At 20 years old, Canberra native Emily Williams has been living alone in New York for five years.
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At just 15, Emily moved to the city to pursue her dream of becoming a prima ballerina after being offered a four-year traineeship at the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School.
Having completed her traineeship, Williams plans to stay in New York City, where she is currently a junior artist with the Akjun Ballet Theatre, who perform and rehearse all over the city.
"I would love to continue dancing and exploring this amazing city, I am planning to stay in New York as long as possible," Williams sais.
A former student of Jackie Hallahan's Canberra Dance Development Centre, Williams believes she is one of only a small handful of dancers to have moved internationally after training solely in Canberra.
In her time in New York, Williams has had the opportunity to be the principal dancer in a re-staging of renowned choreographer Bill T. Jones' Power/Full, as well as working with the Joffrey Ballet School on the Nutcracker for three of her four years at the school.
Joffrey Ballet School's artistic director Era Jouravlev described Williams as an "extremely valuable asset to the dance world".
"I have seen many dancers come through the school, but Emily is one of the most talented, dedicated and professional," Jouravlev said. "She is an exceptional artist."
Williams said moving so far away from home was a challenge to begin with but that she quickly found her footing.
"I had to start cooking, cleaning and doing laundry as well as finding my way around the city all at once," she said.
"I became independent more quickly than I would have otherwise.
"I will always miss Australia and the reasons I miss it change constantly - I always miss my family. With Australia and NYC both being my home, I always miss one when I'm in the other."
