Emily May is a British-born, Berlin-based arts writer and editor specialising in dance and performance. An alumna of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and a member of the Dance Section of the U.K. Critics’ Circle, she contributes reviews, interviews, and features to publications including The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Frieze, ArtReview, Kinfolk, Dance Magazine, Pointe, Art Basel, The Stage, and Springback Magazine. She has also written programme essays for the Royal Opera House and Sadler’s Wells.

Emily is currently the editor of Dance Retailer News, an online industry magazine serving the dance retail community, published by New York-based Dance Media. She also works as an editor and proofreader for CN D Magazine, the bilingual online publication of France’s Centre National de la Danse. Alongside her editorial work, she mentors emerging critics through Resolution Review at The Place, London, and Aerowaves’ Springback Academy, and has delivered guest lectures at institutions including ArtEZ, Amsterdam University of the Arts, and the Bratislava Academy of Performing Arts. Since 2025, she has been a board member of Dancefest, a community dance organisation based in her home county of Worcestershire.

An experienced moderator and speaker, Emily has led panel discussions and post show discussions at festivals including Aerowaves’ Springforward, Lugano Dance Project, Soundance Festival Berlin, and Czech Dance Platform. She has also contributed to discussions on dance writing as a panellist. Emily produces and hosts Terpsichore: Voices in Dance, a podcast exploring the lives and careers of leading figures in dance and the pioneers who inspire them. Guests have included Siobhan Davies, Andrea Miller, Oona Doherty, Aditi Mangaldas, Shobana Jeyasingh, and Stina Quagebeur.

Emily’s writing is informed by her former practical experience in the dance industry. She has presented and discussed her choreographic work at venues including Somerville College, Oxford, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Brewery Arts Centre, as well as at academic symposia at Royal Holloway, University of London, organised by the Society for Dance Research, and the University of Vienna.