Ann Kilkelly (1946-2023) was a scholar, writer, performer, and teacher. Her work centered on jazz-tap dancing and history, as well as interactive performance techniques. She was Professor Emerita of Theater Arts and Women’s and Gender Studies at Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. 

Kilkelly received two Smithsonian Senior Fellowships and a National Endowment for the Humanities award for “Tapping the Margins.” She co-authored Performing Communities: Grassroots Ensemble Theaters Deeply Rooted in Eight U.S. Communities (New Village Press, 2006), with Robert H. Leonard. 

Kilkelly taught master classes in jazz tap around the world, traveled with Roadside Theater, and performed solo at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, the New York Tap City Festival, and other prestigious theaters. She lived in Blacksburg, VA.