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Purnima Shah

Professor of the Practice of Dance
Dance Program
Box 90686, Durham, NC 27708-0686
2020 Campus Drive, Suite 209, Durham, NC 27708

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of the Practice of Dance · 2023 - Present Dance Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published October 4, 2015
$25 Million Gift, $50 Million Center to Elevate Arts
Published October 1, 2013
Dan Blue to Speak at Duke’s 2013 Founders' Day Ceremony
Published July 22, 2013
Modernity tripping garba, U.S. professor says

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Recent Publications


Choreographing Society, Special Issue in Dance, Arts Journal

Journal Article Arts Journal · December 30, 2024 Cite

Performance of Thumrī in Kathak Dance

Journal Article Asian Theatre Journal · January 1, 2023 During the eighteenth century, Lakhnau, the capital of the royal state of Awadh, emerged as the refined center for the arts. Over the next centuries, kathak maestros and elite tavāifs (soiree singers and dancers) enthralled patron connoisseurs with their e ... Full text Cite

Performance of Thumri in Kathak Dance

Journal Article Asian Theatre Journal · 2023 Cite
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Recent Grants


Dance MD Biddle 2017 Proposal

Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Mary Duke Biddle Foundation · 2017 - 2017

The Garba Dance and Goddess Worship in Gujarat, India

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Mary Duke Biddle Foundation · 2007 - 2009

The Garba Dance and Goddess Worship in Gujarat, India

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2007 - 2009

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Wisconsin, Madison · 2000 Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles · 1992 M.A.