Ep.9: Emma Phillips: The Unexpected Art of Foot Juggling
Reading time: approx 22 minutes
Intro
I first heard Emma’s name long before I ever met her. When I went to train in Beijing in 2015, she had already left the school about five years earlier, but her name still came up through people who had been there before me. Amanda, who I only knew online at the time, had trained at the school the same year as Emma and had even lived in the same dorm. So through her I kept hearing little stories about this New Zealand foot juggler who had split her training between Beijing and Wuqiao.
In 2016 I tried to return to the Beijing school for another eight months, but they did not approve my application. At the time I was disappointed, but looking back now I understand why. I was not the most obedient student during my first year. The school had strict rules and a 9 pm curfew, and meanwhile I was twenty five, twenty six, and enjoying the sort of freedom you have at that age. We used to climb out the dorm window on the fourth floor, shimmy down the wall like bold acrobats, sneak past the security guards who were asleep at the gate and go clubbing.
One night we went out before curfew, around 8 pm, slipping out when the house lady wasn’t watching. Once she locked the building at 9 pm there was no way to get back in, so earlier that evening we had already left our fourth floor bedroom window open. We stayed out until about 3 am and when we came back, the main doors were locked, as expected. We ended up building a human tower to get one of the guys up to that open fourth floor window. He climbed through, ran downstairs and opened the first floor window for the rest of us. Everything was going perfectly until the last person climbing in knocked over a huge flowerpot. Compost everywhere. We scattered back to our rooms as fast as possible before the house lady woke up.
The next morning she called our names over the intercom and brought us to the office. She walked us to the hall where the smashed flowerpot was and asked what happened. We all denied it. Then she switched on the CCTV, rewound the footage to 3 am and there we were, climbing in the window like a troop of acrobats. Even with the footage playing in front of us we still denied it. She kept it to herself, probably because she would have been in trouble too for sleeping through the whole thing, but we were very close to being kicked out.
A few months later I got the official email saying I was not approved to return. The line that stayed with me was, “We have comprehensive evaluation about students, so we can choose according to student’s behavior.” They wished me good luck and that was that. In hindsight, fair enough. I really had not been the most compliant student.
That was when I reached out to Emma. I knew she had trained in Wuqiao and I asked if she thought I could go there instead. She replied straight away, and that conversation became the start of our friendship.
In 2016 I went to Wuqiao for the first time and stayed for about a year, up until 2017. After that I spent some time working abroad. I had contracts in the Maldives and in the UK, and then in 2019 I wanted to knuckle down on Bubble Bum and work closely with the seamstresses I had been collaborating with since my very first trip.
In early 2019 I returned to China and stayed in my seamstress’s house. I ended up spending almost the entire year there, working with her, planning Bubble Bum and training at a very small local school. It was such a simple, creative time. No pressure, no big studios, just a huge open indoor space and a couple of mats.
Around then Emma had a gap between contracts and reached out to me. She wanted somewhere quiet to train and carve out time for herself again. I told her about the little school I was going to every day and she came to Wuqiao for six weeks. It was so cool that we got to train together so organically. We had this massive space to ourselves and the local kids would come and train around us. In the evenings we would go to a barbecue, have a couple of beers and just chill. It was one of the simplest and happiest periods of my life.
Those months in Wuqiao will stay with me forever, and Emma is a part of so many of those memories. So with all of that, here is our conversation.
(15 year old Emma pouring her heart out in a contemporary solo aptly named ‘Don’t Stop Dancing’ )
Backstory and Circus Discovery
Jess: So Emma, you started out as a dancer in New Zealand. What first pulled you from the dance world into circus? Can you talk a bit about that experience, where it took you?
Emma: I was utterly in love with dance as a child and always dreamed of being a dancer. But there came a time when I was around 15 when reality hit and I realised that despite having all the heart and passion I was no way near skilled enough to get into a dance program and pursue it as a career.
(I also have hip dysplasia which meant the more I was pushing myself in dance the less my hips were staying in their sockets!)
To 15 year old Emma that meant her world came crashing down, dance was my oxygen so I was completely lost.
I had never considered circus or really seen much of it, I’m from a small town in New Zealand so wasn’t ever exposed to it.
However I was naturally very flexible and had started attempting acro skills in dance classes, which lead me to finding photos of contortion online, printing them out then trying to bend myself into these crazy positions (the world was different place pre Instagram and Youtube!)
