to engage on different levels. You have to include multiple entry points for your audiences and you can’t expect audiences to come to you all the time. You have to go out to them.
So I think with that philosophy, it really changed our business model: my first New York season that was fully under my directorship, I did mini-seasons all over. We were at Joe’s Pub, we were at cemeteries, we were doing site specific work. I was curious to see where people were and for us to go there, because
I firmly believe that everyone is a modern dance lover. They just may not know it yet.
You might not have found your choreographer or your company, but when you do… I see how moved people are and I think that’s what’s so beautiful about working with an art form that’s abstract: people can bring whatever they want to it. There’s no right or wrong. And I think that’s something that modern audiences are looking for.
I think the other big thing is that I started having my inner personal relationships hit a little different. Instead of feeling good or bad about grants, I decided: let me have a relationship with my grant officer.
All of these institutions are made up of people. So if you interact with them as people, you’re going to have more success because they’ll see you as a person. You see them as a person. And then possibility opens up. And so that just really flipped everything in a really positive way.
When you’re making decisions to show up in new spaces in the community or building interpersonal relationships with grant committees, what sparks the idea for those unique creative approaches?
Complex problems mean creative solutions.
I think that there is definitely some wisdom in the way things have been done and I think you can always go back to that. So why not try something new?
I think if you’re already in the arts, you already have a level of risk-taking that’s in your DNA.
So for me, I just want to really try. I like to swing for the fences because we, as a people, look at what we’ve created. And that’s because there’s big ideas happening. So you have to try. And what’s the worst thing that happens is that you hear no. So what?
So why not try to make a relationship? Why not try to invite a new community into your work and share? Why not try to be kind to someone that you didn’t know before or maybe felt the relationship was somewhat adversarial based on hierarchies?
Has anything surprised you in the last 10 years?
I feel like everything surprises me. I think that the best lesson that I continue to learn is that the best way to lead is to observe and to listen deeply.
A lot of times when we think of leaders, we think of people who are boisterous and outspoken and quite charismatic. And I think I have all of those things but I also have been flanked with people who are soft. Who like to be in the background, who are wildly good at their job.
So, understanding the value and all of the facets of different personalities of people that are passionate for the arts.
I’ve also understood vulnerability differently.
During these 10 years, I have gotten the company through COVID, I had a child, I had lots of things happening positively and negatively in my life. I feel very deeply that art is powerful and so therefore it’s not neutral. So it’s positive or it’s negative. And I really want to be a positive memory for people.
At the end of the day, we can all look back and remember those teachers that had our back and believed in us when we didn’t believe in ourselves and gave us that extra umph. And we also remember those teachers that made us feel awful. And that’s kind of the binary in which dance exists in some ways.
And it’s hard because I love to make people’s dreams come true.
My dream since I was four was to come to New York and be a part of the New York art scene, whatever that meant. So to be running a company that’s making its mark in New York, specifically in Harlem, feels so good and I feel very fulfilled by that. So I do know that dreams can come true. I know that and I believe in that and I think that the power of positivity is crucial. So I love making people’s dreams come true.
Not every day am I going to be someone’s favorite person, but I hope in the long run, when you look back on whoever has had interactions with me, whoever’s had interactions with the company, feels that this was something positive in their life, and something that showed them a different side of themselves.
Maybe it showed you that you could do something you never dreamed possible. And I think that is the goal of a leader, at least the way that I lead. I want that to be positive. I want you to feel possible.
As both artistic director and choreographer of the company, you’re shaping how the organization operates as well as its artistic identity. How would you describe your artistic voice today and has that grown or changed?
Definitely more confident.
The season that I presented this year had two premieres and a work in progress and they’re so different than anything that I’ve presented before. And even when things weren’t coming out in my head the way that I wanted to, I really just trusted myself and trusted it.
At a certain point, you just have to trust yourself and trust your instincts. Like your gut is telling you something. Like she’s saying something and you have to listen to all of the things that you’re unaware of.
I made this piece, Migrate, and I can say this without ego, it’s a beautiful piece. And for me, I love beauty. I’m a libra so I’m guided by beauty.
But when it comes to dance, I’m very grounded, rooted in rhythmic, quick, twitch-like dynamic movement. I don’t really move in adagio and legato. I don’t tend to stay in those places. But this piece is that. It’s much more dramatic than anything that I’ve ever done.
And I don’t know that 10 years ago I would have been able to make a piece like that. I think that the longer that I’m in this and the more that I gain and accept all parts of myself, and the softer parts of myself, I can allow those to come out and express themselves.
You subscribe to two leadership philosophies: the servant leadership model, which is serving and empowering others, and disruption through inclusion, which is to intentionally bring in diverse voices to challenge the status quo. How have those two philosophies shaped the culture of EMERGE125?
I think for the better in the sense of seeing people at the highest level interacting with everyone equitably.
For a long time, it was just like me and one other person. So I think that in servant leadership, you have to be in service of something bigger than yourself. And part of mission-based organizations is that this is a passion play.
I will say that becoming a mother shifts the priorities in a whole different way.
And I had to become more grounded in how I approached my work, so I was very grateful for the servant leadership because it is about empowering others. So then when I did need to step back, people were ready because of how we had interacted for so long.
I also think for a lot of people that grew up during the time that I did, the arts were somewhat abusive. It was not a place to feel good about yourself. It was not a place where you were getting paid well. And once you could no longer serve that thing, that was it. You were very disposable.
