Emma Rutter Blood Clarke

Emma Clarke is a third-year PhD student in the Theatre and Drama program at UC San Diego and a cohort member of UCSD's Critical Gender Studies specialization. Emma's research is anchored in performance studies and dance studies with a particular interest in spectacle and spectatorship of 20th century embodied performance by women as well as the performativity of materiality and objects in relation to women's quotidians. Emma has presented her scholarship at conferences held by the Dance Studies Association, American Society for Theatre Research, and Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. In Spring 2021, Emma curated a public digital archival exhibit “Choreographic Innovation at the Pillow,” for the Jacob’s Pillow Archives as part of a master’s practicum. She has also served as a dramaturg for UCSD productions of Orlando by Sarah Ruhl and Bunny, Bunny by Raja Feather Kelly.

Emma was born and raised in New York City and began her professional career in arts fundraising most especially as a grant writer. Emma holds an M.A. in Performance Curation from Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance and a B.A. in Dance from Bard College where upon graduation, she received the Ana Itelman Prize for Performance.

Education 

B.A. in Dance, Bard College

M.A. in Performance Curation, Wesleyan University