Then at a time when I was really struggling my Dad surprised me with tickets to Cirque du Soleil and my life changed.
It was like entering this new realm I didn’t know existed but had somehow always been looking for.
The combination of dance, flexibility, music and costume was intoxicating, a new dream was born that day and I started pursuing it right away.
I saw an article in a local magazine about Cirque visiting and it had a link to a circus school in Christchurch called Circo Arts. So naturally I highjacked my parents email and contacted the director of the school quite literally asking “How do I join the Circus??”.
Jess: Dance has clearly always stayed with you. Was there a moment where you thought, I do not just want to dance, I want to do circus? Can you talk a bit about this time in your life, when you started to make that transition?
Emma: Dance is such a vital part of me, it’s my first love and that will never change.
Even though I had to give up my dreams of being a dancer, I took that passion and everything dance had taught me through to my new journey of discovering circus.
I would find any excuse to incorporate dance into every assessment during my two years at Circo Arts, I did my Poi juggling assessment en pointe (I hated juggling with a passion!) Half of my aerial acts would be me dancing across the stage (cause I had literally zero strength!) So my dance background became immensely useful when I needed to create an act with next to no skill!
(Performing a career goal trick in a career goal contract, Strut n Frets ‘Blanc de Blanc’)
Falling in Love with Foot Juggling
Jess: Foot juggling is such a rare circus skill, especially coming from New Zealand , how did you first come across it? Did you already know before going to China that this was going to be your path, or was it something you discovered once you got there?
Emma: So once again my path was determined by Cirque du Soleil! I had been training circus for 2 years but still hadn’t found a discipline I really resonated with. I had hoped to train contortion but the circus school I trained at was very limited so it wasn’t possible.
Then one day I was watching a fundraising TV special where the guest stars were some of the artists from Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion that was currently in NZ, and the featured act; Chinese Umbrella juggling.
I was completely taken by just how delicate yet technical it looked, also to me it seemed so balletic like the artist was dancing with an umbrella on her toes.
It also looked incredibly difficult. My attitude at that time was pretty typical for a 19 year old; entitled, not particularly focused and lazy as hell. This was a discipline I was certain I would never be capable of.
But 6 months after seeing Chinese foot juggling for the first time, after I had been rejected for the second year in a row from the leading circus school in Australia (NICA) and working in some outright dire work environments in NZ I knew I needed to take action if I wanted to live my dream of working in Europe.
So I applied for a Chinese visa and set my sights on Beijing.
Jess: Can you remember the first moment you became obsessed with foot juggling, when it really clicked for you that this was your thing? Can you talk a bit about that stage of your journey?
Emma: I first went to China with the goal of learning foot juggling but I still wasn’t 100% I would love it or even get a handle on it, but the second I touched my first umbrella I was in love.
It was a very similar feeling to when got my first pair of pointe shoes when I was 12, it’s hard to explain the visceral joy you get from an object that feels like its a part of you you’ve been longing for. (Cheesy as hell but it’s true!)
So yes I was obsessed from the first day, but I think if I truely understood just how difficult training was going to be I wouldn’t have romanticised it so much!
Jess: I've always found foot juggling so fascinating like who was the first person that thought, 'oh, can juggle things on my feet? Do you know much about the history of it, where it came from? I think that'd be such an interesting part for our readers.
Emma: So Foot juggling actually has roots in many cultures but is thought to have been originated in China in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Foot Juggling is often a generational skill passed down specially in Italy, Spain, Mexico and Russia, so some artists were literally foot juggling before they could walk!
Jess: And I have to ask...isn't it kind of dangerous juggling tables? Like if the table falls on top of you? I remember in China they had this cage-like thing that sits over your head when you're lying down...it sounds terrible but it's just for protection. Did you ever have to use one of those, or do you just move out of the way if the table comes down?
Emma:
It sure is! The most common question I get from audience members is “is the table real?” And the answer is YES. It’s a solid wooden table with metal reinforced corners and weighs around 9kgs.
When I wanted to take a trick out of the lunge lines, my teacher in Wuqiao would tell me horror stories and show me scars of horrific table accidents to check I was prepared for what could happen.
And no I was not allowed the face cage! I asked my teacher if I could use it, she took a long look at my face and said “hmm not a face worth protecting” so she didn’t let me use it.
Instead when I trained I tied my table up to a lunge line that my teacher would hold, however this was not meant to protect me, this was to prevent me breaking the table and having to buy a new one.
