Rainy C. Demerson, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Rainy C. Demerson is a dance artist, scholar, and educator invested in intersectional feminism and decolonial embodiment. She is an associate professor in the Department of Dance Performance and Choreography. Dr. Demerson has trained extensively in California and New York, as well as at L’ecole des Sables in Senegal, Teatro Nacional de Cuba, and Escola de Dança da FUNCEB in Brazil.

Her academic and embodied research seeks to bridge traditional and experimental approaches to navigating the web of African diasporic performance philosophies and methods. She holds degrees from the Dance Education MA at New York University, the MFA in dance at Hollins University and the Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies at the University of California Riverside, where she completed her dissertation, Decolonial Moves: Re-Membering Black Women in South African Contemporary Dance.

She taught at Lindenwood University, El Paso Community College, Crafton Hills College, Scripps College, California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and California State University, San Marcos, before joining the Cave Hill campus of The University of the West Indies, where she co-created a new BFA in dance. As a choreographer/performer, she has shared her work in the USA, Mexico, Barbados, Trinidad, South Africa, and Senegal. As a scholar, she’s published in several distinguished journals and anthologies and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the academic journal Dance Chronicle.

Visit Dr. Demerson's Website

Education

• Ph.D. Critical Dance Studies 2020 University of California, Riverside
• MFA Dance 2016, Hollins University
• MA Dance Education 2012, New York University
• BA World Arts and Cultures/Dance 2002, University of California, Los Angeles

Certifications

• 2008 New York State Certified K-12 Dance Teacher
• 2005 Be Yoga, Nationally Certified Yoga Instructor
• 2004 Bridge-Linguatec Certified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language

Courses Taught

Contemplative Practices and the Arts, Dance Perspectives and Process

Research Interests

De/Anti-Colonial praxis, global contemporary dance, Africana philosophies and practices, African feminism, experimental choreography

Artist Statement

As an African/European-American woman, raised in a multicultural environment, I’ve always felt I lived in a liminal space between my two cultures, between folkloric and contemporary dance, between ballet class, punk show and night club. Dancing in Indonesia, Brazil, Cuba, and Senegal has further cultivated this fascination with what can bloom between the notions of self and other. I reject the idea that thoughtful, abstract choreography can’t also be exciting and beautiful.

My dances embrace sincere communication that is soulful and provocative. I see dance as a tool to unearth our raw emotions, motivate conscious action, and bridge cultures. I use text, athletic movement, and poignant gestures to crack open the heart of the work and hear the voices of the disenfranchised. My work is characterized by the notion that we gain incredible strength in being vulnerable enough to honestly express intentions, ideas, and feelings. From this place, I investigate unembellished movement alongside refined artistry.

Select Publications

• Demerson, Rainy. “Dada Masilo’s Giselle: A Decolonial Love Story.” Dance Research Journal 54,3 (2022): 8-25.
• Demerson, Rainy. “Sensing the Stage: Decolonial Readings of African Contemporary Dance.” In African Somaesthetics: Cultures, Feminisms, Politics, edited by Catherine Botha, Vol. 3. Studies in Somaesthetics. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2020, pp. 95-119.
• Demerson, Rainy. “Listen, Watch, Move: Embodied Listening as Structured Improvisation in Decolonialist Research”. African Performance Review, vol. 15, no. 1 (Jan. 2025). pp. 23-27.
• Demerson, Rainy. “Decentering the West: Decolonizing Dance Histories.” In Chorégraphier Légalité Culturelle: Pour Une Histoire Décentrée de la Danse, edited by Laura Cappelle, Elizabeth Claire, and Mariem Guellouz, Vol. 2. Paris, France: L’Harmattan, 2024, pp. 33-42.

Select Performance Credits

• 2022 “Fruit Bearing Trees” at Coco Dance Festival, Trinidad
• 2017 “Manifesta Feminista” at New Shoes Festival at Highways in Santa Monica, CA
• 2017 “Nexus in Flux” at Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Fest in Kalamazoo, MI
• 2016 “I Can’t Breathe” at Dance In Revolting Times, Dance Mission, San Francisco, CA
• 2010 “Ugly,” at DUMBO Dance Festival, New York, NY

News and Notes

Dr. Rainy Demerson is thrilled to join the Department of Dance Performance and Choreography in 2026.