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Aerial view of the Salish Sea and Pacific Northwest inlets

Seattle's Eastside · East King County, Washington

Dance belongs
to everyone.

"Just as inlets connect deep land to open sea, we bring dance into communities that have been out of reach — as a vehicle for human connection, community building, and embodied education."

Our programs About us

Making contemporary dance accessible to residents and visitors to Seattle's Eastside.

410+artists presented
76dance companies
1,000+EDP participants
CHOP SHOP festival performance Festival

CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work

The only professional contemporary dance festival on Seattle's Eastside, returning in 2027.

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RISE dance intensive Intensive

RISE

An intimate two-week dance intensive retreat in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

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Experience Dance Program Community

Experience Dance Program

Free lecture-demonstrations, movement classes, and open studio sessions across the Eastside.

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Public school dance programming Youth

Public School Programming

After-school creative movement for elementary students, taught by professional dance artists.

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Programs

Four interconnected initiatives, one mission: making contemporary dance accessible to everyone in East King County.

CHOP SHOP performance
Festival · February 2027

CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work ↗

CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work is a weekend-long annual contemporary dance festival returning to Seattle's Eastside in February 2027. The festival presents 2–3 performances by regional, national, and international choreographers, alongside 6–8 master classes, post-performance Q&As, and artist receptions.

Since its founding in 2008, CHOP SHOP has presented 410+ artists from 76 dance companies, hosted more than 70 master classes, and welcomed over 1,000 Experience Dance Program participants. Applications open Summer 2026.

RISE dance intensive
Intensive · Summer 2027

RISE

An intimate two-week dance intensive retreat, situated in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, pairing 30 emerging dancers with rising choreographers and educators from both Seattle and the national field.

The program creates the conditions for deep creative work, mentorship, and professional development that the pressures of daily artistic life rarely allow. The culminating performance is open to the public, with invited industry personnel.

Experience Dance Program
Community · Year-round

Experience Dance Program

The Experience Dance Program (EDP) offers free community events threading through all of Inlet Arts' work, in partnership with community groups across the Eastside. It comprises three components:

  • Reading Dance — an hour-long lecture-demonstration on the creative process behind contemporary dance
  • Introduction to Contemporary Dance — free movement classes open to all
  • Open Studio Sessions — behind-the-scenes access to professional rehearsals

Past venues include South Bellevue Community Center, Bellevue Art Museum, Crossroads Community Center, and Eastside libraries.

Public school programming
Youth · Fall 2026

Public School Programming

In partnership with local PTAs, Inlet Arts offers after-school creative movement sessions at the elementary level, taught by professional dance artists. Each six-week session culminates in an open showing for families.

Scholarships are available to ensure participation is not limited by financial means. East Ridge Elementary in Woodinville is our pilot partner school, launching Fall 2026, with expansion to additional Eastside schools planned for 2027 and beyond.

About

Inlet Arts / Access. Dance. Education. was founded by Emily Schoen Branch, Eva Stone, and Cameo Lethem — three lifelong dance professionals committed to strengthening the local dance field across all ages on Seattle's Eastside.

Emily Schoen Branch ↗

Director · Choreographer, Teacher, Activator of dance in society · Dance Magazine "Top 25 to Watch"

Emily Schoen Branch is a choreographer, performer, and teacher based in the Pacific Northwest. Since 2011 she has led ESB Dance Projects, producing work across unconventional and international contexts, including a two-year collaboration with Tunisian dancers supported by Baryshnikov Arts Center and the US Embassy in Tunisia. She holds an MFA from the University of Washington and is a Princess Grace Fellowship nominee. Her research has been published by the American Journal of Arts Management.

Eva Stone

Founder & Co-producer, CHOP SHOP · Choreographer and Teaching Artist

Eva Stone is a choreographer, producer, and teaching artist with over thirty years in the field. She founded CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work in 2008 and led the festival for fourteen years. On faculty at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, she created New Voices, a nationally recognized choreography program for young women, and serves as Program Coordinator for Next Step. Her work has been commissioned by On the Boards, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Seattle Art Museum, with premieres in New York, London, Geneva, Montreal, and St. Petersburg.

Cameo Lethem

Co-director, RISE · Choreographer, Curator, and Educator

Cameo Lethem is a Seattle-based choreographer, curator, and arts administrator. She has served as panelist and curator for Velocity Dance Center and Base: Experimental Arts + Space, and held administrative roles at Whim W'Him, Spectrum Dance Theater, and American Dance Institute. She teaches at Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle University, and the University of Washington. Her work has earned funding from the City of Seattle and SeattleDances' Dance Crush Award. She is a current member of Velocity Dance Center's Artist Circle '26–'27.

Press & Testimonials

What artists, audiences, and critics have said about CHOP SHOP and Inlet Arts.

"My Chop Shop experience is one of such admiration, appreciation, and joy... Chop Shop feels like a dance home for me — somewhere with people I will always want to return to, and a supportive catalyst for new ideas and opportunities. The work that Eva and her team are doing is crucial and wonderful and necessary to the contemporary dance community."

— Courtney Mazeika, dance artist

"Working with Emily Schoen Branch over the course of several years has been integral to my growth as an artist in and out of the studio... what I've always admired most about Emily is her dedication to exercising fair, organized, and sustainable working conditions for dancers in an industry where it is largely lacking."

— Kacie Boblitt, dance artist

"Going into CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work, I wasn't sure what to expect... I was pleasantly surprised to witness an event curated for people like me, with the purpose of presenting accessible, creative work from artists that want to share their stories."

— Huma Ali, Teen Editor, TeenTix Newsroom, 2019

"Chop Shop Dance Festival has been a strong contemporary dance presence on the Eastside for 11 years. The festival focuses on audience engagement... Curator Eva Stone strives to present dance that all can relate to, even if audience members are new to the genre."

— Sumaya Mulla-Carrillo, SeattleDances, 2018

"This year's Chop Shop featured high quality dancing across the board and a surprising proportion of well-plotted endings. It's a well-curated, well-produced festival whose good reputation will undoubtedly only continue to increase."

— Anna Waller, SeattleDances, 2014

"Stone provides a forum for regional, national, and sometimes international dance artists to share their work in a friendly atmosphere, with production values that are sometimes hard to get on one's own — a theatre, publicity, lighting, and indeed, an audience. It's a collegial experience and one of the region's most important dance events."

— Dean Speer, Critical Dance, 2016