Jessica Murphy
Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance
Jessica Murphy is a dance teaching artist with a curiosity about how groups of artists make work outside of a traditional hierarchical power structure. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from Texas Woman's University where her thesis codified her own collaborative choreographic process, “The A.C.T.I.V.E. Process.” Prior to that she received a Master in the Art of Teaching degree from Sweet Briar College receiving dual teaching licensure in Dance Education PK-12 and Elementary Education PK-6. Her M.A.T. thesis focused on the ability of dance education to transform a student’s relationship with failure in the learning process.
Murphy’s dancing education began at the young age of four at a private dance studio studying various techniques within the genres of modern, ballet, tap, and jazz. She has trained under the mentorship of Ella Magruder (Menagerie Dance Company/ Mimi Gerrard), Mark Magruder (Menagerie Dance Company/ Beverly Blossom/ Mimi Gerrard), Sarah Gamblin (Bebe Miller), Jordan Fuchs (Jordan Fuchs Dance Company), Matt Henley (Randy James Dance Works/ Sean Curran Company), Mary Williford-Shade (Mark Taylor/Mark Dendy), Betty Jones (Doris Humphrey & Jose Limon), and Nia Love (Ballet Nacional de Cuba/ Min Tanaka). She has taught at various schools throughout Virginia and Texas including the University of North Texas, Sweet Briar College, Texas Woman’s University, Tarrant County College, Dallas County College, Collin College, as well as several local studios to students with ages ranging from three years to ninety-plus. Previously her choreography has been showcased at the World Dance Alliance Global & National Summits, the South by Southwest Festival, the American College Dance Association, and various regional festivals.
Currently, Jessica performs and choreographs for Wildly Brave Dance Company, where she serves in the role of Co-Creative Director. Born and raised in the small town of Lynchburg, Virginia, Murphy now resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma where she serves as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance for the Department of Theatre at Oklahoma State University.