|
"I think Kate and Chris's dance is great for two old people."
This article needs to be updated. This page is currently out of date and needs to be infused with recent information. |
| This article is about the former studio head of The Next Step. You may be looking for the actor who played Presley. You can find the disambiguation page here. |
| “ | She's abrasive, she’s annoying, she’s in-your-face. But despite that… I really like her. | ” |
— Hunter about Emily, "Time To Move On" | ||
Emily is a contemporary dancer, who is a former studio head and dance captain of The Next Step Dance Studio.[6] She is currently co-running a professional dance tour with Michelle.[6]
Emily is introduced as a long-time member of A-Troupe, as well as its bossy dance captain and proclaimed ruler of the E-Girls.[7] Her position at the top is threatened once Michelle arrives, and she is ultimately demoted from her captaincy, and the E-Girls disband.[8][9] While bitter at first, Emily eventually sees the changes as an opportunity to better herself and accepts Michelle's eventual offer of being her co-captain.[10]
Emily injures her knee in the semi-final round at Nationals, effectively ending her dance career forever.[11] Needing to move on, Emily attends business school and graduates at the top of her class.[12]
Emily is eventually offered the position of studio head of The Next Step Dance Studio, but is challenged by Michelle.[13] Emily eventually becomes co-studio head of The Next Step with Michelle.[14]
Emily is then offered to join Michelle in creating their own tour. Emily eventually accepts her offer and leaves The Next Step. [6]
Biography
Before the show
Emily started attending The Next Step Dance Studio at age 2 and had been at the studio for 14 years as of Season 2.[15] At various times, she was a member of all the troupes at the studio—Baby Ballet, B-Troupe, J-Troupe, and A-Troupe.
At age 5, Emily met Eldon, who later became deeply infatuated with her, though Emily did not reciprocate his feelings. In the second grade, she dated a boy named Bobby G.[16]
When Emily entered A-Troupe, two years before the events of Season 1, she befriended Stephanie and created the E-Girls. Her sister Riley eventually joined her in both A-Troupe and the E-Girls.
During her second year in A-Troupe, Emily became the troupe's dance captain.[7]
Season 1
For the third year in a row, Emily auditions for A-Troupe. Still the leader of the E-Girls, she feels threatened by the arrival of Michelle.[7] While Emily makes it onto A-Troupe (which doesn't surprise her), she is angered that Michelle is also given a spot in the troupe.[17]
Emily is certain that she will be dance captain again and is flabbergasted when Michelle is given a shot at the title. With Stephanie's help by way of throwing the opposing routine, Emily is able to retain her title.[18] Nonetheless, Emily is jealous of Michelle and continues to antagonize her.
Emily discovers that Michelle has been leading a secret dance in an attempt to dethrone her as dance captain. In spite, Emily lies to Kate that Michelle has been cyberbullying her. Although, when Kate cannot find Michelle's phone to verify that the text is from her, Emily reveals that she knows about the secret routine. Emily is forced to watch the routine after which a vote for who should be dance captain is held. She is devastated when Stephanie is the only person who votes for her, causing her to lose her title.[8] Emily grows piteous and resentful at the betrayal of her fellow dancers and comes to dislike Michelle even more. She also comes to realize that, seeing as Stephanie is the only female still standing by her, E-Girls is over.[9]
Emily becomes appreciative of Eldon for his continued support of her and gains feelings for him. When Eldon consoles her about Michelle placing her in the back row, Emily kisses him[19] shortly followed by the commencement of a romantic relationship.
Emily realizes that she no longer belongs at The Next Step and, without notifying any of the members of A-Troupe, leaves with Stephanie to audition for Elite Dance Academy.[20] Even though Stephanie does not make it onto the studio, Emily does and goes forth in attending,[21] creating a rift in her relationship with Stephanie. Emily struggles with fitting into the new atmosphere, of which she confides in Eldon about.[22] Nonetheless, she rejects A-Troupe's plea for her to return, especially since she knows that they are only asking her to return because Daniel injured himself. Emily begins to move up the ranks at Elite and feels as though she is finally fitting in until she overhears Amanda and Lucien conversing about their plan to kick her out before Regionals. Now aware of the fact that Elite never actually cherished her as a dancer, she returns to The Next Step.[23]
Emily encourages the team after they are defeated by Seeds.