Once you drop a trick or have a near miss it’s tough to not get spoked and get in your head, it’s a battle between your mind and your body to commit to a throw and not hesitate (which always ends in pain!)
But that’s why I love the contrast between the delicate, technical umbrella juggling and the pure power and adrenaline of table juggling.
I had never seen table juggling until I moved to Wuqiao, then the second I saw it I knew I wanted to learn, but again knew I wasn’t strong enough or brave enough to do it.
So once again I set myself a challenge to prove that I could step up and do something so terrifying and so far out of my ability.
( The famed lunge line, capturing the very start of the table juggling journey )
China and Training Journey
Jess: Why China? What made you decide to go all the way there to train, instead of staying in New Zealand or going somewhere like Europe?
Emma: By the time I finished 2 years of study at Circo Arts in NZ I walked out with an incredibly basic skill set, the school there focused on more street performance style shows, theatre, clowning etc, which was not really the sort of training I was looking for.
But because of my lack of skills, strength, conditioning and zero gymnastic background I couldn’t get into any other highly regarded circus schools around the world.
I still had my heart set on learning Chinese foot juggling so decided to go straight to the source. Although at that time (2010) there was barely any information online or people to contact to ask questions, I just sent off a video and weeks later received an invitation letter to take to the Chinese consulate.
Jess: You trained both in Beijing and in Wuqiao, how did those two places compare for you? What made you decide to move from Beijing to Wugiao?
Emma: I trained in Bejing for 5 months in 2010 and 6 months in 2011, the second time I went I felt a real shift in the teachers, they were not so interested in the foreigners and didn’t give them much attention during lessons. Also there were only classes 4 days a week. Even though Beijing was social with a group of foreigners all there together and having easy access to the city, it wasn’t the intense training environment I wanted.
I looked into other options and ended up catching a train to the small village of Wuqiao to visit the acrobatic school there.
I can’t explain it but the second I got off the train in this village with zero western influence, sheep on the road and donkey drawn carts I felt at home.
I try to trust my gut as much as possible, I have had so many times in my life where I reach a fork in the road. One path is safe and predicable, low risk the other is full of risks and the unknown, but it has the potential to change my life beyond measure.
I never want to live a life wondering what if. So I always take the challenge.
Once I moved to Wuqiao my real training began, I trained 6 days a week with a teacher by my side all day, plus in the evenings I trained by myself. The teachers were incredibly strict in Wuqiao, I would not be allowed to get up off my chair until I did a certain number of a trick. Which meant sometimes not getting up for over 30 minutes. I’d have swelling and scar tissue on my collarbones from the chair, and headaches from the pressure on my neck but I wasn’t allowed up.
I would cry in that chair with the fabric cover soaking up my tears, but I wouldn’t get up. Not until I had finished my skill.
I was treated like Chinese in Wuqiao not like a foreigner, the more language I learnt the more my teacher respected me and the more she would push me and warm to me. 
(The baby sisters of Wuqiao, beautiful bonds that began with the most basic communication.
Nothing warms your heart like being called ‘big sister’ and being handed their prized pickled chickens foot as a gift!)
Jess: I know you spent about a year in Wugiao, how was that time for you? Can you share what that experience was like, day to day?
Emma: My day in Wuqiao used to start with getting woken up by the national anthem blaring on the speakers, a quick breakfast of steamed eggs and fried bread. I would then start my training with an hour to 90 minutes of stretching assisted by my teacher. Every second day I would train contortion as I found my back couldn’t handle being pushed daily. Then I would train umbrellas for around 2-3 hours, focusing on each trick for sometime 30 minutes. Then after lunch I would train table for around 2 hours or as long as my legs lasted. Then potentially another hour of umbrellas to finish the afternoon.
After dinner I would have a training space to myself where I could play music and train whatever I wanted, mostly dance, conditioning and once I got an aerial point then aerial hoop and net.
I would then recover in my room, pray that there was hot water to soothe my sore body then go to sleep ready to do it all again.
Jess:When I moved from Beijing to Wuqiao it was a big culture shock, suddenly I was the only English speaker, and everyone else was from places like Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos. We had to communicate with just a few Chinese words, pointing, or even just gestures. After a year of that I felt like I'd forgotten simple English words. Did you have a similar experience? How was it for you adjusting to that?
