Tal Shafir

Tal Shafir's lectures focus on motor interaction, body language and emotive movement. Shafir studied to become a dance teacher at Haifa Dance Institute, after which she went on to obtain her dance movement therapist certification from the University of Haifa.

Shafir devoted several years offering dance therapy to children with neurological debilitations and the elderly. She furthered pursued academic studies at the University of Michigan, School of Kinesiology and eventually obtained a Master's in movement science and, later, a PhD in neurophysiology of motor control, before embarking on fellowships with esteemed colleagues studying brain and behavior communication in babies, effective neuroscience and brain imaging. Shafir researched at the University of Michigan, studying interaction between movement and emotion and how that understanding can be applied to treating depression via motor intervention.

Her independent research projects include 'Whole-Body Vibration Stimulation as an Intervention for Depression' and 'Motor Characteristics of Whole-Body Emotional Expressions as Depicted by Laban Movement Analysis.'