We were lucky to catch up with Emily Ulibarri recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is almost always the one I’m currently working on – isn’t that a blessing? But the show that my husband and I just brought to stage last fall truly is a meaningful one.

The show was designed to be an intimate theater-in-the-round experience, we always love being inches from our audience where we’re able to impact them, but they’re also close enough to impact us. This show premiered in our historic venue in downtown Eureka Springs, the Melonlight Ballroom. And while, as an idea, this show sat on the back of our metaphorical shelves for a full decade, it was the quietness of COVID that enabled us to bring the story to life.

For ten years, we slowly nurtured the idea of a full length stage production in which just the two of us would captivate and entertain the crowd. The working title for this concept was “Duet”. As our roots lay in dance, of course there would be dancing, but as our hearts beat to the drum of suspense (often in the form of ghost stories), there would also be blood, but just a bit.

The story evolved into the telling of three different couples in three different eras of time. It’s painfully romantic, featuring an elegant and thought provoking script, embellished with ballroom dancing, and laced with decadent costumes. The show is called I Haunt You. And I couldn’t be more thrilled to say that our audiences have absolutely fallen for it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I asked for a typewriter for my sixth birthday – weirdo. I knew I was a writer, even before I knew I was a dancer. It was the inspiration of my older sister that would lead me into the dance studio, also around the age of six. When I met my (now) husband, I was only thirteen. He meant nothing to me until we ended up in dance class together a few years later. And shortly after that, we fell in love. It would not be overstated to say that creating performances together has been the glue of our relationship since the very beginning. We’ll be celebrating twenty years of love this June.

Eleven years ago we opened our business, Melonlight Dance. She’s gone through many changes, beginning as a school of dance where we explored our craft in creating full length productions. We leaned into the realm of ballroom dance, doesn’t that make sense for two dancers in love? When we relocated our business from Denver, CO to Eureka Springs, AR we intended to shift our focus completely to professional stage shows. We said goodbye to a beautiful body of students, and refocused our attention purely to the creative (and business aspects) of stage entertainment.

We always self produce. Meaning, we wear all the hats. I’m the playwright, my husband Raymond is the sound/imagery/video designer, I’ve taken a liking to lighting, we both love shopping for costumes, so that’s easy. We direct each other and ourselves. We both act and dance. We live for the stage, for all the creative energy it takes to bring a completely original production to the eyes and hearts of our dear audience members.

The woman in me who wears the ‘mother’ hat is nagging at me to mention that we also live for our darling boys, ages one and four as I write this. They’ve both made vocal ‘appearances’ in at least one of our shows.

My heart is warmed after every show as we meet our audience members face to face. It’s how we improve our craft, and appreciate the people we aim to entertain. They tell us what they loved, we learn what nuances they picked up on, and we use every bit of knowledge gained to make our next production even more fun, beautiful, and hopefully profound.

It is our next mission to take our shows outside of Eureka Springs, to find new stages and new audiences to connect with.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Years ago, I was visiting my chiropractor. I had a minor ankle injury that was impeding my ability to rehearse. He gave me an adjustment and said “I recommend you stay off of it for a couple weeks…but I know you won’t.” He chuckled, as he was right and he knew it. His wife was also a dancer. And any athlete or mover knows how disheartening it is for your body to get in the way of what your body desperately wants to do.

My ankle healed up just fine, but my doctor said something more important to me that day, and I’ll never forget it. He said, with absolute love, “you artists don’t know how to do business.” Rude, right? But I am so grateful that he said it. From that moment on, I would never play the role of the ‘starving artist’ and I would study intently and learn how to do business, because without that imperative skill, our art cannot be monetized and we remain hobbyists who have to work other jobs that do nothing in the way of making our hearts beat.

My two cents to you, dear creative, learn business with as much passion as you can muster. Don’t give your work away. Art changes the world for the better, it speaks directly to people’s souls. Learn to monetize your work, it is valuable. And join me in making my doctor wrong, because artists do know how to do business.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

As an artist, a writer, a dancer, I’ve been asked so many times to deliver my services for free. Don’t get me wrong, there are times and places to deliver free work – to inspire, to educate, to share, to give back. But in many industries, it would be absurd to ask people to do their work for free. For instance, I’ve never asked my accountant to do my taxes without pay. I’ve never asked for free groceries from the grocer, and I’ve never gone to the movie theater without first buying a ticket.

A lot of people think that because artists typically love being artists that they are ‘paid’ with the joy of doing. But enjoying one’s work does not devalue the work delivered, in fact it probably makes the work even more amazing. This is a cultural stigma, I believe, around art. Two things can be done to heal this cultural wound, and bring more value to art, artists, and lovers of art.

If you are an appreciator of art, then appreciate art with your wallet. Buy local art, pay for theater tickets, hire musicians to play at your events, and take classes taught by artists.

If you are an artist, stop giving your work away for free. We needn’t be greedy, but we must value our own work enough that others will too. The joy you derive from creating is yours to keep and to share, but joy won’t put bread on your table. Let’s cultivate a culture that cherishes artwork as much as we cherish the dollars in our pockets.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melonlight.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melonlightballroom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelonlightBallroom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MelonlightDance

Image Credits
Raymond Ulibarri