Emerson Davis

Emerson Davis is a first-year student in Performance Studies at NYU Tisch, with a background in theater, film, and live performance. Her work is driven by an interest in storytelling that engages directly with political and social realities, especially how identity, power, and representation are performed both on and off stage. She is particularly interested in the ways institutions shape narratives and how performance can challenge or interrupt those systems.

Currently, Emerson is developing work that blends performance, writing, and media, often drawing from real-world events and archival research. She is also interested in expanding her practice into directing and producing across theater and film.

Outside the classroom, she continues to engage with performance communities and creative collaboration, building on her experience in professional theater and youth arts education.

Why Performance Studies?
I chose Performance Studies because I’ve always understood performance as something bigger than theater. Growing up as an actor, I was trained to think about character and storytelling, but I became more interested in how those same ideas exist in everyday life how people perform identity, how institutions construct narratives, and how power operates through visibility. Performance Studies allows me to connect my creative background with my interest in politics, culture, and real-world systems. It gives me a way to not only create work, but to question and analyze the structures that shape it.

Education
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
B.A. in Performance Studies (in progress)

University of North Carolina School of the Arts
High School Diploma (Drama)