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, and is the award-winning author of the book, Body Impossible: Desmond Richardson and the Politics of Virtuosity (Oxford University Press, Oxford Studies in Dance Theory Series, 2024). Books underway include 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 have also been a dramaturg for John Jasperse and Narcissister, and directed Jérôme Bel (by Jérôme Bel). Current creative projects include a performance/literary memoir project about “bad Koreans,” (as dramaturg/producer) a performance in New York bringing together the art of Julie Mehretu and the choreography of John Jasperse, and the development of a performance organization called BODY SHOP. Osterweis lives in Los Angeles.