Rate My Professor Sofia Kalogeropoulou

Sofia Kalogeropoulou serves as Teaching Fellow in Dance and Programme Convener for both the Dance programme and the Bachelor of Performing Arts within the School of Performing Arts at the University of Otago. She earned her Master of Dance Studies from the University of Otago and a Bachelor of Performing Arts, majoring in dance, from the University of Auckland. Her research specializations encompass dance, culture, and national identity; dance and gender; choreographic composition; performance; contemporary dance and ballet techniques and repertoire; dance in popular culture; somatic practices; and the interplay between dance and somatic practices, particularly ballet and the Alexander Technique. Kalogeropoulou maintains active involvement in scholarly discourse through conference presentations, including 'Get me off this f***ing planet: Ecomusicology in action' at the Musicological Society of Australia conference (2024) and 'Silent marches, collective action and the re-articulation of the nation' at the CEEISA-ISA Joint International Conference (2024).

With certification from the Royal Academy of Dance, Kalogeropoulou has taught ballet across professional and community settings in Greece, London, and New Zealand. Her career includes performing as a principal dancer with Company Z in Auckland and ongoing work as a freelance choreographer. Notable creative outputs feature co-creation of the performance 'The Anderson localization' at the Dunedin Arts Festival (2025) and the publication 'Get me off this f***ing planet: A performative response to the climate crisis' in the Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies (2025, with M. Parkins-Craig and T. Romano). She also co-presented on climate-related performance at the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance World Conference (2025). Earlier works include her Master of Dance Studies thesis 'Dancing Greekness: Folk Dance and National Identity in Greece' (2013), the article 'Greek dance and everyday nationalism in contemporary Greece' (2013), and co-authorship on 'The time-continuous association between turnout and axial joint moments in the competitive Irish dance "fly" landing' (2024). Kalogeropoulou supervises postgraduate research, such as Kelsi Wallace's Master of Science on landing biomechanics in competitive Irish dance, co-supervised with Dr. Peter Lamb. Her contributions extend to numerous performances, including 'Dances about Love' (2011) and 'Ocean Wave' (2011).