DANCER SPOTLIGHT: EMILY RAMIREZ

What one item in the kitchen best describes you? Kitchen-Aide Mixer. It is versatile & does a lot of things that most people can't or don’t want to do.

What song best describes you when you first wake up in the morning? The Sound of Silence

If you could dye your hair one color, what would it be? Pink

If you could have picked your own name, what would it be? Layla...it was my mom's second choice.

What was your favorite toy as a kid? Tonka Trucks- I hated Barbies.

Which single store would you choose to max out your credit cards? Anthropologie

If you were an animal, what would you be? A cat. I have a lot of similarity to cats. I don't like getting wet, I sit on the floor, sit up high places, stealthy.

Complete the statement "I recommend...": The Time Traveler's Wife, Harry Potter, retail therapy.

If you knew you could try anything and not fail (and money was no object), what dream would you attempt? I would have liked to have been a B&B owner...high risk.

How do you remember choreography? It depends on the type of movement...since I was trained in ballet, it's more organic and natural to me. For contemporary stuff, I'm very visually oriented, so it's like remembering a series of pictures. Rhythms help a lot too, accents in movement.

How do you prepare before you go onstage? I don't have any rituals at all. I'm afraid if I ever started a ritual I would rely on it too heavily and blame it if something went wrong. I really believe that you can work really hard and do everything you can and then it's out of your hands at that point.

Is there anything that you would like to tell the audience about ballet that they might not realize? I appreciate that most audience members take dance at face value. We leave it up to ourselves to make it more complicated. I don't have to tell them that it's painful!

What do you like about dance? I like that my job is active and artistic. We have some freedom as to how we express ourselves. Also, I don't have to work out afterwards!

Favorite roles? Most difficult role?

Call it Off, by Harrison McEldowney. I had to talk in it...I'm not used to making noise on stage at all...it was something that I'm not accustomed to, and felt irreverent.

Sugar Plum Fairy. It is the hardest I've done so far, artistically and physically. It's a staple of classical ballet...there are so many versions. I hate being compared to other people and comparing myself to others (it's not constructive). It was challenging going into it because there are so many versions of it and others who have performed it. It was very intimidating!

Bolero, by Heinz Poll . Being short there are certain roles available to you because of your stature – fairies, friend of main girl, etc. However, you don't get to do a lot of things that are earthy and powerful. It's very simple yet complicated at the same time. It was cool to be this strong voice by myself.

What do you like to do when you are not dancing? Cook. I like making up different recipes. Also, baking. Shopping, party planning, reading, and interior decorating.