Skip to main content

Dr Naomi Lefebvre Sell

Head of Studies for the Faculty of Dance

Dance

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Faculty of Dance
Laban Building
Creekside
London
SE8 3DZ

Tel: +44 (0)20 8691 8600

Email: n.lefebvresell@trinitylaban.ac.uk

Area of Work

PhD supervision, MA/MFA supervision and lecturing, BA (Hons) lecturing, Programme Leader MA/MFA Creative Practice
naomi_lefebvre_sell326x487.jpg

Biography

Dr Naomi Lefebvre Sell is a Reader of Choreographic Practice within the Faculty of Dance and Programme Leader for the MA/MFA Creative Practice at Trinity Laban. Naomi lectures across the BA and MA/MFA programmes within the fields of choreography, performance and research methods as well as supervises Practice as Research PhDs. Originally from Canada, Naomi’s background as a professional dancer includes work with both Butoh and Cunningham-influenced companies. Naomi holds a BFA in Dance from Simon Fraser University and a MA Choreography and PhD in Creative Practice (Dance) from Trinity Laban. She is also a Higher Education Academy Fellow.

Naomi’s professional choreographic work has been commissioned and presented across Canada and Europe (since 1998) within festivals such as TanzArt (Germany), Brighton Fringe (UK), Dancing of the Edge (Canada) and Chutzpah! (Canada). Naomi’s practice-led research is published in academic journals and book chapters (Intellect, Frontiers and Routledge), she presents regularly at national and international conferences and is a reviewer for the Frontiers in Psychology Journal. Naomi’s artistic work and teaching is informed by her doctoral research which examined the effect of mindfulness meditation on a creative process of dance making. Naomi’s current research is funded by Arts Council England.

 

Qualifications / Educational Background

Graduate Studies & Professional Qualifications

  • Reader of Choreographic Practice – July 2021
  • Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy – May 2019
  • PhD Creative Practice (Dance) – July 2013, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – London, UK
  • Fellow Higher Education Academy – September 2007
  • MA Choreography – October 2004 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – London, UK

Undergraduate Studies

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts – Major in Dance – April 1998, Simon Fraser University – Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
  • Professional Dance Diploma – April 1996, Grant MacEwan Community College – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

 

Creative Outputs

  • Book chapter entitled ‘Moving as a thought process: the practice of choreography through stillness’ for the Routledge Dance Companion Series, edited by Professor Helen Thomas & Stacey Prickett – 2019
  • International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Montreal, practitioner wisdom presentation, October 2019
  • 5th International Dance & Somatic Practices Conference – Coventry University – invited presenter – July 2019
  • Perf/Forming Future: Artistic Doctorates in Europe, Middlesex University – invited presenter – April 2019
  • Frontiers of Psychology, Expertise in evaluating choreographic creativity: An online adaption of the Consensual Assessment Technique, co-authored with Lucie Clements, Emma Redding & Jon May, 9:1448. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01448, August 2018
  • Presented in Parallax Trinity Laban Research series ‘Moving as a thought process: studio development and creative encounters’ + documentary film by Jason Brooks – October 2018
  • Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts funding award – for Part 2 Research and Development – dance-making and mindfulness with Lucille Teppa and Tara Silverthorn – February 2016 – November 2018
  •  Journal of Performance and Mindfulness, ‘Moving as a thought process: An insight into mindfulness through dance and choreography’, co-authored with Tara Silverthorn & Lucille Teppa, article published Autumn 2018
  • XVII International Conservatory Week Festival, St Petersburg, Russia – invited presenter – October 2017
  • AHRC Leverhulme Imagery project team for In the dancer’s mind: creativity, novelty, imagination, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, September 2014 – December 2017.
  • 4th International Dance & Somatic Practices Conference – Coventry University – invited presenter – July 2017
  • Girls’ Day School Trust, The Cultivation of Mindfulness in Schools conference – invited presenter June 2017
  • Presented at Labanarium, Mental imagery and creativity – University of Surrey – January 2017
  • International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Hong Kong, practitioner wisdom presentation entitled: ‘Mindful Moving: An insight into mindfulness through dance-making and choreography’, October 201
  • Presented in Parallax Trinity Laban Research series ‘Moving as a thought process: An insight into mindfulness through dance and choreography’ + documentary film by Jason Brooks – October 2016
  • Performance and Mindfulness International Symposium, Huddersfield University, paper presentation – June 2016
  • Journal Article, ‘Sharing Practitioner wisdom: Collaborative approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, co-authored with Dr Emma Redding & Alison Curtis-Jones – April 2016, Vol 8, No 2.
  • Foundations for Excellence Conference – Meeting the challenges of excellence in Music and Dance – invited presenter – November 2015
  • Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts funding award – for Part 1 Research and Development – dharmakaya with Lucille Teppa and Tara Silverthorn – August 2015 – October 2016
  • Co-authored book chapter, ‘Dancing and flourishing: mindful meditation in dance making and performing’ with Professor Sarah Whatley in Dance, Somatics and Spiritualties: Contemporary sacred narratives, leading voices in the field, edited by Sarah Whatley, Glenna Batson, Amanda Williamson, Intellect November 2014
  • International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Basel, Switzerland, practitioner wisdom presentation entitled ‘Interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, October 2014
  • World Dance Alliance Global Summit, Angers, France, panel presentation entitled ‘Interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, July 2014
  • PhD Creative Practice (Dance) thesis entitled dharmakaya: An investigation into the impact of mindful meditation on dancers’ creative processes in a choreographic environment, June 2013
  • Research in Dance Education Volume 11 Issue 3, 251, book review of Charm and speed: virtuosity in the performing arts, V. A. Howard , June 2010
  • Authored chapter in The artists’ stories: Featuring 30 Canadian Artists, published by Canadian Arts Alliance, June 2006
  • International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Stockholm, Sweden, ‘The development of a longitudinal inter-disciplinary screening program for full time dance students’. Paper presentation, Emma Redding, MSc, Rogerio Correa, Peter Curtis, Sarah Irvine, MSc, Naomi Lefebvre Sell, MA, November 2005

Link to PhD thesis:http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2634/

Awards

  • External Examiner, Bath Spa University, BA Dance, 2021-2024
  • Professional Development Course for External Examiners, Advance HE, 2018
  • External Examiner, University of Sunderland, BA Professional Dance, MA Advanced Dance Practice, MA Advanced Professional Practice (Dance), 2018-2022
  • External Examiner, University of Salford, BA (Hons) Dance 2019-2023
  • Validation panel member, University of Sunderland, BA Professional Dance, MA Advanced Dance Practice, MA Advanced Professional Practice (Dance) 2018
  • Reviewer for Arts, open access journal
  • Reviewer for Frontiers in Psychology – an open access online journal