Emma: There was definitely a more intense culture shock moving to Wuqiao, during my time there there were only a handful of young Egyptian and Nigerian students for a short time near the end of my year, but they trained in a different building, ate in a different room and had a lot more free time so I barely saw them. With our minimal contact and all my communication being in Chinese my English vocabulary suffered!
My time in Wuqiao changed me as a person, well changed or brought out who I really was. I was surrounded by poverty, extreme cultural challenges, I witnessed some very dark things, a life that was so far from the 21 years I had spent very sheltered and naive in NZ. Living in rural China gave me perspective, it made me challenge my morals and humbled the shit out of me.
Despite everything the most difficult part for me was the loneliness. Internet was hard to come by so contact with friends and family was minimal, also the life I was living was so extreme that at the time most people thought I was exaggerating so didn’t fully believe what I was living through.
I only heard and spoke Chinese, my inner voice and dreams were also in Chinese, I forgot what my voice sounded like in English. I used to talk to myself in the mirror to feel like I was having a conversation.
Jess: I remember at the end of my training, I felt a lot of anxiety about leaving that bubble of just eating, sleeping and training, and going back into the outside world with work and family pressures. How was that for you when you finished in China? Did you step straight into work, or did you also have that period of uncertainty?
Emma: After I left China I was lost. Completely and utterly. I had major culture shock when I arrived in NZ that I actually went back to Shanghai a month later!
The life I had been living and the things I had witnessed in China was so far from the life I left in NZ that I was overcome with anxiety constantly.
I also was completely lost about my career, yes I now had the skills but I dreamed of working in Europe and didn’t have a single clue about how to do it.
No one else form NZ had ever had the career I wanted so there was no one to ask advice, it was a long year of trying to figure out how to work in Europe and to adjust to this post China life. I was incredibly down during this period, I missed my life in China, I struggled to connect with people, I had developed intense social anxiety and would feel ill at the thought of being around people.
(Adding a personal twist to table juggling
Strut n Frets ‘The Party’ 2023)
The Work Behind the Skill
Jess: Did your family always support your circus journey from the beginning, or did it take a bit of convincing?
Emma: My family were definitely surprised at my decision to go to Circo Arts at 17 rather than follow my alternative path to study costume design. But they were supportive.
They always instilled in me the importance of having a plan B, another skill or backup in a way.
The arts as a career just wasn’t common back home and seemed incredibly risky so they wanted to make sure I was prepared. They were also clear that they would support me emotionally but not financially, which I am so grateful for as it made me incredibly independent from a young age.
They have definitely witnessed a range of performances throughout my career, (some of those early ones were far from the glitz and glamour of the European stages!) But they supported me the whole journey, although mum still covers her eyes when I juggle the table so I’m not sure how much she’s actually seen.
Jess: Foot juggling is such a tough discipline, and I'm sure there were many fails along the way. Did you ever feel like giving up and choosing something easier, or did you always know you were going to stick with it?
Emma: Oh 100% I felt like giving up! But I had made a promise to myself to push myself as hard as I possibly could, failing or giving up wasn’t an option.
With foot juggling I would sometimes go months of training one skill with zero improvement, it would even get to a point where I would regress. And right when I was about to throw in the towel I would have a breakthrough. One tiny glimmer of hope and I would be hooked again.
I really deeply loved foot juggling, I would also train aerials and still some contortion but I never wanted to change disciplines entirely, I would always have wondered ‘what if I’ stuck with it.
Jess: For anyone who hasn't seen foot juggling before, can you describe what you do on stage - some of the objects you juggle, like tables and umbrellas?
Emma: So basically I’m laying on a chair with my hips raised so my legs are up, I start my act juggling one umbrella, balancing, throwing spinning. Then build up to balancing four umbrellas precariously on one foot while I spin a carpet with the other foot and both my hands (epic multitasking) then just when the audience thinks its over, I change my shoes and get given the table. I then spin, flip, run and balance the table on my feet (and try to remember too breathe!)
Jess: How does your dance background show up in your foot juggling acts today?
Emma: I have always incorporated my dance background into my acts, from back when I had 3% skill so filled it up with 97% dance, to now where I scrutinise every line and moment in my act to see how I can improve it.
I also strive for impeccable musicality, in a lot of juggling acts the music is secondary almost background, but I aim to emphasise tricks by using the build of the music or accents in the piece. I’ve had directors tell me in the past that it’s near impossible to get any personality or connection from foot jugglers during their act as they are literally looking at the ceiling the whole act. So I have strived to fit as much performance, choreography and personality into all my acts.
