Latina Dance Project: Eluza Santos

Eluza Santos was born in Brazil and, in 2008, she left her position as Associate
Professor of Dance at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, to return to her home state of Espírito Santo. She holds a degree in Physical Education from Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, B.A and MFA degrees in Dance from Arizona State

University, and a PhD in Dance from Texas Woman's University. Her research—exemplified in her dissertation, The Dancing Voice of Culture: An Ethnography of Contemporary Dance in Vitória, Brazil—focuses on the cultural origins of contemporary concert dance styles in her native city.

Santos' artistic and scholarly works have

been presented widely in Brazil, the United States, South Africa, Portugal, Canada and Finland.

She directed the premiere of the Latina Dance Project at UNC-Greensboro in 2002 and has maintained professional activities with the group, even after relocating to Brazil.

In addition, Santos has founded a new company in her home state, Companhia de Artes Eluza Santos. For her, it is invigorating to work with two companies, each in a different country, and she often draws from her Brazilian cultural roots in her teaching, choreography, and scholarly work.