Emily's attitude shifts with her return to A-Troupe and she vows not to stir up any drama. Upon her arrival, Emily reconciles with Stephanie. After motivating the team when they are defeated by Seeds in a dance battle, she is asked by Michelle to be co-captain, a position that she eventually accepts.[10]
As Eldon begins to distance himself from her, Emily grows suspicious of Michelle and Eldon's relationship. At Regionals, she finally confronts Eldon and asks him if he has feelings for Michelle, to which he concurs. Emily is heartbroken and reflects upon how Michelle receives everything on a silver platter. Although elated when her team wins the competition, she remains devastated about her break-up, and shoots Michelle a look after retrieving the trophy.[24]
Season 2
Emily hasn't spoken to anybody since Regionals. Emily arrives at the studio's party, attempting to be calm and collected, but actually conveying the true nature of her emotional damage. In an attempt to prevent further misconceptions, Emily publicly reveals that Eldon is no longer dating her, but is instead dating Michelle.[25] Despite pretending that she is okay with Michelle and Eldon dating, Emily still wants to be with Eldon.
Emily asks Hunter how his date with Michelle went.
It seems as though the perfect fix is on the horizon when Hunter, a boy that Michelle danced with in Madison, arrives.[26] Emily decides to take part in his plan, hoping that she will get Eldon back. As the plan is set into motion and begins to work, Emily realizes that she is developing feelings for Hunter. One day she asks him to go see a concert with her, but discovers that he is already going to the same concert with Michelle.[27] After Hunter and Michelle's date, Emily approaches Hunter, who admits that while on his date with Michelle, he wasn't thinking about Michelle, but was thinking about her. She is kissed by him, and she confesses that the kiss is everything she has ever wanted a kiss to be.[27] Emily begins dating Hunter.[28]
While at the mall, Emily sees Amanda speaking to Lucien about her plan to prevent the team from getting to Nationals and realizes that she is a double agent. Emily isn't necessarily shocked, as she had previously warned the others that letting Amanda onto the team was a bad idea, but decides that she needs to tell somebody nonetheless. Emily notifies Riley of the news, resulting in Riley creating a plan to make everybody hate her so that Amanda will trust her, making it easier to take her down. Emily likes the plan, but knows that nobody will believe that Riley is mean and takes the task unto herself. After yelling at Riley while she auditions for the Nationals solo, the dancers immediately turn on her.[29]
Emily cries in Riley's arms.
Emily is devastated at how easily the team turned on her, but knows that she must continue on with the plan for the sake of the team.[29] Emily goes forth with the plan and makes the team believe that she has resorted to her old ways. Emily tries to gain Amanda's trust, and is eventually forced by Amanda to break-up with Hunter in order to prove her loyalty to her, to which Emily unhappily complies.[3] Emily is taken under Amanda's wing and is forced to take part in her countless schemes to disadvantage the team. Although Emily complies, she tries her utmost to make all of the plans backfire. Emily is suspended from the studio when she is suspected of stealing the Nationals money, although it is ultimately Amanda's doing.[15] She becomes officially crestfallen and believes that all hope is lost but, with Riley's help, the truth is revealed. Thus, Emily is let back into the studio and apologized to.[30]
Emily cries over the fact that she is letting her team down.
Emily begins to see West in a new light after witnessing him putting money in the books at Culture Shock.[30] She is eventually asked out by him while they are at Nationals. Emily would like to go on a date with West, but has become so unconfident in herself that she has a hard time believing that he truly likes her. Before the team is to perform in the semi-finals, she is presented with a book about fire fairies via West, mythical creatures that West believes she is like. Emily is newly enlightened and tells him that if he dances well in the semi-final routine, she'll consider going on a date with him. Emily is confident as she dances in the semi-finals, but steps wrong during the routine and badly injures her knee. She limps off the stage after the performance and tearfully realizes that she cannot dance in the finals,[11] a concept that is verified by a physiotherapist.[31]
When Emily overhears Amanda expressing her wish to dance in Emily's place, Emily urges Kate to let her, knowing that she is the team's only hope at winning. She is elated when The Next Step wins Nationals and is met with a kiss from West after the routine.[32]
Season 3
Emily continues to struggle with her injury. When she is approached by West while practicing at the ballet barre, Emily realizes that too much is going on in her life for her to date West, and remains his friend.[33]
Emily looks at Riley in shock as she reveals the truth about her knee.
