Sally Crawford-Shepherd is a dance practitioner, educator, and scholar. A Kansan by birth, she has moved around the world absorbing inspiration from diverse environments to share through performances, research, and workshops with professionals and students. She achieved her BFA in Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her MA in Choreography at Trinity Laban in London. She completed her PhD in Dance Ethnography at De Montfort University, where she explored the cultural and social aspects of tap dance in the UK and the US. She is a

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Sally began choreographing and performing professionally for theatre and dance companies in Kansas City in 2000. After moving to the United Kingdom, she continued to perform and choreograph collaboratively with professional artists and in FE and HE institutions. She lectured in universities and colleges throughout the UK and the Caribbean. She served as the Coordinator for Dance at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, in Trinidad from 2015-2018. Sally has published

and presented research at conferences and events in the UK, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean.

Sally has over 17 years of experience as an educator and curriculum developer in FE and HE. She has experience in strategic planning, liaising with external stakeholders and validating partners, managing budgets and staff, Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (TLA), and Quality Assurance. Sally has experience as an External Examiner in the UK and for the University of Malta. She has also served as an External Adviser on Validation Panels and for curriculum reviews in the UK, Jamaica, and Barbados. She advocates for supporting staff in developing innovative

pedagogy to provide students with a dynamic and inclusive learning experience.

Sally is an active performing arts scholar, and passionate about Practice as Research. She is a Co-Director for Tap Dance Research Network UK, a non-profit organisation that promotes and supports tap dance research, education, and practice ( http://tdrnuk.com/ ). She is also part of the UK Node for PoP Moves International ( https://popmoves.com/ ). Her current research interests explore how tap dance improvisation can move beyond the stage to become a medium for arts activism and dance scholarship in live and digital platforms.