Woman sitting on floor against blue wall

Ariel Osterweis (she/they) is a scholar-practitioner of dance and performance. They have a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and are on faculty at CalArts, where they teach Performance Studies and Critical Dance Studies.

Osterweis writes about embodied performance, theorizing at the intersection of race, sexuality, gender, labor, and movement. They have three book projects underway: Body Impossible: Desmond Richardson and the Politics of Virtuosity (Oxford University Press, Oxford Studies in Dance Theory Series, forthcoming Feb. 2024), Prophylactic Aesthetics: Latex, Spandex, and Sexual Anxieties Performed (University of Michigan Press, Theater: Theory/Text/Performance Series), and Disavowing Virtuosity, Performing Aspiration: Dance and Performance Interviews (Routledge).

As a dancer and performer, Osterweis has worked professionally with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Mia Michaels R.A.W., Heidi Latsky, and Julie Tolentino. They were also a dramaturg for John Jasperse and Narcissister. Projects on the horizon include an experimental memoir called Bad Korean and the development of a performance institute. Osterweis lives in Los Angeles.