(Another career goal trick 8 years in the making, now being performed 8 times a week in ‘Sabrage’ at the Lafayette in London )
Performance and Career Now
Jess: When you finished training in China, how did you first start getting professional work? Was it straight into contracts, or did it take some time to build?
Emma: It took nearly 2 years until I reached my goal of working in Europe.
I had no resources or information so felt so alone trying to figure it out. I learnt the hard way what not to do, I researched the shows I wanted to work in, asked lots of questions to people I met. But it was not easy, in a way it was much harder than my time in China cause I had no guidance, in China I had a teacher who knew best, now I had no one.
Jess: I see you've gone on to work with really big companies in Germany and London, and you've been traveling the world. Can you talk a bit about where foot juggling has taken you since finishing your training in China?
Emma: Foot Juggling has quite literally taken me all over the globe. Since 2015 I have been working non stop internationally (I’m slowly learning I do need time off too!)
I started with the German Variete Theatres performing in more than 12 of my dream theatres and shows across Germany over 5 years. I have worked on an exclusive luxury cruise liner all the way from private islands in Indonesia to the Norwegian fjords.
An absolute career highlight was also a season in New York City with Roncalli & Big Apple Circus for 3 months in Lincoln centre, plus performing live in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
I’m now in London in a resident show that has just been extended through to mid next year, London has always been a dream destination to live and work so currently making the most of it! I also represented our show in the biggest theatre event in London, West End live where I got to perform for over 70,000 people in Leicester Square!
Jess: What keeps you inspired to keep training and pushing yourself in foot juggling?
Emma: I’m always so intrigued by how far I can push myself and what is possible, I have moments where the inspiration is lost and I don’t force it. But the moment I feel inspired and want to try something new I always indulge it, make time to train.
I have been very fortunate that I have worked consistently my entire career, easily performing between 200-400 shows per year, meaning there isn’t a whole lot of time for training! Training new skills before a show can mess up my muscle memory, or tire me out so it’s a difficult battle of finding the time, energy and headspace to train.
I always focus on finding my joy again, I really do love this weird and wild discipline and I get so much happiness from it, so I never want to lose sight of that.
(Another hand made costume, captured by friend and fellow Artist Jess Mews)
Advice and Reflections
Jess: For someone reading this now who might be curious about pursuing circus, especially a rare discipline like foot juggling, what advice would you give?
Emma: If there is a genuine interest, pursue it. Don’t hesitate just because its not so common or achievable.
One of the main reasons I have had the career I dreamt of is because I found my niche, I didn’t want to blend in, I wanted to find a discipline that I deeply loved, not one that was convenient.
Search for highly skilled trainers or artists in the discipline, contact them ask them questions. Stay hungry and curious and pursue what really interests you.
Jess: Circus can take over your whole life - training, touring, performing. How do you balance your personal life and relationships alongside this world? Do you feel like circus becomes your whole world, or have you found ways to keep a balance?
Emma: Ohh this is a tough one! I’m very aware of what I have sacrificed to live the life I live and to have this career, but it is tough. The balance is honestly incredibly difficult, for the majority of my career I would be in one city for 2-3 months then move on, so making friends in a new city, new country, new language constantly is difficult.
My constant companion has always been loneliness and it's something I battle even when I’m surrounded by people.
Because of my life style I’m meeting new cast members every few months, we would get close then you say goodbye and hope to see each other again in the next 5 years!
Not having those long term friendships can be hard, and I’ve had to hold myself accountable with keeping in touch with people more to keep those friendships alive.
I’ve also learnt I need to be vulnerable and open up to people more, I’m so used to dealing with everything myself and never asking for help (a trait from my days in China) but I’ve also learnt that that actually keeps people further away.
Dealing with a breakup earlier this year was proof that I needed my village, even if they were on the other side of the world I needed my people. It’s brutal in this life, we have to be onstage no matter what, we have to give the audience the best performance every night no matter what is going on got in your personal life. But its so important to be around people you can let your guard down around, be vulnerable and surround each other in love, support and laughter. (And always wear waterproof eyeliner for mid show cries)
I’ve also been motivating myself more in London to have a life outside of the show, our career is all encompassing and it can very easily take over every aspect of your life. But I’m a person outside of the show and my act, I have hobbies, interests and skills completely unrelated to work. I’ve found the more fulfilling and balanced life I have outside of the show the more I actually enjoy the show. It almost puts things into perspective and makes you even more grateful.
