Saroya Y. Corbett

Saroya Corbett is a Ph.D. Candidate in Cultures and Performance at UCLA. Her research explores Black social dance genres as a foundation to construct histories of the everyday lived experiences of Black people. Her dissertation specifically focuses on dance team culture in southern Louisiana and at historically Black colleges and universities.

Corbett is a certified teacher in Dunham Technique and the chair of History and Theory for the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification. In 2014, her chapter “Katherine Dunham’s Mark on Jazz” was published in Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches, which focuses on Katherine Dunham’s contribution to the evolution of jazz dance.

Saroya received her MFA degree in Dance from Temple University and her BA from Spelman College in economics. She is on the steering committee for the Coalition for Diasporan Scholars Moving (CDSM), a shadow organization supporting and providing resources to Black dance artists, scholars, and professionals navigating microaggressions and racism.