After a doctor's appointment, Emily discovers that she won't be able to dance for up to a year; her knee is so badly injured that if she dances, she could damage it permanently. Emily refuses to listen to the doctor, knowing that she has to participate in the impending dance battles for a chance at being on the Internationals team. She tells Stephanie about the true nature of her injury, but makes Stephanie promise not to tell anybody about it. Emily approaches her teammates and lies that her knee is healed, but Riley reveals the truth. Emily is forced to leave the studio indefinitely and falls out with Stephanie, angry that she broke her promise and told Riley.[34]
Emily is initially devastated at being unable to dance, but comes to terms with her fate with the help of the Dance Captain Diary. Having to pass it down to somebody else, Emily gives the journal to Richelle since she sees potential in her as a future dance captain.[35]
After seeing Stephanie dance one day, Emily realizes that Stephanie belongs on A-Troupe and urges Stephanie to audition for the open spot. When met with Stephanie's hesitation, Emily thrusts her into the audition.[36]
Season 4
Emily convinces Riley to break up with James.
Emily arrives at The Next Step with the intention of getting Riley back on track and getting the team to Regionals, upon Michelle's request.
Emily advises Riley to break up with James.[37]
Emily gets to the root of the problem of Piper and Alfie's qualifier duet, and decides to kick Piper off of it, as she believes that Piper is being unprofessional unlike Alfie.[37]
Emily chooses Skylar as the team's dance captain.[38]
After Noah admits that he can no longer do the duet, Emily urges Riley to ask James to dance at the qualifier. When James refuses, Emily urges him to compete, which he does after flipping a coin.[39] After the team wins the qualifier and as James prepares to return to London, Emily urges him to have faith in his relationship with Riley.[40]
The Off Season: Season 1
Emily meets Michelle and Riley in Neutral Grounds and proposes a fresh start for The Next Step.[41]
Emily attends regular meetings with Kate and Daniel about the future of The Next Step Dance Studio.[12][42] She is made studio head and is tasked by Kate with getting The Next Step to Regionals.[43]
Season 5
Emily announces that she is the new studio head.
Emily announces that she is the new studio head and that Daniel is her choreographer. Wishing her team to be a team of purely technical and disciplined dancers, Emily does not pick any hip-hop dancers, breakdancers, J-Troupers, or doubters onto her team.[43] Emily promises Michelle that she will be more utilized on her team than she was previously, but is upset when Michelle questions her choices and eventually quits A-Troupe in favour of forming her own troupe. Emily believes that Kate would never allow such a thing, but surely enough, she has; Michelle will be head of TNS West, while she will be the head of TNS East.[13]
When Michelle frantically approaches her upon the news that only one of their teams can compete at Regionals, Emily proposes that their teams compete against each other for the spot, although she finds it apparent that her team will win.[44] Although, wanting the competition to be fair, Emily gives Michelle a cheque so that she can pay for more dancers.[45]
Emily angrily throws her pen upon Noah defecting to TNS West.
Emily asks Eldon to choreograph a hip-hop section in her routine. She becomes angry to learn that Eldon choreographed for her and Michelle at the same time.[46]
Emily refuses to postpone the dance battle when Michelle asks her after losing a dancer. Although, she is put in a pickle when Noah defects to Michelle's troupe.[47] Her predicament only worsens when she is forced to pull Zara from the line-up upon discovering that she has a math competition an hour before the battle. Emily convinces Michelle to turn the competition into one where five dancers from either team compete against each other, even bribing her with a spot on the team if she wins. Emily re-imagines her dance to accommodate five dancers and gets Elliot to join her team. Emily is ecstatic when her team wins the battle.[48] When Elliot is revealed to have been a professional dancer and Emily subsequently kicks him off the team, she refuses to accept defeat and demands that Noah be on her troupe again. Emily is infuriated when Kate's witnessing of the teams' fighting causes her to disallow the studio from competing at Regionals and proposes that her and Michelle's teams no longer contact each other.[49]
Emily is infuriated when she is tricked into being locked in her office with Michelle by Ozzy. Although, this experience allows Emily to express the reasons behind her resentment toward Michelle and sympathize with Michelle's situation as well, forming a mutual understanding. With Michelle's help, Emily manages to pick the lock. Emily is surprised to find both her and Michelle's troupes together, with Kate present as well. She reluctantly goes along with the teams' merge and her new title as Michelle's co-studio head.[14]
When approached by Daniel with the belief that Richelle is injured only moments before they are to film the qualifier video, Emily refuses to acknowledge it, claiming that Richelle never explicitly admitted to such. This lapse of judgment results in Richelle being hospitalized, much to Emily's guilt. Emily is shocked to hear that Kate does not think she and Michelle are fit to remain studio heads.[50]
