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 emphasis on traditional arts, Middle Eastern North African Dance and culturally responsive teaching. A cultural heritage bearer and producer, Sandra works at the intersection of culture, art, and justice to build bridges across differences. She currently teaches Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Dance through DNC 135 International Folk Dance and Cultural Influences of Dance in ‘America’, DNC 321. Sandra also directs Cultural Creations Collaborative working with schools and organizations to unpack diversity, equity and inclusion through a cultural framework of belonging.
Sandra has been dancing her whole life, trained in ballet, jazz, and tap and practicing Middle Eastern dance as part of her heritage and culture. Through her undergraduate studies at UCSB she took a deep dive into the technical and social elements of regional dances throughout the Southwest Asia North African (SWANA) region. She was a lead dancer with the UCSB Middle East Ensemble, and later performing locally and internationally. In 2007, she began directing dances for the Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble bringing regional dances from the Levantine and North Africa to the stage for 11 years. Sandra has also been a guest teacher in schools throughout the County combining her love of dance and commitment to responsible cultural exchange. She has a breadth of dance experience having also studied, West African, Afro Brazilian and Latin dance forms.
Passionate about traditional dance and understanding the nuances of practicing cultural dance by diasporic communities, she brings both an academic and practitioner lens into the classroom to challenge her students to think critically and broaden their perspectives of dance and community.