by Alex Rehorst
Dr. Pallavi Sriram joined Colorado College this year as an assistant professor in the Dance Studies department. She received her B.S. in chemical engineering and dance from Northwestern University and completed her Ph.D. in culture and performance last year at the University of California, Los Angeles. While Dr. Sriram grew up in northern California, she was born in India and has stayed connected by living there after finishing high school and college. During her time in L.A., she taught Indian studies and frequently traveled to and from India for choreography and performance collaborations with other artists. This year at CC, Dr. Sriram will be teaching Cultural Perspectives in Dance and Historical Perspectives in Dance.
Dr. Sriram says that there is much more to look at in dance than just a particular style or form of technique. In dance, you can see how cultures embody values, politics, and implications throughout history. While there will be some dancing in her courses, they will primarily emphasize watching performances and understanding the meaning behind them. Therefore, dance studies cover dance with significant roots in history but also more contemporary forms such as dance found in concert dance, social dance, and hip-hop. She says that at the core, dance studies is about understanding the moving body and how to make meaning of it based on its cultural and historical context.
Dr. Sriram is enthusiastic about her future at CC and says that her favorite thing about CC so far is the eager-to-learn students. As many new and returning students have found, she says that the most surprising thing about CC is the pace of the block plan, where “there is only so much you can do to prepare your psyche for that.”
