Biography

Emma Sandall is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and creative producer working across performance, movement, and storytelling. Her career began in classical ballet, dancing with companies including Béjart Ballet Lausanne, The Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, and West Australian Ballet.

Since then, her work has expanded into theatre, film, music, and interdisciplinary creation. She has written for major arts publications, directed and produced new performance works, and collaborated with visual artists, musicians, designers, and directors across Australia, the US, and Europe.

Her recent solo work An Ambivalent Woman of 37, inspired by Sheila Heti’s novel Motherhood, premiered in Sydney in 2024 and toured to Nashville later that year.

Emma has a Graduate Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management at Deakin University.
Additional training includes Writing for Performance (NIDA); Pilates and personal training certification.

Photographer Taylor Phoenix

Photographer Jennifer Morse

Artist Statement

I’ve made stuff for as long as I can remember. It started in my backyard—twenty-cent performances, self-scripted and earnestly staged. I spent hours alone in studios, not just practising, but making and imagining. 

My practice is powered by two equal forces: the invitation of context, and the sting of a conundrum. A story fragment. A philosophical question I can’t shake. I’m curious about what happens when real-world environments crash into internal obsessions—when a practical setting meets a deeply personal dilemma. That’s where the work begins.

I use whatever form the idea demands—movement, voice, projected image, animation, text, music. The result is often layered, playful, sometimes absurd. I’m drawn to the sublime ridiculous: where meaning hides in the margins and contradiction sharpens the edges.

What matters most to me is that the work lands—that it meets people where they are and gives them something: beauty, laughter, disruption, relief.

Areas of Practice

  • Performance (dance, theatre, voice)
  • Creative producing
  • Story and script development
  • Interdisciplinary work (projection, animation, sound)
  • Arts writing and editorial
  • Teaching, workshops, and mentorship

Experience Snapshot

  • 25+ years in professional performance
  • 15+ years producing, directing, and devising original work
  • 10+ years in arts writing (Dance Magazine, Dance Australia, The Australian)
  • International touring with solo theatre and ensemble works
  • Public art and community engagement (e.g. Snowflakes of Hudson, Rip the Nut)
  • Interdisciplinary stage projects including Fleck and Flecker and An Ambivalent Woman of 37

Training

  • Graduate Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management (Deakin University)
  • Tour Producing (PAC Australia)
  • NIDA Screenwriting Short Course (2025)
  • Pilates & Personal Training qualifications
  • BA Dance – Edith Cowan University / WAAPA
  • Professional training: The Royal Ballet School (London), Australian Ballet School (Melbourne)

Resumé [link to PDF]

Work with Emma

Emma works with artists and organisations to develop distinctive, resonant work. Her approach combines artistic sensitivity with clear communication, planning, and creative insight.

If you’re seeking a producer, collaborator, or creative strategist to shape or elevate your next project—get in touch.

[→ Contact Emma]

Photographer Tiffany Bessire