Trudi Schoop (October 9, 1904, Zurich, Switzerland – July 14, 1999, Van Nuys, California) [1] was a Swiss dancer who pioneered the treatment of mental illness with dance therapy.

[2] Born in Switzerland, the daughter of the editor of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung,[3] Her younger sister was Hedi Schoop.

"[5] Schoop stayed in Switzerland during World War II, and often performed in anti-Fascist cabaret shows.

Among the several California medical institutions where Schoop worked was the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, where she was recommended as a therapist by UCLA neuropsychiatrists who had reviewed her theories.

[7] Schoop developed what she called body-ego technique, which used movement to help draw patients out of isolation and help them to respond to, rather than shrink from, human contact.