Emma Portner (born November 26, 1994) is a Canadian professional dancer and choreographer.

Early life

Portner was born in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and began dancing when she was three years old. She started dancing at a competitive studio in Ottawa before spending her summers with

The National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

. While in Ottawa, she also attended Canterbury High School's specialized arts program in her dance stream. When she was 17, she moved from Ottawa,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to train at The Ailey School. She dropped out after 5 months to begin her professional career.

Career

Portner created some of the choreography for Jim Steinman's ''

Bat Out of Hell The Musical ''Bat Out of Hell: The Musical'' (promoted as ''Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell: The Musical'') is a rock musical with music, lyrics and book by Jim Steinman, based on the ''Bat Out of Hell'' album by Meat Loaf. Steinman wrote all of the songs, ...

''. In 2015, she choreographed and starred in Justin Bieber's music video for his song "

Life is Worth Living ''Life Is Worth Living'' is an inspirational American television series which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 12, 1952, to April 26, 1955, then on ABC until April 8, 1957, featuring the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Similar ser ...

". She also created choreography for Bieber's

Purpose World Tour The Purpose World Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, in support of his fourth studio album '' Purpose'' (2015). The tour started on March 9, 2016, in Seattle, Washington, and concluded on July 2, 2017, in London, ...

. In 2019, she was nominated for Arena Dance Competition's "Best Female Dancer" of the year. ''

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'' magazine also listed Portner in "PAPER Predictions; 100 people to watch in 2019". Portner has appeared on the covers of the magazines ''Dance Spirit'' and ''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including '' Point ...

''. , her work has been displayed in a variety of environments including

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, ''

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'', Sony Pictures, late night television and in professional ballet. She has movement directed indie music stars such as

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Maggie Rogers Margaret Debay Rogers (born April 25, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Maryland. Her big break came when her song "Alaska" was played to Pharrell Williams during a master class at New York University's ...

, Half Alive and

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and performed at prestigious venues like the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

Jacob's Pillow Jacob's Pillow is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for a Summer dance festival. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive archives a ...

, the Oslo Opera House,

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

and Theater Champs-Elysees. In 2021, Portner's first ballet and acclaimed work "Islands" for the Norwegian National Ballet was selected to tour with culture shaping choreographers Crystal Pite, Jiri Kylian, and Ohad Naharin. At 26 years old, she received a glowing review stating that "Emma Portner shines extra bright in Dialogues Star Parade" and "in an evening bursting with movement, one of the least known choreographers stood out". In 2021, Portner portrayed

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in '' Ghostbusters: Afterlife'', a role shared with an uncredited

Olivia Wilde Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House'' (2007–2012), and has appeared in the ...

and vocally with

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...

Personal life

In January 2018, actor Elliot Page announced his marriage to Portner on an unspecified date. The couple met after Page noticed Portner on Instagram. In December 2020, Page publicly came out as a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that inc ...

. Portner expressed support for him coming out that same day on her Instagram account, saying she was "so proud" of him. The couple had separated in the summer of 2020; Page filed for divorce in January 2021, and the divorce was finalized in early 2021. Portner had previously identified as lesbian. However, she declined to speak publicly about her own gender identity and sexual orientation after Page came out as a trans man.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portner, Emma 1994 births Living people Canadian choreographers Canadian female dancers People from Ottawa 21st-century Canadian dancers LGBT dancers LGBT choreographers LGBT actors from Canada Canadian women choreographers