A dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and public speaker, Amelia Rudolph is best known as the founder and director of the Oakland-based vertical dance company BANDALOOP. Her award winning work is centered in the unexpected use of gravity to make dances that inspire positive disorientation and wonder through site-responsive practices and community engagement that often includes a focus on social justice and environmental stewardship. Amelia holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in comparative religion from Swarthmore College and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, has received over forty grants, fellowships and commissions, and in 2021 was awarded an honorary doctorate from 17, Institute for Critical Studies, Mexico City.