Emma Watkins is best known as the first female member of The Wiggles, and while her character Emma Wiggle is never seen without her famous yellow bow, Emma is a woman who wears many hats.
While you may have heard of her inclusive performance style, ongoing charity advocacy (and maybe even her 2020 UTS Young Alumni Award), most people don’t know that Emma is also a skilled filmmaker – having graduated from UTS with a Master of Media Arts Production in 2012.
“A lot of my role with The Wiggles is actually overseeing post production,” Emma explains. “A dancer has a completely different eye on an edit than someone who doesn’t know how to move.”
It’s a dream job for Emma, who has been determined to combine her love of dance and filmmaking since childhood – a quest that a lot of people in her life didn’t get at first. “My teachers found it really hard to understand,” she says. “They wanted me to choose between dance or film.”
Combining dance and filmmaking
Having grown up as a classical dancer, Emma was torn between these two paths. But when she was offered a scholarship at Sydney Film School after finishing her HSC, she decided to seize the opportunity and juggle full-time dance with her film studies. She was working as a dancer with The Wiggles – and even had her own production company – when she decided to enroll at UTS.
UTS was where she met her mentor, Gregory Ferris, who took her quest to make dance on film seriously – and encouraged her to continue her studies, despite her busy work schedule.
“I honestly wouldn’t have been able to do the course without him,” says Emma. “With his encouragement, and through the extra training and learning I did in the Masters, I developed the skills I needed to achieve my goals.”
Overcoming self-doubt
Emma graduated from UTS in 2012 – the same year she was announced as the new Yellow Wiggle. When Emma first heard the news, she thought it was a joke. "I’d been with the company for a while at that point, and they were always playing pranks,” says Emma. “When Anthony said he was serious, I couldn’t believe it.”
Like so many of us, Emma also had to overcome self-doubt. She was a confident dancer, but she felt anxious because she didn’t have much experience as a singer.
“That was a big worry of mine, for a long time,” Emma explains. “But I learned to think of my voice as a tool for storytelling. That feels more comfortable for me than being a singer, because I love movement and expression.”
I learned to think of my voice as a tool for storytelling.
By the time she began her popular solo Emma! show, Emma was starting to feel at home in the character. “I no longer had anyone to hide behind,” she explains. “But it’s taken me a long time to get to this point – I’ve been doing this for 10 years now!”
Becoming a role model
Throughout her career, Emma’s greatest challenge has been learning to let go. When she was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2018, her biggest fear wasn’t the surgery – but what would happen if she stopped working for a while.
“It was the first time I’d ever had a day off from the show,” says Emma. “The Emma character is so much a part of me, I struggled to let somebody else take over for a bit.”
Today, Emma is the NSW Ambassador for Endometriosis Australia, and her openness is widely lauded for helping bring much-needed media attention to the painful condition – awareness she’s glad to have helped achieved. But initially, her decision to go public was driven by something different – she needed to explain why she wouldn’t be there for her young fans.
“Children have a real anticipation about coming to see the show,” Emma explains. “They know they’re going to see Emma and Dorothy the Dinosaur, and if any of our characters or friends aren’t there, it can be a big problem. It’s like telling a child they’re going to the North Pole and not going to see Santa.”
But ultimately, Emma says taking some time off was the best thing she ever did. “Not only did it give me the chance to step back and objectively look at our performances, I was able to use my editing skills to help the team on the production side. I felt really happy that I could still contribute, and I credit that to my study.”
Furthering her knowledge
Alongside touring the world as the beloved Yellow Wiggle, Emma is undertaking a PhD, directing her own films and furthering her proficiency in Australian Sign Language.
I was able to use my editing skills to help the team on the production side. I felt really happy that I could still contribute, and I credit that to my study.
“Recently, I started collaborating with this these amazing Deaf artists – Elvin Lam from Melbourne, and Sue Jo Wright from Sydney. They have very different backgrounds, but both have inspired me to use sign language in such a creative way,” says Emma.
Her most recent film was created for her PhD, and is inspired by these new friends. In true Emma style, she’s found a way to combine many of her passions – sign language, dance and filmmaking.
