I am an award winning researcher and teacher with senior management experience. I won the BUPA Foundation Prize in 2011 for my pioneering work in dance and Parkinson’s. In 2014 I was a Finalist in the National Public Engagement Awards for my work engaging the general public in my Parkinson’s and dance research. I am sought after internationally as a key note speaker on dance and I regularly speak to the media (TV, radio and print), particularly about dance and Parkinson's. I published the defining monograph Dancing with Parkinson’s in 2019. For excellence in learning and teaching, I won a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in 2014. I am currently working with several EU dance organisations and dance artists to augment professional development through soft skills. I was one of the lead authors of the open access Soft Skills in Dance: A Guidebook to Enhance your Practice, funded by Erasmus+.

I am passionate about socially engaged dance and about acknowledging the richness of dancing for non-professionals. For several years I was Chair of the Board of People Dancing and I continue to work closely with dance organisations with a community remit around the world as a consultant, researcher and workshop leader. I am currently research consultant for the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and the Jockey Club for their Dance Well programme in Hong Kong, and between 2010 and 2015 I was lead researcher for English National Ballet's Dance for Parkinson's programme. As part of Surrey Forensic Psychology Unit, I worked for two years with Motionhouse Dance Theatre researching dance within the criminal justice system.

I have taught across the university and vocational sectors. I trained as a contemporary dance artist at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, and I hold a PhD from Roehampton in community dance and politics. I have held the management positions of Acting Deputy Head of Dance, of Deputy Dean of the School of Arts and currently I am Research and Knowledge Exchange Director for the Centre for Research in Arts and Creative Exchange.

BA (Hons), MA, PhD, PGCAP, NTF, PFHEA

Community dance, Parkinson's, dance and health, politics of dance, dance aesthetics, sociology of dance, dance in marginalised communities, reflection for professional development.

Empowering Dance: The Soft Skills Teaching and Learning Approach (2020 - 2023)

English National Ballet Dance for Parkinson's (2010 - 2015)

Examining reflection as a tool for professional development for music and dance managers in the subsidised sector (2007 - 2008)

Research and evaluation for King Edward VI Handsworth School Birmingham (2004 - 2005)

Dancing Inside for HMP Dovegate, Motionhouse Dance Theatre and Surrey Forensic Psychology Unit (2003 - 2004)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Fellow of the Association of National Teaching Fellows

Society for Dance Research

Research consultant for Dance Well, in association with Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and the Jockey Club, Hong Kong (2022 - 2024)

English National Ballet Dance for Parkinson's (2010 - 2014)

Research and evaluation for King Edward VI Handsworth School Birmingham (2004 - 2005)

Dancing Inside for HMP Dovegate, Motionhouse Dance Theatre and Surrey Forensic Psychology Unit (2003 - 2004)

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