Dr Peter Lovatt is a psychologist with a special interest in movement and dance. Peter was a professional dancer before overcoming a reading difficulty and taking degrees in Psychology and English (BSc), Neural Computation (MSc) and Experimental Cognitive Psychology (PhD). Peter was a university lecturer for over 25 years – teaching and carrying out research at a range of higher education institutions in the UK – from Cambridge University to the Royal Ballet School. He retired from his academic posts in 2019 to set up Movement in Practice with Lindsey Lovatt, his wife of 30 years, and to create the Move-Assure Dance for Mental Wellbeing Programme with Dame Darcey Bussell.
Dr Peter Lovatt is the author of The Dance Cure: the surprising secret to being smarter, stronger, happier, (2020/2021), which was shortlisted for the Books are My Bag Reader’s Award, and Dance Psychology: the science of dance and dancers (2018).
Peter was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in 2021. He had radical surgery and is now fine. He’s part of an NHS cancer surveillance programme and he uses dance and movement to keep his mind in check.
Peter has been involved in the public engagement with science – and the public engagement with dance – since 2008. He’s given several TEDx talks and performances, appeared on popular TV and radio shows, spoken at science festivals and at corporate events worldwide. He loves to introduce new audiences to the groove that is created when you combine psychology, science and dance.