Research — Anna Kirakowska

Dance Research

After years on the road as a touring dancer, I developed a backlog of questions about racial perception, body politics, cultural tastes & colonialism. I started to unpick these in Dance Anthropology, from where I was one of the last cohorts in this highly niche topic to graduate with Distinction (MA).

Although currently my focus is more towards producing and Pilates, I lecture contextual studies at London Contemporary Dance School where it brings me great joy to mentor the next generation of dance scholars. Scroll down to see a snippet of a short documentary I produced, my awards, some samples of my dance research and a mini library of resources to explore the intersection of dance and race.

Amazingly Awkward: Let's Talk About Race (2021). Funded by Society for Dance Research; exploring the effects of defaulting whiteness in dance history teaching. Concept & research & production by me, filmed & edited by Jahan Zaib Kahn. Dancer: Jeremiah Olusola. Shared with Jeremiah's permission.

Research Samples

(Click to view short snippets of some of my projects below)

Disney And the cold war (2019), presented at Society for Dance Research's Cold War Politics Conference. About: Disney's propeganda strategy to ensure children followed the rules. Click to view slides.

Story of a Gori: AUTOETHNOGRAPHY OF A WHITE GIRL IN bOLLYWOOD (2018), PRESENTED AT THE YOUNG IMPRESSIONS cONFERENCE AT kask UNIVERSITY, GHENT, BELGIUM. about: a snippet from my research project exploring bollywood's depiction of white women in 2015. click to read.

Mini Library

Click on the tiles below to explore

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Hey, researcher! Want access to some more resources in your subject area? Contact me and let me know!