Team

Founder and Director Emma Laverty is a proud Boorooberongal Clanswoman of the Darug Tribe, and further back an ancestor of the Darkinjung Tribe, living and creating on Ngunnawal Country (Canberra, ACT). 

Emma started dancing with Rhonda Sloper School of Dance in 1989 in Campbelltown, NSW. Emma's early teaching career began in 2003 teaching dance classes under the guidance and mentorship of Kathryn Bonner at Kathryn Bonner Academy of Dance and assisting Trudy Rodwell at Bradbury Primary School. In 2014, Emma moved to the ACT and continued her dance teaching and independant arts practice. In 2022, Emma launched Project Dust with the support of her Darug Elders, local Ngunnawal Elders Aunty Roslyn Brown and Aunty Dr Caroline Hughes OAM, Dance Edge School of Performing Arts, Canberra Dance Collective, West Belconnen Child and Family Centre - ACT Government, and The Setllar Company. 

Emma is a qualified dance teacher with a Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Management, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and is a certified Keep Kids Safe in Dance teacher. Additionally, Emma has studied chair yoga, meditation, and holistic counselling with Jodee Marques at Holistic Health and Wellbeing. At Curtain University, Emma has studied Performing Arts for Educators, Child Development for Educators, Exploring and Contesting Curriculum, Teaching and Learning in a Digital World, Language and Literacy for Teaching, Learning Theory for Educators, The Numerate Educator, and Educators Inquiring About the World. In her spare time, Emma trains Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and assists classes at Dark Carnival.

Emma is keenly interested in using the arts to build young mob up strong in their culture and confidence. She has delivered many cultural engagement workshops and performances across ACT schools and community platforms. As someone with lived DV and SA experience early in life and struggled to stay in school herself, Emma works to keep youth engaged in school to achieve their educational goals. With better education comes greater employment, health, and social outcomes for our people and our community as a whole. ​

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