Katja Kolcio: Politics in Art and the Power of the Body

Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio discusses how dance at Wesleyan is about engaging in the world and social issues. She also talks about her fall faculty performance, To Not Forget Crimea: Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars and the importance of politics in art. Katja Kolcio is Associate Professor of Dance, and core faculty member of the College of the Environment at Wesleyan University. Her primary research interests lie in social somatic theory and research methodology, investigating the role of physical engagement and creativity in practices of knowledge production, as well as in twentieth century dance history. Katja's choreography engages the communities and environments within which it occurs. Her interests include integrating traditional and vernacular arts into contemporary performance. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from American University, an M.A. in Political Science from University of Georgia, and an M.A. in Dance and Ph.D. in Somatics/Cultural Studies from The Ohio State University.