Johnson uses gesture, rigorous movement, and (often) words to construct her nonlinear though (often) narrative based contemporary dance work. Believing in the act of performing, relishing self-production as much as being presented, and placing dances in a variety of locations - often outside the formal theatrical structure - has led Catalyst to perform in a wildly diverse range of venues, indoors and out, throughout the USA and in St. Petersburg, Russia and Montreal.

Catalyst's staged, site-specific, and public performance events often involve collaborations with poets, musicians, sculptors, and video artists. Known to take over a space, Catalyst will alter the feel of a building with sound and image installations, or offer a buffet table with free snacks and drink... all in the interest of creating memorable and engaging performance experiences that don't force, but encourage an active audience membership.

As a director, Johnson goes for the guts of performing, finding emotional resonance and meaning in layered bouts of chaos and calm. In recent months, she has focused her energy on creating smaller cast works, within the company, with international collaborators, and with solos on herself.

Catalyst produced capture! a bi-monthly dance-film series that screened at the Bryant Lake Bowl from 2004 – 2008. capture! presented physically inspired experimental films from around the world. Catalyst also produces Windfarm, the mid-week, mid-winter, mid-west experimental dance series produced at the Rogue Buddha Art Gallery in Minneapolis. The simple goal of Windfarm is to offer an informal space for experimental dances ready to be seen by the public. In conjunction with The Thank-you Bar, Catalyst produces This is Displacement: Native Artists Consider the Relationship Between Land and Identity, (curated by Emily Johnson and Carolyn Lee Anderson) an exhibit featuring contemporary Native artists from around the country.

In 2003 Catalyst released a DVD of Plain Old Andrea, with a Gun, their "feminist-cowgirl parable" and collaboration with Minneapolis based experimental music ensemble Lateduster. Minneapolis' City Pages called it "...a fascinating, ritualistic look at the cultural perils that arise from the refusal to communicate." In 2005 Catalyst released the film Wingspan 5'2" starring dancer Natasha Hassett. Wingspan 5'2" was filmed in 20 locations in Minnesota and Alaska and has screened at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walker Art Center's Women with Vision Film Series, capture!, Dance Theater Workshop's dance-video series, Captured, and numerous university film programs. In 2009 Catalyst produced a CD of music from The Thank-you Bar.