Dr. Elizabeth Kurien is a Los Angeles based dance scholar, choreographer, and educator. A disciple of Guru Shyamala Surendran (Kerala, India), Dr. Kurien is an exponent of exponent of two forms of Indian classical dance; Bharatanatyam (Kalakshetra Style) and Mohiniyattam (Guru Kalyanikuttiamma Style).

She has also trained under Professor Ramalinga Sastry for technique at HCU, Hyderabad, studied with Professor Susan Rose (UCR for improvisation) and received guidance under renowned scholars such as Professor Appa Rao, Dr. Marta Savigliano, Dr. Anuradha Jonnalgadda and Dr. Toby Miller.

She holds a Masters in Performing Arts from Central Government University, Hyderabad, India (HCU), and a Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside (UCR).

She is a recipient of the Sarojini Naidu Scholarship of Merit (HCU) and the Chancellor’s Award (UCR), Dr. Kurien’s research work explores the nexus between universalization of traditional art forms and artistic rights of local and traditional practitioners through the lens of Kutiyattam, a Sanskrit dance drama tradition from Kerala, India.

She is also the founder and artistic director of Pragathi Art Foundation (PAF), an organization that has continued to foster learning, practice, and inquiry in Indian dance for the past two decades in SoCal. PAF’s non-profit wing aims to cultivate rich intergenerational experiences between students and traditional practitioners of Indian classical dance and music. She believes such an engagement Is essential in order for traditional dance to thrive as a meaningful, nuanced and powerful artistic practice; one that helps broaden the horizons of the human and cultural experience