We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emmi Salonen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Emmi, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
One very good example, as a dancer, singer and actress will face a lot of rejection. That is just how the audition process is for this industry. In order to get one yes, you will get many No’s. But most of the time it really has nothing to do with how you danced, sang or acted. They were just looking for something else and that production was not meant for you. This takes a lot of confidence and a strong self-esteem to then just keep showing up and not get discouraged or start to doubt yourself or your own skills. A while back a colleague of mine said “If they don’t want to work with you, you don’t want to work with them. Simple as that.” And that just made me realize, that’s exactly how it is. I just have to keep trusting me and my skills and do my best. That’s all it needs.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a dancer, singer and actress currently located in New York City and performing with The Ride NYC as a soloist dancer. My forte is my versatility as a performer and it is very noticeable when you look back at all the different productions I’ve already been able to be part of. I’m so grateful for all of them, they have made me who I am today.
And then how did we get here, I began my career in Finland where I was born and started dancing when I was 3 years old. I quickly got really excited about dance and added different dance styles as they became available for my age group. At the age of 6 I had announced that I want to be a professional dancer.
Over the years I kept adding more and more dance classes and I also got to work in a local theatre where I sang a solo song in a play and was selected to be the soloist tap dancer for an opera production. When I was 13 years old, I got accepted into the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program which I loved and returned two more times in the following summers. This led me heavily towards the ballet world.
When it was time for High School, I auditioned and got accepted into the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet’s vocational education program to finally become a professional dancer. While in school, I had the honour to work with many successful artists and choreographers and before my graduation, I performed with the company in their world premiere production: The Snow Queen.
But then after graduation from the Opera Ballet School I knew sticking with ballet was not going to be my thing. I wanted to be as versatile performer as I could and started to explore my options. I ended up auditioning and eventually got into the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with a scholarship and two years later graduated with a Dance Theatre Conservatory Certificate. During my time at AMDA, besides my dance studies, I also worked hard to strengthen my singing and acting skills and was selected to perform and choreograph for in The Dance Workshop showcase every semester. Those two years were very busy but I loved it. I was able to pursue my artistry freely and exactly as I wanted.
I graduated just before the pandemic started and only really had time to perform in one Christmas musical and soon after the shut down began. Due to the pandemic I had to return to Finland for a bit. Luckily I was asked to join Espoon Tanssiopisto’s dance faculty to take over all tap dance levels and that kept me busy. Soon after, I became part of the dance faculty at Lärkkulla Musical as well where I taught theatre jazz and tap dance and was also invited to teach ballet at the Tampere Conservatory.
As soon as it was possible as the world started to heal from the pandemic, I returned to New York with an O1B Artist Visa in my passport. I had done it!
My recent credits include a soloist dancer on a North American tour with an international circus, a dancer in an opera production, actress in “Sinister Asylum” with Atlantic City Theatre Company, principal singer/dancer in a big TV format for Warner Bros. International Television Production, a supporting role in TV series for Yellow Film & TV and national TV commercials.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
First I’ll have to say that I’m grateful I did go through the classical training. Ballet is such a good foundation to built on other styles and also teaches you discipline. Also thanks to ballet I have a really good balance and stability. So go take ballet classes, it’s all about the good solid foundation!
The other one I have to say is versatility and for me to get into AMDA and bring in more acting and singing, just opened up even more opportunities. Also that I have professional level Rhythm tap skills has brought me exciting opportunities. I always remember when I was younger and Tap dance was “not cool” and I had to take classes with adults since there weren’t simply any others my age. But now it’s all different and am so grateful I kept going and did not care about other’s opinions. Also when I booked the 6-month contract with the circus, it brought me again a lot of new skills to learn for example aerial training. So please do not be afraid or hesitant to step out of your comfort zone and learn new skills. You’ll never know where they take you and in which situation they can be super helpful.
Third one I have to say is a good support system. My family, boyfriend and friends! Could have not done this without their support.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Distraction. If you feel overwhelmed, remove yourself from the situation and give yourself some time. Do something that makes you happy. And when you are ready, then get back to it.
This has been a big one to work on myself lately. To understand that if I’m overwhelmed and/or stressed, just pushing through is not gonna help and the outcome is not gonna be any good. The Finnish “Sisu” as we call it in Finland (in English perhaps the closest word would be the guts), is not always enough. I need to give myself some distraction and time, and then come back to it with fresh brain and thoughts. Works really well!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emmisalonen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmiserafia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmi.salonen.5/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA2CagveFuCZR8_uRJ4K59w
Image Credits
The first photo for the feature is taken by Laura Tammisto / Studio Torkkeli
