Clare Croft

Clare Croft is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Women and Gender Studies. She also serves as Faculty Director of Arts Research/Creative Practice, overseeing initiatives across the Arts Initiative and the Office of the Vice President for Research. Her work bridges academia and the arts through dance history, curation, and dramaturgy.

Croft holds a Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas-Austin (2010). Her research focuses on 20th/21st-century American dance performance, queer theory, feminist studies, and U.S. social movements. Key works include Queer Dance: Meanings and Makings (Oxford, 2017) and Dancers as Diplomats (Oxford, 2015), which explore intersections between performance and socio-political contexts.

Her curatorial projects like EXPLODE queer dance festival and Daring Dances foster dialogue through dance. Croft's writing appears in Dance Research Journal, Theatre Journal, and popular outlets like The Washington Post. Awards include the 2020 Brockett Prize and 2016 Outstanding Publication Prize. Supported by NEH and Community Foundation grants, her work emphasizes public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration.