Ali Duffy, Artistic Director
Ali Duffy is a President's Excellence in Teaching Professor of Dance and Honors, Associate Head of Dance, and Graduate Dance Director at Texas Tech University. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Flatlands Dance Theatre and a co-founder of the International Parenting and Dance Network. She holds a PhD in Dance from Texas Woman's University, an MFA in Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a BA in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Professional Certificate in Online Education from the University of Wisconsin Madison and is also working toward a certificate in Women's and gender Studies and Pilates Reformer and mat certifications.
Dr. Duffy's most recent book, Dancing Motherhood, was published in 2023 and her book, Careers in Dance: Practical and Strategic Guidance from the Field, was published in 2021. Two additional books, Research in Dance (Human Kinetics) and Meet the Dancemakers (open access, Raider Press) are forthcoming. She is the co-editor of the Research in Dance Education 2023 special issue, “Dancing, Parenting, and Professional Challenges.” Her written scholarship has also been published in the Journal of Dance Education, the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, Dance Education in Practice, American Journal of Arts Management, the Journal of Arts Management, Society, and Law, the Journal of Emerging Dance Scholarship, and as chapters in multiple books. She has presented research internationally at academic conferences in Australia, Northern Ireland, Hungary, England, Canada, and across the US. She sits on the Cultivating Leadership Committee of the National Dance Education Organization and also teaches courses in NDEO's Online Professional Development Institute.
Since co-founding Flatlands Dance Theatre in 2010, Dr. Duffy has directed all of the company's live and virtual productions. Artistic and educational residencies and commissions include University of South Florida, Virginia Tech, Central Michigan University, Alma College, University of Detroit, Lindenwood University, Troy University, UNC Greensboro, COCO Dance Festival, the [254] Festival, Houston Fringe, Austin Dance Festival, North Carolina Dance Project, and Colorado Dance Alliance. Her screendance works have been selected for presentation at the Beirut International Film Festival and the Red Rocks Screendance Festival. She has also been commissioned to choreograph for the NC Dances Festival and the National Dance Alliance. She has received funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Community Foundation of West Texas, the REA Charitable Foundation, CH Foundation, Helen Jones Foundation, and the Talkington Foundation. Selected performance credits include Stiletto/RWS Entertainment, American Dance Festival's Acts to Follow, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's site-specific Central Park work “The Gates,” the NC Dances Festival, and The Moving Poets.
Recent awards and honors include the William D. Kerns Award for Performing Arts, Texas Tech University Distinguished Researcher Award, Integrated Scholar, Humanities Center Faculty Fellowships, President's Leadership Institute, induction into the Texas Tech Teaching Academy, Institute for Inclusive Excellence, the Kristina Larson Excellence in Choreography Award, and the UNC Charlotte Distinguished Alumni Award.