Meet Our Contributors
Janet Schroeder is a percussive dance artist, scholar, and teacher, with a particular interest in rhythm tap dance, Appalachian clogging, and body percussion.
Her dance writing, which addresses the intersections of dance and culture, includes publications in Arts and Culture Texas, The Activist History Review, Dance Chronicle, and the anthology Dance and Cultural Memory. Schroeder is currently working on a book-length project entitled Rhythm Tap Dance, Appalachian Step Dance, and the Racial Project of America, which asks what tap and Appalachian dance can teach us about race in the United States.
Her efforts to expand audience engagement with dance include her role as Scholar-in-Residence at Jacob’s Pillow. Schroeder has also served as subject area advisor to the United States Postal Service for the Tap Dance Forever stamp issued in July 2021, and she consulted with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on their exhibit, “Dance!”
Schroeder is assistant artistic director of the Columbus, OH based tap dance company, Movement Afoot, with whom she also performs. As a freelance Appalachian step dancer, Schroeder has appeared at venues in New York and Ohio, as well as, very briefly, on the Great Wall of China. An in-demand choreographer for tap dance and body percussion pieces, Schroeder’s choreographies have appeared on stages in the US as well as in Brazil, Mexico, and China.
From 2005-2010 Schroeder toured with music and dance company Rhythm in Shoes. She has lectured on dance and performance at University of Maryland-College Park, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the University at Buffalo, among other universities. Schroeder earned an MFA in dance from SUNY Brockport and a PhD in dance studies from Ohio State University.
Photo: Jessica Cavender