Renata Sheppard is a choreographer, director, dance educator and published author. She has been recognized and awarded internationally for her innovative creations, choreography and research in the field of dance and hybrid art forms. Born in Italy and raised in the United States, she has lived and worked in the US, Europe, and Asia as a Fulbright Scholar, Henry Luce Scholar, Kate Neal Kinley Fellow, and US Embassy Artist Research grantee. She is known for her innovative engagement of dance across discipline, and premiered an evening length dance-tech performance at Teatro a Corte Festival in Torino, Italy and opened the season with an original work created for Balletto Teatro di Torino. Her lineage in classical and neoclassical ballet expanded to contemporary dance, jazz, lyrical and as a certified Laban Movement Analyst, she has developed a unique and specific approach to coaching and teaching which help students refine and develop their performance skills and artistic voice. She studied ballet with Dance Theater of Harlem's Lorraine Graves, Veli Peltokallio, Terri Weksler and Laura Alonzo. Her contemporary training includes Release Technique, Cunningham and Gaga with teachers Sara Hook, Paige Cunningham, Cynthia Oliver, James Hansen, Renee Wadleigh, Daniel Nagrin, Terri O'Connor, among others. She guest teaches and sets choreographic works on students of every level and professionals on a project-to-project basis when she isn't performing in her own work.

Her choreographic process and teaching style are creative, exploratory and experimental with rigorous technical training as the foundation. She has presented her work internationally in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel, Tunisia, India, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Canada, and throughout the US. She currently resides in the United States.