It also dulls the possible resentment you could get from thinking that your career is your entire life, friendships outside of work and adventures outside of work are incredibly important to love your life.
Jess: Lastly, Emma... velvet or stripes?
Emma: Ohh can I choose both?!
My Take
Sitting with Emma’s answers made me realise how much I genuinely respect her. Not in some romanticised circus way, but in a real and grounded way. I have always admired how hard she works and how much she pours into her craft. I often wondered how she managed to juggle everything, the travel, the contracts, the training, the pressure and the constant movement. She has so many skills and yet she carries them without ever making a fuss about it. Reading her words brought me back to the time our paths crossed in China and all the memories that still sit quietly in me.
There are so many moments from that time that I will never forget. One night in Wuqiao we went to this small old gym, the kind of place where the machines looked like they had not been updated since the 80s. The air had that faint smell of cigarette smoke that always seemed to drift into everything in China. The receptionist told us they were closing, but we kept training anyway. When we finally finished and walked upstairs every light was off and all the doors were locked. We were actually trapped inside. The two of us were giddy, running around trying to figure out how to escape. We ended up climbing out through an office window because it was the only one that had been left open. Then we hopped onto my electric bike and rode home laughing the whole way.
Not every memory was light like that. One day a little cat stumbled across the road in front of me, barely able to walk. I picked it up, put it in my bike basket and took it straight to the vet. He did not think it would survive, but I wanted to try. I told Emma about it during training and she came with me afterwards to check on it. When we got home the little cat had passed away. I remember crying for a moment. I had been excited to have a small companion. I buried it beside my dog. Another story for another time.
Life back then was a mix of tiny joys and small heartbreaks. Quiet days I will never get back but will always hold close. Especially now, with children and responsibilities, I know I will never have a chapter of life like that again. It was simple, intense, strange and meaningful in a way I did not fully understand until much later.
And when Emma talks about the loneliness that comes with this life, I understand it deeply. It is something people rarely speak about. From the outside it looks exciting and glamorous. But there is a very real quietness that comes with leaving home and chasing a dream. In China I felt that loneliness fully. I had no VPN, no Instagram, no access to the outside world. I missed entire years of music, conversations and normal life. When I came home I felt like I had stepped out of a different timeline.
I changed as a person, and not everyone at home was ready for that. I became very focused and tunnel-visioned, and it came with a cost. I pulled away without meaning to. Some friendships faded. And my mum felt it the most. She has said to me before that she missed the version of me she knew before China. It took her years to adjust to who I had become. At the time I could not see it, but now I understand the grief she felt. When we grow, the people who love us have to let go of the old version of us too. They have to meet the new person we have become and learn how to love that version. It is a strange and quiet shift that nobody prepares you for.
Another part of coming home that I have never really spoken about is how vulnerable it all was. I came home with no money, no contracts lined up and no idea what I was doing next. I was exhausted and unsure and I needed help. I ended up signing up for JobSeeker’s Allowance, which for anyone outside Ireland is a small weekly support payment from the government for people between jobs. Most countries have something similar. It was something I had quietly judged from a distance before, not out of cruelty but out of not fully understanding what life can demand of you. Standing there in that office softened me in a way I never expected. I stopped caring what anyone might think. I needed support. I needed time to find my feet again. And I am grateful I allowed myself to take it.
China opened my eyes to things I had never seen before. It shifted how I saw the world and my place in it. When I came home I valued simple living in a way that surprised even me. I no longer wanted shiny things or anything to prove myself. I was happy driving a small old car and slipping back into a quiet life. I appreciated Ireland more than ever. The cold, the safety, the freedom, the space. I went from wanting to leave Ireland to loving it completely.
Maybe that is why Emma’s honesty means so much to me. She speaks about the realities of this life without dressing it up. And it reminds me that our stories as artists are not just about the stage or the skills. They are also about the quiet parts, the lonely parts, the parts that shape us when nobody is watching.
I am grateful for every part of it. And grateful that I got to share those moments with her. Sometimes writing an interview like this brings all that meaning back to the surface and reminds me of the beauty in the lives we have lived.
Here’s to the stories that shape us.
Sending Love, Velvet & Stripes,
Jess x
Resources and Links
• Instagram: @emmakarenflips
• Foot juggling videos and performance updates
• Booking enquiries available through her Instagram bio
