About

Emery Uyehara's performing and teaching career has taken him from his hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii to Tokyo, Japan to San Francisco to Chicago to New York, the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and, finally, to northwest Arkansas. He received his early ballet training on scholarship in Hawaii with North Carolina School of the Art's former Ballet Master Nolan Dingman, the University of Hawaii's Yasuki Sasa, Hawaii State Ballet's John Landovsky and Alaine Haubert, formerly of the Joffrey Ballet and the JKO School. He continued his training in Chicago with Larry Long, Homer Bryant, Joel Hall, Warren Conover, Anna Paskevska and Marjorie and Maria Tallchief. He's been a member of Ballet Hawaii, Hawaii State Ballet, Hawaii Ballet Theater, Svalander Dance Theater, Third Wave Dance Theater, Duluth Ballet and the Des Moines Ballet/Ballet Iowa. Emery has been a choreographer/dancer for several trade and cabaret shows on the strip in Waikiki including The Lullaby of Swing and The Lavender Follies. Emery's had guest appearances with Nebraska's Ballet Midwest, San Francisco's Joe Montoya Dancers and Maria Tallchief's Chicago Ballet Workshop. He's choreographed, performed and/or taught for City Ballet Theater of Milwaukee, the Honolulu Acrobatic Troupe, Des Moines' Chamber Dancers, Iowa Dance Theatre and Ballet Theater Des Moines. He also starred in and co-choreographed the Arabian Prince role in the C.Y.Stephens Auditorium production of The Nutcracker. He's currently an adjunct instructor of ballet and pas de deux at the Arkansas Arts Academy. Emery's favorite roles include: George Balanchine's Pas de Dix from Raymonda, the Cavalier from Nutcracker, Prince Florimund from Sleeping Beauty, Kennet Oberley's Russian Trepak from Nutcracker, Jane Cassel's Bette Davis Eyes, Joe Montoya's Al Jarreau Suite, Paul Brown's Tarentella and his own choreography for the Arabian Slave from Nutcracker. Emery's dance teaching career spans decades. He began at the Honolulu City Dance Center and continued at the University of Hawaii, Duluth Ballet School, Chicago City Ballet Workshop, School of Ballet Iowa, Robert Thomas DanCenter and other schools including the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. His former students have gone on to dance professionally with many ballet companies, including the Stuttgart Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Saint Paul City Ballet, Dayton Ballet, American Midwest Ballet among others. Emery is also a former instructor of the martial arts: including Okinawan Judo, Black Panther and Seven Brothers Son Shi Kung-Fu. He's also a tournament winning and former volunteer assistant coach in folk-style wrestling. He was three-year varsity letterman and tri-captain of his high-school team when it won its first conference championship. Emery's professional performing career also includes gigs as a stand-up comic and as an award-winning journalist, personality and talk-show host with WHO, KGU and KQMQ. He's a retired syndicated radio news anchor/reporter and former reporter and producer for WHO-TV and hosted the Iowa Radio Network's monthly "Call The Governor" show. Follow Emery's tweets at @SirDanGuy.

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