Emily Buss, Guest Instructor

Emily Buss, Guest Instructor

Emily Buss began dancing at the age of four, and started studying with Deanna Doty at the Champaign Ballet Academy when it first opened in 1998. She danced with the Champaign Urbana Ballet from its inaugural season in 1998 through 2004, where her repertory included Spanish and Arabian in The Nutcracker, Big Swan in Swan Lake, Medora in Le Corsaire, and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty. After graduating from Wellesley College with degrees in Political Science and French (where she also studied at Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre in Cambridge, MA, and danced with Wellesley’s AscenDance Ballet Company), she returned to CU Ballet as Ballet Mistress, dancer, and instructor at Champaign Ballet Academy from 2008-2011. In 2011, Emily relocated to Washington, DC, where she received her Master’s Degree in European Studies, with a focus on Cultural Diplomacy, from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She has since worked at the Woodrow Wilson Center and Americans for the Arts. Since 2019, Emily has worked at the Embassy of Switzerland to the USA in Washington, DC, as Senior Public Diplomacy Project Manager, where her work entails creating cultural connections to Switzerland for U.S. audiences across disciplines, including film, theater, and dance. Emily continues to take classes at DC-area ballet schools, including The Washington School of Ballet, and since 2014, she has danced with Classical Repertory Dance Ensemble, for which she has also served as co-director since 2017.