Professor Peta Tait FAHA is an academic scholar and playwright with an extensive background in theatre, dramatic literature, performance theory and creative arts practice. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and her interdisciplinary fields include emotion, body theory and gender and cultural identity. Professor Tait has authored 6 scholarly books, and edited and co-edited 5 anthologies, with pver 60 other publications including articles in Theatre Journal, Modern Drama and Performance Research. She is writer of 5 produced plays, co-writer of 2, and writer for 3 contemporary performances. Professor Tait came to LTU in 1996 and was awarded a personal chair 2004. She was elected to the Executive Board of Performance Studies International 2005-2009, and her visiting professorships include NYU Performance Studies in 2000 and the University of Helsinki in 2010. She regularly receives international invitations to present on the phenomenology of circus bodies.