Bio:

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Dance, (Asian Dance and Theatre, Dance History and Theory, Kathak dance technique) holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies and Ethnography with a focus on Asian Performance. Currently editing a volume on South and Souteast Asia for the Encyclopedia of World Dance. As a classical dancer specializing in Bharatanatyam and Kathak dances of India, she performed as a government delegate for India in Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Mongolia, USA and the former USSR.

Education:

Ph.D. Performance Studies and Ethnography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2000

MA in Dance Ethnology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1992

Specialties:

Performance Studies
Technique

Research Interests:

Performance Studies, Asian Dance and Theatre Performance, Dance Ethnography, Dance History and Theory, Gender in Performance, Asian dance Diaspora

  (More Professional Work and Scholarship)   Books

• Shah, Purnima, Garba Dance and Goddess Worship in Gujarat, India (in-progress) (2007)  [author's comments].
• Shah, Purnima, Editor, South Asia and South-east Asia Volume, Encyclopedia of World Dance, Encyclopedia of World Dance (in process) (2005-08) .

• Purnima Shah, 2004 Barbara Stoler Miller Conference, Columbia University: A Report and Critical Appraisal of Contemporary Indian Dance Scholarship, Dance Research Journal, Special Issue on South Asian dance (Spring, 2005) .
• Purnima Shah, Contesting Pasts, Performing Futures, edited by Sajjad Chowdhry, Southern Asian Institute Newsletter, Columbia University, vol. 28 no. 1 (Fall, 2004), pp. 2,8-9,17, 23., Columbia University .

• Purnima Shah, Some issues on the Gender Politics in the Bhakti Genre of Dance-theatre Performance, The Drama Review (2007)  [abs].

• Choreography, Duke University, April 19, 2003
• Choreography, June 05, 2001
• Choreography, University of California, Riverside, April 28, 2001

• Performance, Duke University, November 21, 2003 - November 22, 2003
• Performance, Renolds Theatre, Duke University, December 01, 2001
• Performance, University of California, Riverside, May 11, 2001

• Conference on Gujarati Literature, Sayla, Gujarat, India, November 3-4, 2007
• Ritual, Heritage and Identity Conference, University of Heidelberg, Germany, June 14-17, 2007
• Society of Dance History Scholars, American Council for Learned Societies, New York, October 19, 2006 - October 21, 2006
• Kathak at Crossroads Conference, San Francisco, Sept. 28 - 30, 2006
• Bharatanatyam Conference, Chicago, September 08-10, 2006
• Conferences. Society of Dance History Scholars, American Council for Learned Societies, New York, October 19, 2005 - October 21, 2005
• Conferences, Performance Studies International, Brown University, March 31, 2005
• Society of Dance History Scholars Board meeting, American Council for Learned Societies, New York, November 19, 2004 - November 21, 2004
• Conferences, North Carolina Dance Alliance, Duke University, November 06, 2004
• Conferences, University of Chicago, October 08, 2004 - October 10, 2004
• Conferences, Society of Dance Histor Scholars, Duke University, June 18, 2004
• Conference - Panel Chair, Duke University, June 17, 2004 - June 20, 2004
• Conferences - Local Arrangements Chair, Duke University, June 17, 2004 - June 20, 2004
• Paper presentation: Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October, 2003
• Society for Dance History Scholars, New York, October 10, 2003 - October 12, 2003
• Conference on South Asia., University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 10-13, 2002
• Society for Dance History Scholars Conference, Temple University, Philadelphia, June 20, 2002

• Master Class, North Carolina Dance Alliance, Duke University, November 6, 2004
• Master Classes, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, March 17, 2004
• Master Classes, Dept. of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, January 31, 2004

• Kathak dance workshop, Duke University, September 25 - October 8, 2003
• Kathak Dance Repertory, Duke University, September 1 - December 5, 2003
• Workshops, UNC Chapel-Hill, March 13, 2003