What we do!
EMPRESS stilt performers are improvisational dancers on stilts. We stride the earth like fairy-tale giants, explore movement, and animate the unique costume characters. We play! We Art Bomb! We take our audiences on a journey into the spontaneous magic of Now. As a company, EMPRESS presents a fascinating range of characters to key events in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. EMPRESS also responds to clients by creating new creative visual elements for a range of event briefs.
Who is Emily?
Founder / Director of EMPRESS - Emily Buttle
Hello! I have been a stilt dancer for 25 years, costume designer and maker, artistic director and manager. In my early twenties I learned how to walk on stilts in Dunedin (NZ). EMPRESS was born in 1996 after I left New Zealand, headed for Europe with a pair of stilts my Dad had made, and a home-made costume (first costume pictured right). My dream was to become a ‘large-scale-spectacular-performance-artist.' Arriving in London, my first gig was at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, where I was lucky enough to perform solo in the 100,000 strong crowd at the David Bowie concert. So exciting! That summer I also danced on stilts in the Edinburgh Festival, The Love Parade, Phoenix Festival, Venetian Carnivale, Notting Hill Carnival, and so many more… It was beyond amazing.... I was hooked! What followed has been an incredible lifetime of dancing, colour, events, travel, and laughter.
Who are we?
EMPRESS Stiltdance includes a wide range of dance, circus, and theatre professionals including choreographers, costumiers, acrobats, aerialists, visual artists, managers, promoters, singers, scientists, yogis, teachers, and independent artists. Many of us are full time performers and have dedicated our lives to getting out to every event that comes along. All together we combine our skills and love of movement to give the EMPRESS acts a unique and joyful quality.
1997 – 2005 Amsterdam & Europe
After a whirlwind first year in Europe (where I danced in as many events as possible), I got an invitation from Streetwise / Stef Arntz to come and perform in Holland. Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Streetwise started to get me work at local events. During that time I sewed butterfly, flower and silver suit costumes and trained the first company of performers. There began a flow of gigs at street-theatre festivals around The Netherlands. Thanks to my incredible agents and legend performers, those years were a colourful blur of touring Holland, Belgium and Northern Germany, and covering hundreds of festival and events. We were also invited to perform in Asia, Japan and the Middle East. Heading over to the UK I made the Snow Queens and the Fuschia Flowers for appearances in England.
2005 – 2011 Back in Wellington, New Zealand
Back in Wellington (NZ), it was time to find a new troupe. The Wellington Circus Trust was just starting out and there were a number of talented aerial artists keen to play on stilts. Creating new choreographic dance work we toured a lot of New Zealand with a range of roving acts and ambitious aerial / stilt shows. I designed a flower installation (BUZZ), as well as working on décor and stadium opening performances. That year saw the birth of the Mantis, the acrobatic Anabuloos, Frozen, Tango Lillies and the Waves. During that time, EMPRESS was also regularly invited to perform in Hong Kong and China.
2005 EMPRESS Melbourne, Australia
After dancing together in Europe for a number of years, Jodie Foreman launched EMPRESS Melbourne to run concurrently with the New Zealand team. Training an incredible team of new performers, Jodie got out to Australian events with the Butterflies, Flowers, Snow Queens and Silver Suits. Eighteen years, many more costumes, and a few generations of performers later - the Melbourne troupe is still going strong!
2011 – 2022 Sydney, Australia
Interested in expanding the business, I moved to Sydney (AUS). Combining the management for both states meant EMPRESS could reach even more events. During that decade, I made the Blossoms, Lady Bugs, Golden Flowers, Solar Bugs, Silver Frost and many more. We got out to over 100 Australian events every year, also being lucky enough to tour to Saudi Arabia, Doha, Thailand, Fiji, China and back to Hong Kong.
2022 Queensland, Australia
Out of the wardrobe and up to Queensland went a collection of Flowers, Butterflies, Lady Bugs and Tango Lillies, and we followed, dancing at events in and around Brisbane. Thanks to the bubbly energy of Tanya Burkhardt, we are building a presence in Queensland and are looking forward to new creative adventures.
2022 Back to New Zealand
The Covid era brought new insight and it was time to move home to New Zealand. 2022 was a wonderful time of reunion with family and old friends. Back in Christchurch after 30 years it was time to make the Cirque Bugs, the Rainbows and light antlers for the Snow Queens. 2023 then solidified EMPRESS into distinct teams across Australia, each with a talented Dance Lead. The EMPRESS teams - focused around Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand, continue to thrive. Currently, EMPRESS is exploring the possibilities of adding new design projects and shows to the mix.
I am excited to see where the next phase of the EMPRESS adventure takes us all!
“Working with Emily Buttle from EMPRESS Stiltdance took the stress out of managing a large scale, complex project that had the potential to kill the weak. The final result was outstanding. Finding someone this creative with good management and business skills is a rare find”
Geoff Turkington
Sky City Casino, Auckland. New Zealand
