August 4, 1932 – September 16, 2021

Dr. Emma Lewis Thomas, PhD was born and raised in Charleston, WV and died after a brief battle with lymphoma at her home in Livingston, MT surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and siblings.

Emma Lewis graduated from Dana Hall School, received degrees from Duke University, the Sorbonne as a Fulbright scholar in Paris, Indiana University, and studied at the Free University of Berlin, where she was a member of the Mary Wigman Dance Company. She taught at Sweet Briar College, Augsburg College, Holy Cross College, and spent over 35 years teaching in the World Arts and Cultures/Dance Department at UCLA. Her fields of expertise included German Literature, Modern Dance, Italian Renaissance Dance, and her dance company, Balliamo toured Europe and the US. She was a frequent artist-in-residence at several international institutions, and was an active member of the International Brecht Society, the Modern Language Association, the American Association of Teachers of German and the American Dance Guild. She published numerous articles, most recently served as Immediate Past President for the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and collaborated with some of the most influential dancers and theatre directors of her time.

Emma Lewis was uncompromising in her devotion to education and the arts, community service, and her family, whom she loved, supported and encouraged to strive for excellence at all times. She loved the outdoors and spent the years of her youth hunting, fishing and camping while growing up among many beloved cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents in the Appalachian Mountains. She eventually climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, as traveling the world to learn about other cultures was a lifelong pursuit.