Sandra Sarrouf
Dance Lecturer
Contact Information
- Office: Bldg. 60-8A
- Phone: 805-756-1169
- Email: ssarrouf@calpoly.edu
About Sandra Sarrouf
Sandra Sarrouf holds an M.A. in Cultural Sustainability, with an emphasis on traditional arts, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) dance, and cross-cultural studies. A cultural heritage bearer, educator, and producer, Sandra works at the intersection of culture, art, and justice to create pathways for meaningful change that uplift the traditions, stories, and practices of diverse communities.
Sandra teaches Middle Eastern and North African dance through DNC 1135: International Folk Dance and Cultural Influences of Dance in “America,” DNC 3321. She is the founder of Cultural Creations Collaborative, supporting schools and businesses in building culturally inclusive spaces, and Co-Director of Our Roots/Our Routes, an oral history and cultural documentation project building a people’s living history of the Central Coast.
Sandra has been dancing her whole life, with early training in ballet, jazz, and tap and a lifelong engagement with Middle Eastern dance as part of her cultural heritage. As an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara, she explored the technical, cultural, and social dimensions of regional dances throughout Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA), serving as a lead dancer with the UCSB Middle East Ensemble. She went on to perform locally and internationally and, in 2007, began directing dances for the Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble, bringing dances from the Levant and North Africa to the stage for 11 years. She has also been a guest teacher in schools and studios throughout the county and has studied West African, Afro-Brazilian, and Latin dance forms.
Passionate about traditional dance and the complexities of practicing cultural dance within diasporic communities, Sandra brings both an academic and practitioner lens to her teaching. Her approach invites students to look beyond movement and technique to consider history, identity, power, community, and the responsibilities of cultural exchange. Through dance, she encourages students to think critically, broaden their perspectives, and develop a deeper understanding of the communities and cultural traditions from which dances emerge.