And that’s not anything that I want anyone, regardless if you’re an intern to whether you’re one of my dancers to whether you’re an ED here to feel. There is no one that is disposable. People move on with their lives or people decide to do whatever, but the skill set that you’re bringing to the table, you’re here because you are valued. You are valued, period. And that is really, really important for me and leads directly into this kind of disruption because I think that within dance as an aesthetic, there are certain types that are valued more than others.
And I wondered, what if we didn’t do that? What if we invited everybody? What would happen then?
I think a good time is what’s going to happen. I want to create a place in which the dancers are impressed with each other and enjoy each other and are in awe of each other. And then, the audience feels that. And then they’re surprised.
Another way that I love to disrupt is that I believe that dancers are best suited for literally anything they want.
The amount of discipline that we have – and I’ve worked with a lot of other genres, so other artists forgive me – but I don’t know that they can go toe to toe with dancers in discipline. Those things cross over.
I have dual directorships because of what I learned in dance. Because when I toured, I understood what it was to have empathy, to be othered in a different way, to understand and be respectful of other people’s culture, to be able to captivate your heart and your mind without words. I learned to be on time. I understood not to look at the clock when someone is speaking to me. These little things that are baked into our DNA.
I didn’t go to school to learn how to be an ED and to learn how to be in QuickBooks and learn how to write grants. I did it by doing it. And by living at an age where there’s the internet. So I needed to figure out how to do these things that I knew people could do.
When something goes wrong on stage, you figure it out immediately, in real time. And that’s a skill that a lot of people don’t have. And that’s just second nature to us.
And I think that [dancers] just have such a beautiful way of looking at things differently. You have to have the people that are brave enough to do that. And for me, 100% it’s dancers all the way. I really want to empower us to be bold and to really trust that what we’re learning is more than steps.
One thing that stands about EMERGE125 is your connectivity with the community. What role do you believe artists and art organizations have in civic engagement?
With great power comes great responsibility. And art is powerful. And I think it’s important for us to remember our histories. For me, as a Black woman, I would not have been welcome in a lot of these spaces. So we are always standing on shoulders, no matter who you are, you’re standing on someone else’s shoulders that fought to get here.
And so I do think it is our responsibility, as the challenges of our time come to the forefront, that we are in response to that. Because I think that’s a very particular response.
We recently wrapped up our annual Juneteenth celebration for the organization, but it started off as a demonstration. It was a demonstration in Harlem that I organized with four other artists. And we had thousands of people peacefully marching throughout Harlem, and then landing to take a knee silently. And then we dispersed, and that’s it.
That type of organization, that type of empathy, that type of community, it doesn’t exist everywhere. I don’t know if that exists in corporate America. But where I do know that it exists is within the arts.
I do know because we have had to depend and rely on each other in a different way for survival. So I think it’s important to put it on your chest because that’s the best way to honor those that came before us. So for EMERGE125, Juneteenth is a day of service.
The company has the annual Juneteeth event, you’re going to Macedonia for a cultural exchange residency this summer, and you also work with the Classical Theater of Harlem. How do each of these different explorations inspire your work?
I’m always curious about how art can serve other art or art can serve… dot dot dot. What’s really exciting about working with the Classical Theater of Harlem is that when I am done making the abstract things that are in my head and heart, I have to switch how I approach movement and make sure that everything that I’m doing is moving the story along. That’s a beautiful challenge.
So if you take the craft of choreography seriously, then you love a challenge. And I love being able to do that.
This is my 13th production with them and my 10th year with them. And it’s really beautiful because it’s not a musical. Because with the musical, you get this theatrical break where you suspend reality and everyone just accepts that we’ve broken into song and that’s lovely.
[We are] not doing a musical but still incorporating movement. And so I think when people see bodies telling stories this way it becomes the multiple entry [concept]. Fortunately for us, we don’t need words to tell stories. We don’t need words to communicate. And so we can still get them to the heart. We can still have them understand what’s happening in the scene, even if they’ve lost the language. So I really love doing that.
And the flip side of that is that Classical Theater of Harlem shows are free. So the service to the community is unbelievable. The sense of community is unbelievable.
With Macedonia, talent doesn’t know a zip code.
I love to share my art and I think that is what's so powerful in dance - you don't need language.
But being able to go through the ministry of culture, to be able to share American culture, to be able to share my art with people that have never seen it, and that I’ve never had any type of interaction with, that just feels so great. And I’m so excited to understand what I’m going to learn from this.
As you look ahead to the next decade of EMERGE125, what excites you the most?
I think what excites me is the unknown.
I’m not someone who’s bothered by change. I feel like change is life. That’s something that it’s inevitable.
So I’m curious where I will be in my artistic journey. I’m so curious about what type of collaborations will come, as I’m thinking about puppetry and conservation and what collaborations look like outside of the normal designers. I’m really curious about what all of our civil and civic engagement leads to.
It just feels like a possibility. It feels very exciting to walk into this unknown feeling very solid in the foundation that we have. I hope that we will be able to continue to make high quality art, pay artists what they deserve to be paid, engage people in the ways that are exciting for them, and push boundaries so that we surprise ourselves in extraordinary ways.
Featured Image of EMERGE125 Artistic Director Tiffany Rea Fisher by Lisa Keegan.
