Tribute to Angela Risi: 'I thought we were going to be friends for a long time'

Angela was a good friend, both in that I considered her a close friend and in that she was good at being a friend. She cared about friendship and community. Part of why we connected was that, I think, we were both very extroverted and thrived on connection. Being in my second year and in the depths of my thesis work while she was in her first year, I didn’t get to see her as much as I wanted to. I remember her saying she felt isolated because people had so little time to spend together. I deeply related to that sentiment, feeling that our current culture is often deeply isolating. One thing I loved most about Angela is that, in opposition to this, she was constantly cultivating community. Very quickly after getting to Durham, she knew a lot of people. Rather than staying in a grad school bubble, she had friends from all over the Durham community. We ended up with local friends in common, strengthening my feeling that we were kin.

And when we did spend time together, it was wonderful, and I felt embraced and free. We danced together at parties, showing out with a crowd gathering around us. At an art opening where she was performing, she got me onto the floor with her for an impromptu improv. I often get shy when people try to get me to dance on demand, but I didn’t with her. It just always felt good. And I never hesitated. It just flowed. Maybe it’s because she seemed to be so fully, unselfconsciously and unabashedly herself that she inspired me to be too. I’m not sure there’s a better measure of friendship than helping us be more truly ourselves. Angela did that for me.

Things feel a bit of a blur now, but Angela was a good friend — someone who I just really, really liked and loved to be around. I thought we were going to be friends for a long time. She affirmed me personally, and through the way she carried herself in the world — the politics and ethics of her being — she affirmed the humanity of everyone she came across. 

Brooks Emanuel is an MFA in Dance alumnx ('23) and an adjunct professor in the Kenan Institute for Ethics.