Remembering Dr. Kelli Sharp, Chair of the Department of Dance

Honoring the late professor who built bridges between dance and medicine

The UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts is deeply saddened to share that Dr. Kelli Sharp, associate professor and chair of the Department of Dance at the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts (UCI Arts), died on Oct. 16, 2026. A movement scientist who believed dance could help people heal, Sharp spent nearly three decades at UC Irvine bringing the arts and medicine closer together, and changing many lives along the way.

Her passing is an immense loss to UCI Arts, and to the many communities across UC Irvine she helped bring together. She was a force of nature, a heart-forward leader and someone with a profound magnetism that made anything feel possible. In addition to chairing the Department of Dance, Sharp directed the UCI Center for Medical Humanities. She co-directed the iMove Lab at the UCI Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and served as vice chair for research for physical medicine and rehabilitation at the School of Medicine. 

In every aspect of Sharp’s life, she embodied the University of California’s motto, Fiat Lux, “Let there be light.” Her commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, truth and her undeniable light will be sorely missed on campus. 

The Dance Scientist

Born in Beckley, West Virginia, Sharp grew up in a loving home before moving with her family to Charlottesville, Virginia, at 13. Through riding and showing horses, Sharp developed a lifelong love for animals. As a child, she also danced at the Jerry Rose Dance School. Sharp earned a degree in biochemistry from Hollins College and headed to Southern California in 1999 to follow acclaimed spinal cord researcher Oswald Steward to UC Irvine to help found the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. She managed Steward's research projects and helped the lab flourish while earning her doctorate.

It was in the lab and the clinic that Sharp first saw what movement could do for people whose bodies had been changed by injury or illness. After earning a doctorate in physical therapy at Chapman University, Sharp led a National Institutes of Health-funded project exploring how mental visualization could help people with spinal cord injuries learn to walk better. Working with patients who used wheelchairs and those who could no longer speak after a stroke, she often brought dance into her sessions to improve treatment and to foster human connection. It was one of her many extraordinary gifts: finding meaningful ways to connect the arts to medicine to help with recovery.

That work became the foundation of a career built on a two-way exchange between science and art. Her lab used biomechanics and neuroscience to help dancers prevent injury and perform at their best. Sharp understood the reverse to be true as well: dance could become the medicine. In one study, a six-week therapeutic ballet program helped children with cerebral palsy walk with greater ease. She also served on UC Irvine's Institutional Review Board beginning in 2013, advocating for children and cognitively impaired participants to ensure research protected those most vulnerable. Across everything Sharp accomplished, a throughline of altruism for altruism’s sake, accessibility and discovery was at its core.

In 2014, Sharp joined the Department of Dance faculty as a movement scientist, building a teaching program in dance rehabilitation rooted in research. Nine years later, in 2023, she became department chair, the first clinical research scientist to hold the position. A natural leader and fierce advocate, she championed a collaborative, inclusive department that reached outward to the wider dance community and invited students to understand the science of their own bodies.

Sharp made herself available to everyone. While balancing classes, research, and the responsibilities of leading a department, Sharp carved out intentional moments to check in on people’s well-being. She always went above and beyond in a way that felt authentic to her, inspiring those around her to do the same. She would often tell colleagues and friends that she was “sending energy,” something that seemed boundless in her work and spirit. She regularly greeted administrative staff by name and thanked them for their hard work. Those small moments leave an indelible mark on her legacy in the arts.

Her dedication to students and colleagues earned her recognition across campus. In 2018, she received the UCI Arts Service Award, followed by the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research in 2019. That same year, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program named her Faculty of the Month. In 2020, she was named a Faculty Innovation Fellow through the UCI Beall Applied Innovation Fellowship, and in 2022, she became a fellow of the UCI Faculty Academy for Teaching Excellence.

Sharp could do it all. While serving as chair, she was also named director of the Center for Medical Humanities after serving on its executive board since 2020. A collaboration among the School of Medicine, the School of Humanities and UCI Arts, the center explores how people find meaning in experiences of illness and disability. Under her leadership, it welcomed scholars, activists and artists to campus for conversations about care and resilience.

"Together, we'll explore how to rebuild and create wholeness," Sharp wrote in her welcome as director. That same ethos guides the school as it carries her work forward during this devastating time.

Her curiosity never slowed. In recent weeks, she had been preparing a conference presentation titled Dancing Toward Evidence: Ballet, Cerebral Palsy, Dance as Medicine. A recent guest artist who taught movement from a wheelchair deeply moved Sharp, reinforcing her long-standing belief that dance belongs to every body. She had recently expressed her desire to expand this area of study within the Department of Dance, building on her years of fierce advocacy. She also served on the university's Public Safety Advisory Committee, convinced that honest dialogue could be a force for positive change.

"At her core, Kelli was a restorative spirit," said Tiffany Ana López, Ph.D., Claire Trevor Dean of the Arts. "She believed in the capacity of people to heal, grow, and find their way forward, whether through movement, medicine, education, or simply being given another chance."

A Guiding Light

For all she accomplished, Sharp's presence will be missed most at UCI Arts. Her laugh was contagious, and when she spoke to someone, she made that person feel like they were the only one in the room. With such an intimidating resume on paper, she had one of the most golden hearts in person. Sharp saw people's humanity first and made every person she met feel seen. At town halls and performances alike, she broke the ice first and put others at ease. In daunting times, Sharp’s energy gave the school hope. Hope that the arts can sustain us as medicine can, and that those disciplines can work together through movement. She was everything you could hope for in a leader. Sharp embodied that the arts aren’t extracurricular; they're instrumental to every field of study.

That same warmth followed her to the mountains. An avid skier and cyclist, Sharp volunteered with and served on the board of Access Mammoth, a Mammoth Lakes nonprofit that creates fun, inclusive mountain sports experiences for people of every age and ability. Her team there once gave her the "Mother Hen" award, not for any single moment but because everyone felt cared for by her.

Dr. Kelli Sharp leaves behind a field she helped build and a department she led with every fiber in her being. She also leaves countless students, patients and colleagues who are better for having known her. That kind of leader and person is rare, and someone one hopes to meet at least once in their lives.

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts expresses immense gratitude to Dr. Sharp for showing what the arts are capable of. Fiat lux — Kelli’s light will always remain on campus and in the lives she has brightened.

Sharp is survived by her mother, Jessica; her stepfather, Dan Snead; her aunt, Sue Shapiro; her cousins and step-siblings; and many dear friends. She was preceded in death by her father, Rick; her brother, Ryan; and her grandmother, Betty Wheelock. The family has asked that donations in her honor be made to Access Mammoth. 

As we come together to honor Dr. Sharp's life and lasting legacy, UCI Arts intends to establish an endowed fund in her name to support work at the intersection of arts and medicine, reflecting the areas she championed throughout her career. Additional information will be shared as plans develop, including opportunities for those who wish to contribute to this lasting tribute. Details about upcoming celebrations of life honoring Kelli and the many lives she touched will also be shared as they become available.

Visit the “Remembering Dr. Kelli Sharp” page to share messages of condolence with her family, friends, and loved ones. Information about upcoming celebrations of life will be shared on the page as details become available.

To read the family's obituary, visit The Register-Herald. 

To learn more about the Department of Dance, visit arts.uci.edu/dance.