The Off Season: Season 2
When Richelle is in the hospital for her injury, Emily, along with Michelle visit her and bring her flowers. They attempt to convince her that nothing at The Next Step has changed, despite both of them having been fired as co-studio heads.[51]
Season 6
Emily and Michelle are co-managers at Shakes & Ladders, whilst Miss Angela is the new studio head.[52] However, when Piper is kicked off A-Troupe, Emily and Michelle help her with her dancing and admit that they really miss being co-studio heads.[53] After Kate fires Miss Angela and the studio head position is open again, Emily and Michelle convince Kate to give them one more chance, and are rehired as co-studio heads.[54]
Emily and Michelle announcing their return as Studio Heads to A-Troupe
In order to help with the studio's financial difficulties, Michelle and Emily rent out Studio 1 to AcroNation, the new acro troupe run by Thalia.[55] However, when AcroNation qualifies for Regionals, and therefore becomes their competition, tension is created between the two studios and, upon discussion with Kate, Emily and Michelle decide that AcroNation is no longer allowed to rent out Studio 1.[56]
The Off Season: Season 3
Emily is excited to be buying The Next Step with Michelle and feels betrayed when Michelle informs her that she will be leaving The Next Step to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer.[57] She meets Nick during her campaign against The Next Steep although she does not know that he is the new owner of The Next Step.[58]
Season 7
Emily ignoring Michelle, as the latter tries to fix their troubled relationship
After learning that Michelle is leaving The Next Step, Emily resents her for this and subsequently treats her with animosity, even going as far as to attempt to silence the farewell party in Michelle's honour and ripping Michelle's old costumes apart. However, after a heart-to-heart talk with Michelle, Emily comes to accept Michelle leaving and tries to use her heart more, instead of always using her head.[59] This leads her to allow Lily to re-audition for A-Troupe and she even encourages Lily to persist in trying to be accepted onto A-Troupe when the rest of the dancers are still against the idea.
In an attempt to further enhance their relationship, Emily, admittedly unwillingly takes part in a series of team-building exercises with Nick. Following her reluctance to properly participate in these activities Emily admits that she misses Michelle and that Nick will never fill that void.[60]
Upon learning of A-Troupe's intentions to compete in both Dancemania Season 13 and Nationals, Emily is skeptical of A-Troupe's chances of being able to properly divide their time between the two competitions. Emily also strongly advocates for Nationals to take priority over Dancemania.[61]
Emily unearths that any dancer who competes at Dancemania is considered a professional dancer and as such cannot compete at any future competitive dance competition, including Nationals. Emily is distraught when A-Troupe choses to compete at Dancemania over Nationals. Although she does admit that Nick is good to have around.[62]
Emily is ecstatic when Cleo and Summer pitch her the idea for B-Troupe to compete at Nationals in place of A-Troupe. She organizes for Gavin Davenport (head of Absolute Dance) to watch B-Troupe's 10-person dance and to determine if they are good enough to compete at Nationals.[63] She is clearly happy when B-Troupe are permitted to compete.
Later in the season, she finds out that Michelle was her secret admirer. Emily was first adamant her secret admirer was Nick. Michelle asks Emily to help with a contract she was offered. Emily critiques the contract and helps Michelle realize she was worth more than they were offering. Michelle promptly quits the deal. Michelle later offers Emily a deal for them both to create a tour from scratch. [64]
Emily tells Nick about Michelle's offer, in an attempt to persuade her to stay Nick offers up a 50% stake in the studio. She eventually decides to accept Michelle's offer and leaves The Next Step without saying goodbye to A-Troupe, reminiscent of her exit in Season 3.[6]
Dance Captain Diary
Off-screen, Emily goes on a "silent retreat", while Giselle helps Michelle on their tour.[65]
Season 8
While on break from her tour with Michelle, Emily visits her sister, Riley,[66] who is living in New York with her boyfriend, James,[67] all of which happens off-screen.
Personality
Emily orders the dancers to start from the top of the routine.
When Emily is dance captain, she is bossy, judgmental, and harsh to her teammates; she usually says "no" to everything, especially in regards to her peers' ideas.[68] She is also a very loud "mouthpiece"[69] who strives for perfection and is extremely high-maintenance, as seen through her hatred for public transportation.[10] Although this persona appears to reign for much of her initial appearance, it is partially a wall that Emily puts up in the hopes that her peers will respect her.
Emily genuinely cares about others and, despite her apparent conceit, Emily is actually very insecure and often requires validation from others in order to convince herself of her talents. The truth of her insecurity is made clear as Michelle spends more time at the studio, as she is so fearful of Michelle succeeding more than her that she does everything in her power to enact Michelle's downfall.
