Emma
Bartolomucci

A graduate of the Canadian Dance Company and the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, becoming an artist has been a lifelong journey. She has had the privilege of working with many international entertainment companies, performing in a variety of theatrical productions all across the globe. At the age of 31, she has been to 32 countries and through her travels has made an effort to better understand the world and its inequities. Alongside her artistic endeavours, her passion for climate justice and environmentalism has been ongoing. Over the past two years she was able to complete two courses: "Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities" from Lund University in Sweden and "Political and Moral Foundations" from Yale University. She has participated and volunteered for many climate change and social justice organizations with Friday's For Future, 350 Canada, Not Another Black Life, Every Child Matters, Black Lives Matter, Juneteenth, Banking on a Better Future and Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction. Currently, she is in creation of her theatrical multimedia dance piece called THE FOURTH R: reduce, reuse, recycle, Revolutionize. This high energy, musically driven presentation is meant to impact school students and young people to demand for climate justice.

PROJECT

The Fourth R is an energized look into the people and behaviours that fuel one of the most pressing topics on planet Earth: global warming. The piece revolves around three characters who are emblematic of three major players in this crisis: those that produce, those that consume, and those that suffer. The spirit of this piece is in the fact that we are all reflected in one or more of these characters, and their trials and even shortcomings resonate universally. The Fourth R uses dynamic music and high energy dancing to inspire students to personally connect with these systemic issues. 
The success of the Fourth R will be first determined by the students’ response and engagement in the talk back that will immediately follow the performance. The longterm effects will be determined in the following months as we expect to have inspired youth groups to take action in ways that make sense to them. Beyond that, we hope that using dance-theatre as a conveyor for climate change activism will stir up excitement and hopefully a sense empathy that will remain with these young minds as they develop into future leaders, CEOs and policy makers.
Dance Fachin promises to remain in contact with each school to follow up on their sustainability progress and continued pledge to the environment.

I have been interested in environmental activism my whole life. The more I understood the major threats about fossil fuels, government corruption and lack of policy, I felt I had a choice whether to be overwhelmed, apathetic or driven. Thanks to a network of activists, I have been inspired more than ever to rise to action and to devote my artistic output to empower all themes of climate justice and environmentalism. Believing myself to be a leader, I have the responsibility of sharing this passionate message with as many people as I can. Reading Noami Klein's On Fire helped to inform the perspective that young people need to be brought into the conversation as soon as possible. This is how I've come to imagine a narrative dance piece that centred on the environmental  crisis that could be accessible enough for schools and young activists.
Working in schools, I see first hand the mindset when it comes to climate activism. There are some schools that are highly conscious, encouraging low waste lunches and composting programs. However many schools in the GTA still use styrofoam and single use plastics in lunchrooms. The Fourth R is designed to be an exciting way to initiate these conversations in our schools and extended into our community.

MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET

It’s a painful fact that many people are unaware of just how devastating the effects of climate change will be on our daily lives. I believe a systemic change in policy and ideology is the only chance we have to prevent disaster. An issue this big needs widespread attention and unfortunately these conversations are still under supported. As a dancer I’ve dedicated my life to technique and expression, sometimes informed by a story or a feeling and other times not. However as an activist I no longer find it sufficient to make art for art-sake. The call is stronger than ever to wake up and use our platforms for change.

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