Elizabeth Epsen

Elizabeth Epsen (she/her) is the Manager of College Dance for the OFA Dance Program where she oversees all co-curricular dance in the OFA including artistic and pedagogic curation of programming; administration; communications; undergraduate student advisement; and daily operations. This includes the Non-Credit Classes, Visiting Artist Series, Peer Mentorshp Program, Student-Led Dance Group Residencies, ON DISPLAY HARVARD, and special projects, events, and residencies. She also researches and develops programmatic collaborations and initiatives in partnership with departments and offices both on and off campus, creating mutliple points of entry into and engagement with dance for both Harvard and Boston area communities and beyond. Additionally, Elizabeth creates professional development opportunities focused on production, creative process, and disability inclusion that are geared towards student-led dance and arts group leaders. She offers mentorship and advisement to student-led dance groups and to individual students throughout the year. 

Prior to Harvard, Elizabeth worked as Program Coordinator for the National Dance Project, recognized as one of the country’s largest and most impactful sources of funding for the creation and touring of new dance works, and as Development Coordinator for the New England Foundation for the Arts, one of the six regional arts organziations established by the NEA. She also worked in administration and development at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, after receiving her B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from Creighton University. Elizabeth has served on residency and grant panels for the Boston Center for the Arts and Somerville Arts Council, and served on Board of Directors for The Dance Complex from 2021-2025. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for RootsUprising Dance Company. 

In addition to her career in arts management, Elizabeth is a professional dancer, collaborative artist, and dance educator. She completed her dance training at Canada’s National Ballet School and the San Francisco Ballet School where she performed with the San Francisco Ballet. As a dancer and collaborator in the Boston area, Elizabeth has performed and participated in residencies at major dance venues including the Institute for Contemporary Art Boston (ICA), Jacob's Pillow, Boston Center for the Arts, Harvard's ArtLab, Tufts University, The Dance Complex, and Green Street Studios, and is still an active performer. She has been a guest teacher for Tufts University Dance Program, Green Street Studios, and The Dance Complex. Elizabeth was on the teaching artist faculty for the OFA Dance Program, teaching Ballet II (non-credit community class), from 2018-2020 under the Directorship of Jill Johnson.