Rosalie Purvis
Ever since choosing her college double major in literature and dance, Rosalie’s work as artist, researcher and educator has found intersections between literature and performance. After pursuing her MFA in theatre directing and completing her PhD in Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University (with a minor in Latino Studies), she has specialized in new play development, intercultural collaboration, and multilingual performance. Her work has been featured at venues including La MaMa, Dixon Place, the Culture Project, 59 East 59, and Dance New Amsterdam in New York City, as well as internationally in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and Kolkata (India).
Since 2015, Rosalie has collaborated with artist-scholar Dr. Debaroti Chakraborty and an evolving collective of primarily women artists based in Kolkata, creating multilingual performance works that explore borders, migration, and intercultural translation. Together they have performed at national borders including El Paso (Texas), Akwesasne (Mohawk Nation near the U.S.-Canada border), and Malda (near the border of Bangladesh). Their productions include Root Map (2015-2017), The Winged Man (2018), Late for Durga (2018), Now That Separateness Is Unassailable (2018-2020), and a co-translation and production of Tagore’s The Post Office (2024).
Rosalie’s research focuses on border studies, intercultural and multilingual performance, migration narratives, practice-as-research methodologies, and queer performance. She is currently revising a book manuscript for Routledge titled Performing the Migrascape: Methods for Intercultural Collaboration, which proposes six original methods for creating performance across cultural, linguistic, and geographic difference.
Her teaching has taken her to diverse, multilingual communities around the world, including work in New York City, the Netherlands, and India. She has taught courses spanning playwriting, poetry, creative nonfiction, movement, acting, dramaturgy, border studies, LGBTQ dramatic literature, feminist performance, and all levels of ESOL.
Areas of Expertise
Dance
Directing and Devising
Dramatic Literature
English
Feminist Performance Theory
Gender and Queer Studies
Intercultural Performance
Migration and Diaspora Studies
Multilingual Performance
Education
PhD in Performing and Media Arts, Cornell University
