Dorothy's Shoes is the dancing alter-ego of Dorothy Max Prior who has forty years experience in the performing arts – from punk-rock drummer to performance artist; ballroom dance teacher to street arts choreographer and site-specific theatre-maker. She has an ongoing interest in social dance, vaudeville, and popular theatre forms, and endeavours to both honour and usurp those traditions in her performance work. As former co-director of The Ragroof Players, working as choreographer/dance teacher and writer/dramaturg, she co-created many major outdoor, site-specific and community-responsive theatre and dance shows, including Shall We Dance? and Bridge y Puentes, as well as a raft of participatory dance events, including the legendary Ragroof Tea Dance, which Dorothy's Shoes will continue to present from 2019.

 

Shows/projects created under the name Dorothy’s Shoes include commissioned shows and events for a diverse range of festivals and venues including LIFT/ BR-116, Sacred at Chelsea Theatre, Entre Lugares festival in Rio, Suspense Festival London, Dip Your Toe at Brighton Fringe, and Tenuta dello Scompiglio in Italy. She also works as a freelance dramaturg, choreographer and dance/drama/creative writing teacher.

 

Dorothy Max, MISTD, trained in Ballroom and Latin dance with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, has an MA in Creative Writing and has trained extensively in mime, physical theatre, clown, and in many forms of dance. Her teaching work has included: National Theatre Studio, Open College of the Arts, University of Brighton, Wimbledon School of Art, Zap Arts, the International Workshop Festival, London International Mime Festival, LUME Teatro Brazil, and many other companies, arts organisations and educational institutions across the UK and abroad.