Dasha Chapman

Dasha Chapman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dance at Kennesaw State University (KSU). She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Performance Studies and Humanities and Social Thought from New York University, along with a B.A. in Latin American Studies and Cultural Studies from Boston University.

• Education
  • Ph.D. in Performance Studies, New York University
  • M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought, New York University
  • B.A. in Latin American Studies and Cultural Studies, Boston University
• Current Affiliation
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Dance, Kennesaw State University
• Prior Affiliation
  • Postdoctoral Associate in African and African American Studies, Duke University
  • Instructor in Dance and Africana Studies, Davidson College and Hampshire College/Five College Dance

Her research and practice intersect African diaspora theory, performance studies, queer/gender studies, and Caribbean thought. She focuses on suppressed histories through place-based collaborations with Haitian and U.S. artists, exploring connections between theory and practice, self and world, and historical continuity. Her teaching blends studio and seminar environments to examine embodied pedagogies and anti-racist education.

Chapman co-convenes three transdisciplinary initiatives: Afro-Feminist Performance Routes (a biannual artistic residency), the Haitian Queer/Sexualities Working Group (a platform for scholars/artists/activists in Haiti), and the Un/Commoning Pedagogies Collective (centering movement in queer/feminist anti-racist education). She has collaborated with artists in Port-au-Prince and Jérémie, Haiti, and at institutions like the Power Plant Gallery (Durham, NC) and A Studio in the Woods (New Orleans, LA).

Her writings appear in The Black Scholar, Journal of Haitian Studies, Dance Chronicle, Dance Research Journal, Theater Journal, and Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory, where she co-edited a special issue titled Nou Mache Ansanm: Queer Haitian Performance and Affiliation with Erin Durban and Mario LaMothe.

Chapman’s work emphasizes collaborative, place-based performance projects, transdisciplinary education, and the intersection of dance with critical theories of race, gender, and diaspora. She has performed internationally with choreographers in Euro-American, West African, Haitian, and Afro-Cuban traditions.