Emily Haussler is the Artistic and Executive Director of RESILIENCE Dance Company (RDC). Since founding RDC in November 2019, Emily has choreographed two full-length works (Making Room; Stanzas & Sculptures), RDC's first dance film (There Are No Rules), and several smaller pieces for the company's repetoire. She has furthermore developed multiple programs and opportunities to uplift dance artists in the St. Louis community and beyond (Seen: STL; Resource Center for Artists; Dance 24).

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Overall, her work centers on building healthier, more sustainable dance communities by equipping dancers with resources for their mental health, physical wellbeing, and artistic success. She believes in the power of collaboration and in challenging the toxic norms of the dance world, seeking to create high quality, insightful dance works inside of healthy dance spaces.

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Emily holds a B.A. in Dance and Biology from Washington University in St. Louis, and has trained primarily in ballet, modern, and improvisation. Prior to founding RDC, Emily danced professionally as a Trainee for Nashville Ballet (2018-19), as a Trainee for The Big Muddy Dance Company (2019-20), and as a freelance artist. Her choreographic repertoire consists of over a dozen works, including her first ever full-length concert, fine lines between, which debuted in Nashville, TN in April 2019. Emily continues to work as a freelance dancer and choreographer outside of RDC and teaches dance at Arts in Motion in St. Louis.

Hanna Pierce started her training at the School of Midland Festival Ballet under the artistic director Susan Clark. She has attended highly reputable summer intensives on scholarship such as Milwaukee Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Glenda Brown Choreography Project, Oklahoma City Ballet and Burklyn Ballet Theater. After graduation she was accepted into the Alonzo King LINES training program where she was able to work with some of the top choreographers/companies in the world such as Alonzo King, Lee Wei Chao, Maurya Kerr, VimVigor, Wayne McGregor Company, and the Martha Graham Company. She then received a company contract with Common Thread Contemporary Ballet in St Louis under the director Jennifer Medina. She currently dances with Ballet 314, Emily Duggins, and competes in the Open Professional International Latin category in ballroom.She has also performed in many immersive  STL events such as St Louis Dancing with the Stars, AARP Dancing in the Commons, St. Louis Classical Guitar Society, Community Arts Festival, Pride St. Charles, and St. Louis Spicy Nights.  She furthermore teaches at Convergence Body and Dance Center as well as St Louis Academy of Dance and St. Peter’s Academy of Dance. This will be her third season as a company dancer with RESILIENCE Dance Company.

Emily Small received her formal ballet training at Newport Academy of Ballet, the affiliate school of Island Moving Company, in Newport, RI. In 2019, she received her BFA in Dance and BS in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, composition, ballroom, improvisation, contact improvisation, and West African. At UMass, she was the recipient of an annual talent scholarship and additionally was selected to premiere her thesis choreography at the American College Dance Association convention in the spring of 2019. She went on to become a trainee with Island Moving Company, where she worked with filmmaker Marta Renzi. For the 2020-21 season, she trained with the Big Muddy Dance Company, of St. Louis, MO. Her dance education has been supplemented by Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, Urbanity Dance, Rioult Dance, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Goucher Summer Arts Institute. Emily is certified in STOTT Pilates and has been teaching Pilates and dance classes since 2018. She’s had the pleasure of performing choreography by David Dorfman, Thomas Vacanti, Barbara Diewald, Jen Pollins, Paul Dennis, Betsi Graves, Jackie Nowicki, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Rodger Blum, Staycee Pearl, Donna Salgado, Carolyn Dorfman, Ted Thomas and Francis Ortiz.

Chrissy Clair grew up in a small town an hour outside of St. Louis. At the age of 3, she started dancing at Ballet Arts Center in Farmington, under the direction of Kimberly Gavin Anderson. During this time, she fell in love with dance and realized she wanted to pursue dance as a career. While in high school, Chrissy also trained at COCA St. Louis. After graduating, she continued her education and dance studies at Webster University’s Department of Dance. While she was there she had the opportunity to learn from their amazing staff members, such as; Besty Brandt, Maggi Deuker, Alicia Graf-Mack, Beckah Reed, James Robey, Michael Uthoff and many others. Her thesis work “shades of crimson” was to be presented at American College Dance Association in March 2020 but the conference was canceled due to Covid-19. In May 2020, she graduated with a BFA in Dance,also receiving departmental honors. After graduating, she started teaching at her home studio, Ballet Arts Center and at MJ Performing Arts Academy. Chrissy returned to Webster as an Alumni choreographer for their New Works Concert in fall 2020. The last two summers she has danced for Jacob Henss and Josiah Gunderson in their shows “do NOT go gentle” (2020) and “Weigh Station” (2021), which premieres the first weekend of August. Chrissy is beyond excited to be starting her professional career as a 2021 Apprentice with RESILIENCE Dance Company!

Emily Duggins Ehling is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Raleigh, North Carolina. She received BAs in Dance and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in 2018. At Wash U., she studied under David Marchant, Cecil Slaughter, Christine Knoblauch-O’Neal, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, and Alicia Graf Mack. She has danced professionally with MADCO 2, The Slaughter Project, and Black Irish Contemporary Hip Hop Company. In addition to her own full length premieres, Emily has choreographed works for The Big Muddy's Convergence Trainees, MADCO 2, and Consuming Kinetics Dance Company. Her choreography has been selected for the USITT Lighting Design for Dance Competition, the Exchange Choreography Festival, the Missouri Dance Organization Annual Conference, and the CommUNITY Arts Festival. Passionate about sharing her love of dance with kids, Emily directs the dance program at Arts in Motion in Brentwood.

Hannah Bialecki was born and raised in Detroit Michigan, where she also received her BFA in Dance from Wayne State University (May 2019). While in attendance, Hannah was on the Dean's List and awarded talent/academic scholarships for all four years. Through the mentorship of Meg Paul, Biba Bell, Eva Powers, Shaina and Bryan Baira, and Brandon Koepsell, Hannah was able to extensively study ballet, modern, improvisation, contemporary, choreography, and STOTT Pilates. Hannah has also attended workshops with dance companies such as Complexions, Twyla Tharp, Dance Exchange, and BAIRA. Following graduation, she accepted a trainee position with The Big Muddy Dance Company for the 2019-2020 season. Hannah is excited to enter her third season as a company member with RESILIENCE Dance Company, based in St. Louis, MO.

Kami Miller graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University. While attending WMU, Kami had the privilege to perform works by Aszure Barton, Lew Christensen, Brendan Duggan, and Christian Denice among others. She was also a member of Western Michigan University’s touring ensemble, Western Dance Project, where she had the opportunity to perform in Chicago, New York City, and throughout Michigan. In 2019, Kami joined The Big Muddy Dance Company as a convergence trainee where she performed works by Brian Enos, among other choreographers. She also joined RESILIENCE Dance Company for their inaugural season in 2019. Kami is going into her third season as a company member with RDC.