Kristopher Pourzal

Kristopher Pourzal is a PhD Candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies with a Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He teaches courses in dance studies, theater studies, and Black performance cultures. He is at work on a dissertation about New York City’s Clark Center, a community-oriented dance studio and school operating from 1959-1989, which was an especially important hub for African American dance artists. 

In 2024, he was awarded the Dance Studies Association's Selma Jeanne Cohen Award for his paper "Black Feminist Geography and/as Choreography: Angie Pittman's Came Up in a Lonely Castle." His scholarship has been presented at various academic conferences including the Dance Studies Association, the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance, the National Dance Education Organization, and UMD's Black Theatre and Dance Symposia. His written work has been published in academic and popular outlets including Dance Chronicle, Performance Matters, Culturebot, and the Movement Research Performance Journal.

Pourzal also works as a dancer, choreographer, and dramaturg. His choreographic work has been supported and presented primarily in New York City at such venues as Gibney Dance, Danspace Project, Movement Research, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and The Kitchen. Pourzal has worked for other artists too, including Catherine Galasso, K.J. Holmes, Abigail Levine, Britta Joy Peterson, Will Rawls, Jen Rosenblit, Carlo Antonio Villanueva, and Ash Yergens.

Education

• MFA Dance, Arizona State University (2014)
• BA Theatre and Dance, James Madison University (2011)