Emma Zoe Degala Harris has been dancing since she was just three years old.
Born in Napa and raised in Yountville, she first attended dance classes in St. Helena and then Napa, doing most of her formative training at a school called Napa Valley Ballet.
One of the first large stages Harris performed on was the Yountville Veterans Home’s Lincoln Theater, now sadly shuttered. But it served as a launching pad for her dreams and since those days, the soon-to-be 26-year-old professional dancer has graced stages around the globe, from New York and the Netherlands to the Phillipines and San Francisco.
Now living in Los Angeles and working part-time as a dance instructor and part-time as a visiting principal dancer, Harris had a homecoming of sorts last month when she danced in Festival Napa Valley’s Bouchaine Young Artist Series. Harris performed two dances to selections of the featured artist, Alisa Sadikova, an internationally celebrated harpist.
This was her second Festival Napa Valley appearance, having been asked last year to perform with the group Quixotic Fusion.
As someone who knew at age 12 what she wanted to devote her life to, Harris said she loves performing and looks forward to every show she’s a part of.
But in an interview with Yountville Sun editor Kim Beltran, Harris almost preferred to talk about her life growing up in Yountville, and the people she’s looking forward to seeing.
“I still have my Titas – I’m half Filipino and in Tagalog Tita means ‘aunt’ – so I have a lot of Titas still there,” Harris said. “You might know them – like Billie Hewitt, Carla Yates and Judy Winkowski – those are all my Titas.”
In fact, Harris credits Yates for inspiring her creativity at a young age.
“She lived right across the street from me and is very much like a grandmother figure to me, and she’s very theatrical,” said Harris. “And I think that’s where I got some of my theatrics from – my dramatic side – besides my parents.”
Harris went on to talk about how she and Yates would put on “little shows” and would take part in Yountville festivals and events.
She laughed while recalling her many fond memories of growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, and friends often became like family.
“We were even in the Yountville Days Parade together,” she said, “and I remember we had this float, and I think the theme was wine or something like that, and we were on the back of a truck with a sign that said, ‘Life is a Cabernet!’
“I’m really looking forward to seeing them when I come back,” she added.
Her parents, David and Zoe Harris, no longer live in Yountville – they moved back to Michigan, where they met and where David grew up.
She credits her parents for supporting her and helping her achieve her dreams of dancing professionally. At one point when Harris needed to advance her studies, they drove her to City Ballet School in San Francisco six to seven days a week for three years.
Harris also recalled fond memories of her many performances over the years at the Lincoln Theater.
“I would love to perform there again,” she said. “That’s basically where all my recitals were with Napa Valley Ballet growing up. I was in a lot of other performances there too...I was in the Justin-Siena performance of ‘Footloose,’ and I performed in this musical called Follies du Valle.
“I have a lot of fun memories from there,” she said.
