Elliot Emadian Headshot

Elliot Emadian

Assistant Professor

School of Performing Arts
College of Liberal Arts

Elliot Emadian

Assistant Professor

School of Performing Arts
College of Liberal Arts

Bio

Elliot Reza Emadian is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, and scholar. Their work occurs in the intersection of dance and choreography,  video art and editing, sound and music, light and photography, and popular culture. 


Elliot has presented their choreographic work including at the Ailey Citigroup Theater and Abrons Arts Center in Manhattan, NY, the Center for Performance Research and Triskelion Center for the Arts in Brookyln, NY, and the Boston Center for the Arts. In March 2024, they performed their solo Jack and Diane in its second iteration at In the heartland, split-bill performance at Links Hall in Chicago, IL. In addition to extensively performing their own work, Elliot has performed and toured including as part of works by Sara Hook, David Parker, Jenefer Davies, and Rachel Rizzuto. 

Video mediation has been a consistent choreographic tool for Elliot since they began making work. They move reflexively between live and recorded material as a method for eluding or elucidating the failures of either. They have created video works in several genres including lyric videos, music videos, screen dances, and video art studies. Most recently, they were commissioned by Links Hall in Chicago, IL to create MASCCHAOS as part of the 2021 Co-MISSION festival of new works.

Elliot collaborates prolifically with artists across the US in artistic and scholarly production. Soon, they will premiere a new score for a section of Lucia Gagliardone's "While I was homegrowing" (The Tank, NYC, November 2024) and will perform in Sara Hook's "Dicks" and "Homemade Fish AKA Jesus was a mermaid" (TBA, 2025)

Elliot sits at the intersection of disability, neurodivergence, and queerness. They hold a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Washington and Lee University and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois, where they studied with Dr. Cynthia Oliver, Jennifer Monson, Sara Hook, Tere O’Connor, and other esteemed faculty in and outside of dance.

Currently Teaching

PRFL-351
0 - 1 Credits
RIT Dance Collective is an audition-based company providing in depth dance experience and training for RIT students. Students participate in School of Performing Arts and NTID Department of Performing Arts dance productions on campus and touring opportunities as well as engaging in community performances.
PRFN-240
3 Credits
This course explores the evolution of dance from early movement to the diverse representation of dance found in the world today. Emphasis will be placed on the study and appreciation of dance through an exploration of theory, history, and the perspective of cultural and social impacts, along with traditional and experimental dance forms. Students will experience and reflect on a survey of dance forms through lectures, discussions, literature references, and viewings of film and live performance.
PRFN-246
3 Credits
This course is designed as an introduction to dance as a developmental, expressive, and creative art form. Students will learn how the artistic principles and movement concepts of: basic rhythms, dance technique, improvisation and beginning choreography; impact the creation and execution of modern dance. Students will discover new technical capabilities regarding flexibility, strength, coordination, balance and their comprehension of modern dance in relation to music, space, time and energy. Through practice and application, students will understand the unique structure of their own bodies and expand their awareness of self and others. Theoretical aspects of dance related to historical and socio-cultural contexts will be explored. Learning about dance performance and history through the use of images, video, practice and discussions as well as reading and writing assignments will be part of the course. No previous dance experience is required.