The Department of Dance is thrilled to announce that Rujeko Dumbutshena will be joining faculty as Assistant Professor of Dance beginning the 2020-2021 school year.
The Assistant Professor of Dance is a tenure track position, and Dumbetshena will be the first full-time faculty member in the department history to be versed in dances of the African Diaspora, helping to advance the department’s continued efforts to increase diversity within the dance curriculum.
About Rujeko Dumbutshena:
Rujeko Dumbutshena is a Zimbabwean-born dancer, pedagogue, and performer who specializes in neo-traditional and contemporary African dance. She holds an MFA in dance from the University of New Mexico. She has been on faculty at the Central New Mexico Community College, the University of New Mexico, and Sarah Lawrence College. Rujeko was invited to be an artist in residence at Williams College, the University of Rochester, and Duke University. She conducts her scholarly research on the interplay of gender, and power, in ritual performances of communities in southern Africa.
Rujeko was an original ensemble member in Bill T. Jones’ Off-Broadway and Broadway musical production of FELA! She was commissioned to produce a choreo-poem for the Smithsonian African Art Museum’s African Cosmos exhibit. She is a recipient of City of Albuquerque’s Creative Bravos Award,a New Mexico Arts and Brooklyn Arts Council grantee and a BAM/De Vos Institute fellow. Rujeko has directed and been a guest artist at African drum and dance conferences across the country for over 20 years.