Resilience Dance Company Stl

RESILIENCE Dance Company (RDC) is a nonprofit, contemporary modern dance company with a mission to create exceptional dance experiences that fuel human connection. RDC’s work is rooted in building healthy, sustainable dance spaces that put artists first and enable curiosity, play, and creative risk taking. Since 2019, RDC has engaged artists and strengthened communities through performance, education, and outreach programs. 

Last season, RDC reached 3,128 audience members and 128 dance students across over 100 zip codes. We created seasonal or project based jobs for 70 paid artists and danced in 22 performances. We are a growing, local nonprofit increasing our impact every season. Read on to learn more about how RDC creates positive, equitable environments that nourish dance artists and the communities they serve.

A Message from Emily Haussler - Founder and Director

"Artists are the lifeblood of a community - they keep it vibrant, moving, and alive. Like blood flowing through the body, dance artists carry stories, questions, and shared experiences that speak to our humanity. RESILIENCE Dance Company is one of the hearts that keeps this community beating. We nurture dance artistry in St. Louis and connect diverse audiences with exceptional dance experiences that fuel human connection.

Donations to RDC flow directly back into the community as jobs, accessible performances, affordable youth programs, community collaborations, and professional development - building a more positive, sustainable arts ecosystem. 

This Give STL Day, we are raising funds to support the return of Collective Realities in February 2027 - a unique performance that platforms the emergent choreography of RDC’s Company Artists, set on up to 25 community dancers. Our $16,000 goal reflects the total cumulative artist pay needed for this 3 month project.

We’re proud to amplify the voices of St. Louis artists and foster connections across communities. Now more than ever, dance holds the power to remind us of our shared humanity. I invite you to make a critical donation and become part of the movement that keeps this vital work alive."

Testimonials from Collective Realities, 2025

"Collective Realities was collaborative, spirited, thought-provoking, liberating, and empowering. Discussing self identity, improvising and exploring in the early stages of the piece, experiencing what the other choreographers had to share, coming together for warm up class, freestyling backstage during the show, meeting new people and sharing stories about our different backgrounds and shared experiences--this show was a lot more than a performance for me. It really embodied what dance is all about." -2025 Dancer

“While the greatest sentiment of the evening was undoubtedly the wonderfully diverse range of voices in our community and the beauty that comes with pure creative inhibition, it would be a disservice not to acknowledge the impressive and generous feat of an organization (one only in its sixth year at that!) not only offering time and space to its own artists to develop and grow their own creative ideas, but being able to provide equitable financial, career, and health resources for a group of over 15 local artists, particularly in the face of such tumultuous times in arts funding.” - St. Louis Dance HQ, Collective Realities

"It was superbly crafted, saying just enough but not too much. The performers were very much sensing each other, and communicating with every movement in meaningful ways. Very satisfying to witness." -2025 Audience Member

Company Reviews

"I find Resilience Dance Company to be one of the most exciting things to happen to St. Louis' dance community in years. Their research-based movement approach and embrace of improvisation have captured my attention every time I've been fortunate enough to see them perform." - St. Louis Dance HQ 

"In every way, Entry Points is an unrelenting scream. A scream of joy, a scream of thirst, and a scream of triumph. For its first mainstage production on an elevated proscenium stage, Resilience delivered an evening of visionary artistry and rigorous physicality that not only parades the immense growth of its own company, but continues the rocketing forward of Saint Louis’s dance scene as a whole." -Will Brighton for St. Louis Dance HQ

"The group of performers felt like a cohort of individuals and even in unison no one was lost to complete uniformity. I look forward to seeing more from this group of artists and from the company which seems to be seeking to innovate the way we foster and champion dance artists and careers in St Louis." - Melissa Miller for St. Louis Dance HQ