Erica Rose Jeffrey, PhD

Brisbane, Australia

Erica Rose Jeffrey PhD believes in the power of movement connected to positive social change. A ‘dance activist’ she seeks to create positive ways of seeing, participating and collaborating in, around, and through dance. Involved in multiple communities, she has worked internationally as a peacebuilder, facilitator, performer, educator, and arts leader. She is the founding teacher, a director and lead teacher/trainer for Dance for Parkinson’s Australia.

The first Dance for PD® certified teaching artist in Australia, Erica Rose holds a PhD in Creative Industries focusing on Dance and Peacebuilding from Queensland University of Technology, a M.A. in International Relations-Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Queensland as a Rotary Peace Fellow, and B.S. degrees in Dance and Mediation and Conflict Resolution from Indiana University. She has presented workshops with Queensland Ballet in Brisbane, the Sydney Opera House, The Australian Ballet, Ausdance, the Belconnen Arts Centre and other organizations throughout Australia. She has been the driving force behind successful Dance for Parkinson’s programs in all major Australian cities, and has conducted more than a dozen teacher training workshops in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and China.

She is Co-Chair of the Arts Health Network Queensland and a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine (IADMS) Dance for Health Committee. Erica Rose is also a co-Director of Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia (PaCSIA), implementing and researching peacebuilding projects in the Asia and Pacific regions. Her research has included work in the Philippines specifically in Mindanao, Fiji, Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) and the United States. As a Director of PaCSIA, she is currently engaged in community level peacebuilding projects, including many with arts and culture components, in Australia and internationally including Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Recent publications include Dancing through the dissonance: Creative movement and peacebuilding (2020) Manchester: Manchester University Press co-written with Dr Lesley Pruitt.