I am Senior Lecturer and Doctoral Degrees Coordinator at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. My research broadly focuses on the cultural and social analysis of participatory dance, often through ethnographic means. Since 2016, my research and knowledge exchange activity has been largely situated in the field of Dance for Health, working with dancers with dementia, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis and organisational stakeholders and partners.

I have also undertaken research within the areas of dance education and dance organisational studies. I am currently a Co-I on the AHRC project IMAGINED: Investigating Meaning-making and the cocreation of Guidelines for Evaluation IN participatory Arts for Dementia (PI, Dr Katey Warran, University of Edinburgh) (2023-2025) and the PI on the RSE project Methods in Movement: Dance for Health Scotland Research Network (2024-2025).

I have a track record in publishing (e.g. Research in Dance Education, Arts and Health), reviewing publications and grants (e.g. AHRC, Dance Research, International Journal of MS Care, Berghahn, Bloomsbury, Routledge), and presenting (e.g. International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Dance Studies Association, Society of Dance Research). I am also an experienced external examiner at PhD, taught postgraduate, and undergraduate level.

I was a founding Co-Editor of the Scottish Journal of Performance. In 2014, during my PhD, I was a Visiting Research Scholar at Temple University, funded by the ESRC as an Overseas Institutional Visit. I was previously a longstanding member of the Executive Committee of the Society for Dance Research. 

Completed PhD Supervision:

• Emily Davis, 'Dancing with multiple sclerosis: A multidimensional and multiple case study' (2025) (as Co-Supervisor with Prof. Lorna Paul, Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). This was a co-tutelle between Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and GCU. Funder: The Thouron Award. 

Current PhD Supervision:

• Deborah Norris, 'Cathy Marston: A female author of narrative ballet', Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (as Co-Supervisor with Prof. Laura Gonzalez).
• Lucy Allan, 'The pianist 'in exile': Exploring the symbiotic encounter between ballet accompaniment for professional ballet and Baumanian thinking', Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) (with supervisors, Prof. Stephen Broad and Prof. Matt Dawson, University of Glasgow). 
• Clara Bloomfield, 'Capitalisation: Exploring positive personal narrative to build resilience in young people in Youth Theare settings', Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
• Hannah McIlveen, 'Improving the health and wellbeing of people moderately-severely affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) through dance' (Co-Supervisor with Prof. Lorna Paul, Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)). This is a co-tutelle between GCU and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as part of the MS Society funded Doctoral Training Centre in MS Symptom Management. Partner: Scottish Ballet.
• Amelia Newton, 'Investigating the cognitive mechanisms affecting performance under pressure in dancers', University of St Andrews (Third supervisor working with principal supervisor, Prof. Ines Jentszch and Second Supervisor, Prof. David Donaldson, University of St Andrews). Funder: EASTBIO Doctoral Training Partnership. 

I am available to supervise doctoral projects in the broad area of Arts and Health and more specifically in the following areas of study:

- Dance for Health 
- Sociology of dance
- Dance ethnography
- Dance education

I currently teach on the following modules on the BA Modern Ballet programme:

- Dance Science 1

- Dance Science 2