Emily is easily subject to betrayal due to her emotional nature, resulting in her shunning individuals from her life who have wronged her regardless of her relationship with them, exemplified when Emily kicks Riley out of E-Girls.[70] Despite her sentimentality, Emily is often fearful of showing others her true emotions and, furthermore, refuses to let her emotions cloud her better judgement.
Emily confronts James about him hurting Riley.
When Emily is brought to terms about her negative persona, she makes an effort to be change. She lets her positive traits of motivation, loyalty and charisma shine, resulting in her becoming co-captain. Emily becomes genuinely remorseful for her past self and occasionally fears that she may revert to such a persona. Despite her change of heart, Emily still has her flaws. Even though she possesses an undeniable likability, she can be annoying, stubborn and abrasive.[71]
Physical appearance
Characteristics
Emily has light skin and blue eyes. Her hair is short, straight and light blonde in earlier seasons, but becomes darker blonde and curly after Season 6. She almost always wears her hair loose with a headband in Season 1, but sports various different styles in later seasons, notably wearing complex braids between Season 2 and Season 4, and sometimes in Season 6.
Emily bears little physical resemblance to Riley, her younger sister, aside from both of them being short and fair-skinned.
Attire
Emily's signature colours are red, blue and black, and the majority of her outfits throughout the series feature at least one or more of these colours.
Emily's wardrobe is very feminine, even while dancing. In Season 1, her dance attire is quite elaborate, and often includes multiple layers; she notably wears skirts for rehearsals, which is unusual amongst the dancers on the show. Although her style remains similar in Season 2 and 3, she begins to favour simpler outfits, and starts wearing shorts.
Outside of dance, Emily usually wears skirts or dresses. She mostly wears block colours, though some of her Season 1 clothes feature floral patterns. Once Emily becomes studio head, her outfits become more business casual, and are looser and more flowing than in previous seasons.
Abilities
Dancing
- Acro: Emily cannot tumble, the extent of her skills being a cartwheel,[16] but she can perform acro moves that require notable flexibility, such as a straight needle. Chloe once described her flexibility as "insane".[7] Emily initially claims that acro is merely "gymnastics", but later it appears as though her stance has changed.[68]
- Contemporary: Emily's dominant style of dance is contemporary.
- Hip-hop: Emily struggles with hip-hop moves in Michelle's Regionals routine, and admits to Eldon that she finds it difficult to dance outside her comfort zone. While he helps her to learn the moves, her hip-hop proficiency is still not high enough to convince Michelle not to put her in the back row.[72] When Emily runs her first A-Troupe audition as studio head, she immediately eliminates dancers with no technical training, meaning that many hip-hop dancers do not have the chance to audition;[43] however, Emily's regular involvement with Leon Blackwood indicates that she thinks hip-hop is still worth learning.
- Jazz: Despite being a contemporary dancer, Emily has said that she likes to perform a more jazz-orientated style of it.[73]
Other
Artistic
- Piano: Emily can play the piano.[29]
Relationships
- Main article: Emily/Relationships
Appearances
Dances
- Solos
.gif "Giphy (3).gif (1.65 MB)")
- Duets
- Group dances
- Group Dances
- Solos
- Duets
- Group dances
- Group dances
Trivia
- If Emily could dance with anyone, it would be Fred Astaire.[68]
- If Emily could be a jam or a jelly, she would be strawberry jam, because she thinks jelly is disgusting.[68]
- Her dream job is to be a Broadway dancer, but if it doesn't work out she would want to be a lawyer.[74]
- Emily over-pronounces her words when she is lying.[72]
- Her favourite movie is Pride and Prejudice.[75]
- Emily has a driver's license.[74]
- She is disgusted by buses.[10]
- Emily loves scones[60] and sushi.
- Emily is one of four main characters to be "demoted" to be a recurring character, before returning as a main; the other three are Stephanie, West and Daniel.
Quotes
- Main article: Emily/Quotes
Gallery
|
"Look at that painting!"
To view the Emily gallery, click here. |
Notes
- ↑ Emily joined The Next Step Dance Studio when she was two and met Eldon at the studio when they were five, meaning that Emily and Eldon are the same age. Eldon is one year older than James since Eldon joined the studio two years before James did and James joined the studio when he was six. Given that James has to be sixteen in Season 2, seeing as he is able to drive, Emily has to turn 17 in Season 3 in order to still be a year older than him. This also indicates that Emily's birthday has to be somewhere between September and December.
References
|