Dr. Kristopher Pourzal

Dr. Kristopher Pourzal is a dance historian, performer, and dramaturg. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, he is based in southern California and works as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Chapman University. 

Pourzal's research is broadly invested in the histories, impacts, and possibilities of Black, queer/trans, and feminist performance practices. His manuscript-in-progress is about Clark Center, a New York City dance studio and school founded as a home for Alvin Ailey’s modern dance company. Operating for thirty years (1959-1989), Clark Center nourished generations of emerging dance artists—and African Americans in particular, catalyzing what he terms a Black-centric racial integration of the field. The project draws on archives and oral-history interviews conducted with more than twenty Clark Center alumni.

Pourzal’s other forthcoming publications include book chapters on choreographers Hope Clarke, Kyle Abraham, and Angie Pittman. His academic and creative writing appears in Global Black Thought, Dance Chronicle, Performance Matters, Culture Bot, and the Movement Research Performance Journal. Pourzal’s research has been recognized with awards and fellowships from the Dance Studies Association, Dance Chronicle, the University of Maryland, and the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts division. 

An ardent educator, Pourzal teaches courses across the Department of Dance, First-Year Foundations, and the Honors Program. Teaching areas include dance history and theory, African diasporic cultures, choreographic research, and dance improvisation. Previously he has served as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Kennesaw State University and an Adjunct Professorial Lecturer at American University. He has mentored and advised undergraduate students in myriad endeavors, including choreographic and written thesis projects, publications in undergraduate research journals, presentations at academic symposia, and successful admission to graduate programs.

As a choreographer and performer, Pourzal makes solos excavating queer-of-color affects. His performance work has been supported and presented by multiple institutions, including Movement Research, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, and GIBNEY Dance. He has worked as a performer, assistant, and/or dramaturg for choreographers such as Will Rawls, Abigail Levine, Ashley R.T. Yergens, and Catherine Galasso. Most recently, he performed in the premiere of Abigail Levine's six quiet dogs (2025) in New York City.

Pourzal holds a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he also earned a Graduate Certificate from the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Additionally, Pourzal holds an MFA in Dance from Arizona State University.