About
Ruth Way is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of School for Performing Arts at the University of Plymouth’s School of Art, Design and Architecture. She holds a unique interdisciplinary profile spanning performance practice, somatic movement education, and community arts advocacy. With a professional background in international dance performance and choreography, her career includes training at the London School of Contemporary Dance and the Merce Cunningham School, followed by roles with companies like Dublin Contemporary Dance Theatre and Earthfall. Her academic journey includes Eastwest Somatics Institute certification and ISMETA registration as a somatic movement educator.
Her research focuses on embodied practices in dance, particularly applied somatic movement for health and intergenerational communities. She co-directs Enclave Productions, producing award-winning dance films screened globally. Current projects include ‘Bodies Matter’ research with AgeUK and an interdisciplinary team investigating Dance and Parkinson’s. She has held senior roles including Director of the School of Humanities and Performing Arts Showcase and Portfolio Lead for Music and Theatre.
Ruth supervises PhDs in practice-based research, specializing in screendance, performance technology, and dance-as-cultural-discourse. Her work bridges artistic innovation with social impact, emphasizing dance’s role in wellbeing and community building.
