Picture this: You are a trained Ballet dancer who decided to attend uni part-time at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, and then you challenge yourself to apply for an esteemed fellowship award in order to pursue your PhD and goal of bridging dance with health for a positive change in the world.
Emily Davis (Am’21) did just that and is living the reality of it each day as a Thouron Scholar.
Growing up in Gainesville, Florida, Emily moved to Boston, Massachusetts at age 16 to train at the Boston Ballet School. It was there that she completed her high school education at the Newman School, graduating with her International Baccalaureate diploma in 2015. After formal education in dance and academics, Emily decided to pursue ballet full time by joining the Philadelphia Ballet as a professional ballet dancer. However, never deterred from a challenge, she also enrolled part-time at Penn with a focus on biology. In 2021, Emily graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor’s degree and as a Dean’s Scholar.
Finding Purpose and Direction in a Pandemic
What was next for such a creative and science-minded individual? The Thouron Award, of course!
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had time to reflect on my career as a ballet dancer and was ready to make a life change through which I could use my background in dance and health to make a positive impact,” Emily recalls. Our fellowship award presented her with the ideal opportunity to make such a life change while having support to study in the U.K. with a global leader and national centre for dance health, the Scottish Ballet.
“Compared to other funding streams, the [Thouron Award] allowed me the flexibility to create the unique cross-institution degree program through which I am pursuing my PhD. [It] allows me to work in a meaningful, interdisciplinary way with field experts in dance and allied health,” Emily explains. As a PhD candidate at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University, which is validated by the University of St. Andrews in partnership with the Scottish Ballet, Emily is studying dance, health, and social science all at once. Wonderfully, the Thouron Award funded two of the three years of her PhD programme.
“Dance for health is an emerging field of study that understands dance as a means of promoting positive health and well-being, presenting the ideal intersection of my background and interests in dance and health sciences. Furthermore, entering the field has been incredibly rewarding in allowing me to extend my personal interest, understanding, and investment in dance to support those living with chronic neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis [MS],” Emily states. The Arts are vital to cultural enrichment as well as to health and well-being.
Achievements and a Strengthened Community
Thus far, Emily has achieved many milestones in her PhD programme! Her first PhD publication, a systematic literature review on dance for multiple sclerosis, won the Herndon Award for the International Journal of MS Care’s best journal article in 2024. It is a recognition that Emily is deeply honoured to have. Additionally, building positive relationships across Scotland, from the Central Belt to the West of Scotland and to the Northern Orkney Islands, in various research contexts has had a profound impact on Emily.
“As an American, it has been a privilege to meet and understand the experiences of people whose life experiences are so different from my own, yet, at the same time, share together the unifying experience of dance,” Emily warmly expresses. This is a sentiment she also holds for the Thouron community she will forever be a part of as a Scholar as well.
The Thouron Award brings many relationships with fellow Scholars across the globe as well as within the location where our Scholars choose to study. From building a relationship with another former professional ballet dancer, Anna Carapellotti, to having Thanksgiving dinners with current Scholars, Emily enjoys having the pleasure to make friends with other American Scholars who have remained in the U.K. post-degree courses via their fellowship award.
“I attended the interviews in London and was also a passenger for the Queen Mary 2 [QM2] journey, as well as an attendee at the NY Anniversary party following the cruise docking. I also have some fun stories from onboard the QM2, such as ballroom dancing with the first Thouron, John Berry, co-working with Alan in the Commodore Club, dancing with Beatriz Brown in G32, and boarding with John Morgan, a Glaswegian, over all things Glasgow,” she fondly reminisce.
For Emily, the Thouron Award has been critical in her ability to establish herself as a dance for health researcher in the U.K. because of the freedom our award affords her to discover her own research agenda and priorities. “The award has allowed me to develop my research and put my research on the map through conferences and exchanges. It has provided me with financial freedom to enjoy my life here in the U.K., living in an idyllic neighborhood in Glasgow while travelling domestically and abroad,” Emily states.
In her final year of PhD studies, Emily works as a Consultant Researcher for the Scottish Ballet and a research assistant for a Leverhulme-funded fellowship in addition to a Royal Society of Edinburg-funded collaboration grant — both focused on arts, health, and movement. “I also conduct some lecturing and assessment work across the undergraduate and post-graduate modules at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. After completing my PhD, I aim to further explore the intersections between dance, health, and society, understanding not only what impact dance might have on the health of individuals and communities but also how, why, and in what contexts,” Emily shares.
Overall, the enthusiasm she has received surrounding her PhD research has Emily keen to continue building and expanding her research in dance for MS, with possible expansion into considerations of other arts modalities and other clinical and non-clincial populations. Whether she does this impactful work in the U.K. or stateside remains up in the air.
We couldn’t be more proud of the profoundly unique work Emily has pursued as a Thouron Scholar.
What could your future look like as a Thouron Scholar?
Learn more about the Thouron Award — one of the most prestigious and generous academic scholarships in the world, offering funding and cultural exchange between the University of Pennsylvania and U.K. institutions.