Research Interests
Open to PhD applications in the field of
- Dance Studies
- Choreographic Practices and Processes
- Practice as Research
- Parenthood and Performance / the Maternal and Performance
- Movement practices and performance
- Interdisciplinary creative practices and processes
- Collaborative creative practices and processes
- Creative Arts and Science interdisciplinary research
- Affect Studies and the creative arts
Public outreach & key achievements
Professor Aoife McGrath is an award-winning dance scholar who has published widely on dance on the island of Ireland. She has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator for a wide range of research projects funded by Horizon Europe, Creative Ireland, Arts Humanities and Research Council/UKRI, Future Screens NI, and the Higher Education Authority.
Recent Choreographic Work:
- Please (2017) in collaboration with sociologist Carolyn Blair, dancer Leonie McDonagh, dramaturge Emily DeDakis, and composer Marty Byrne. This solo dance work used verbatim text from interviews with people suffering from eating disorders, giving insight into their experience of life with ED.
- Within: Body + Time (2018) in collaboration with co-choreographer and dancer, Aisling McCormick, and produced by Accidental Theatre. A solo dance work performed by a 37-week pregnant dancer and her unborn child, exploring the experience of time during pregnancy.
Research students
| PhD Title | Dance across the lands and hear the connection: An interdisciplinary study of dance from Scotland, Ireland, and Appalachia |
| Name | Annalee Tull Lanier |
| Years of Study | Commenced 2024 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | USA |
| PhD Title | Dramaturgy and Healthy Creative Practices: an investigation into working conditions and mental health care of artists in the performing arts |
| Name | Kristyna Ilek |
| Years of Study | Commenced 2023 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| PhD Title | Child Co-Creation in Professional Practice |
| Name | Aideen Howard |
| Years of Study | Commenced 2022 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | Ireland |
Alumni: Where are they now
| PhD Title | Embodied Consciousness and Affect in Movement-based Improvisation Practices |
| Name | Dr Paula Guzzanti |
| Years of Study | 2015 - 2019 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | Argentina |
| Current Position | Head of Dance, University of Malta |
| PhD Title | A study of actor-actor performance connection |
| Name | Dr Elien Hanselaer |
| Years of Study | 2018 - 2022 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | Belgium |
| Current Position | Acting Tutor, Conservatorium Antwerpen |
| PhD Title | The use of Terzopoulos' Method and Greek Rituals in Choreography |
| Name | Dr Argyro Tsampazi |
| Years of Study | 2016 - 2022 (1st Supervisor) |
| Country | Greece |
| Current Position | Research Project Manager, Dance Connects in Rural Border Regions, Queen's University Belfast |
Discover More
- Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
- School of Arts, English and Languages
- Choreography and Corporeality Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research
- Irish Society for Theatre Research