Sally Crawford-Shepherd

Feb 17, 2021

Sally Crawford-Shepherd is a dance practitioner and academic. A Kansan by birth, she has moved around the world exploring dance in diverse cultures to share through performances, research, and workshops with professionals and students. She completed her PhD at De Montfort University and her thesis was a multi-sited ethnographic study of two self-named tap dance communities in Manchester and London, England. The aim was to understand how these communities engaged with music and tap improvisation as a social process within a non-theatrical context outside of the United States. Her current research interests continue along this theme, exploring how tap dance improvisation and individual performance identity move beyond the stage to become a medium for arts activism and dance scholarship in live and digital platforms.

Sally is currently the Programme Leader for the BA(Hons) Dance Performance course at Addict Dance Academy.

Jess Murray

Feb 17, 2021

Jess Murray is a dance artist interested in the relationship between dance and music and improvised performance. She is currently undertaking a practice research Ph.D funded by Midland4Cities at De Montfort University researching ‘Improvisational Dramaturgy for Dance and Music Collaboration’. Jess works collaboratively with musicians to create original performance work such as the Arts Council England funded projects SoundMoves and Sound Catchers. She is known for her work as a professional rhythm tap performer, teacher and tap jam host (Tap Rhythm Jam Nottingham, London Tap Jam, Tap Dance Festival UK), and also coordinates the Tap Rhythm Project.