Alyssa Stover is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Department of Dance at Ohio State University with a Graduate Minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. As a Graduate Teaching Associate at OSU, she has taught yoga, ballet, Western Concert Dance, and Dance in Popular Culture in the Department of Dance. Her research focuses on neo-burlesque performance and issues of race, gender, sexuality, queer identity, and culture. She is also interested in feminist and queer theory, pop culture studies, and spectatorship. She holds an MA in Dance Theories and Practices from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a BFA in Dance and History, cum laude, from Tulane University.
Alyssa is based in New Orleans, LA and is an active performer, choreographer, dance instructor and a certified RYT 200 yoga teacher. She has taught dance for Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans Dance Academy, the Loyola Preparatory Arts Program, The Ohio State University, and UNC-Greensboro. She has taught yoga at Tulane University’s Recreation Center and the New Orleans Jewish Community Center. She has performed across the United States and in France, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Conference Presentations
October 2023 Legs and Eggs: New Orleans Burlesque Brunch. National Women’s Studies Association. (Baltimore, MD)
April 2023 Rebel Queen: Star Wars Nerdlesque As Embodied Fan Fiction. Pop Culture Association. (San Antonio, TX)
April 2023 Queer Glitter Magic: The Crescent City Burlesque Weekender Festival. Women & Gender Studies South. (Virtual)
Nov 2022 Who Is That Girl I See? Ariana Amour’s Burlesque “Reflection.” National Women’s Studies Association. (Minneapolis, MN)
Oct 2022 Ecstatic Spectacle: Oppositional Gaze and Hypervisibility in Perle Noire’s “Peacock Fantasy. Dance Studies Association. (Virtual)
Apr 2022 Pole Tricks and Saving Stacks: P-Valley as a Workplace Drama. Popular Culture Association. (Virtual)
Oct 2021 Queer Moves Through the Glass: the Allways Lounge Peep Show. Dance Studies Association (Virtual)
Nov 2014 Writing the New Burlesque. Congress on Research in Dance/Society of Dance History Scholars (now Dance Studies Association). (Iowa City, IA)
Publications and Awards
Publications
“Neo-Burlesque: Striptease as Transformation book review.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 54, 2 (Aug. 2022), 94-97.
Honors, Awards, Fellowships, Scholarships, and Grants
2023 Arts & Humanities Graduate Research Small Grant, The Ohio State University
2023 Dance Department Semester Funding Initiative Grant, The Ohio State University
2022 Arts & Humanities Graduate Research Small Grant, The Ohio State University
2022 Dance Department Semester Funding Initiative Grant, The Ohio State University
2020 Helen P. Alkire Scholarship Fund, The Ohio State University
2021-present Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University
2020-2021 University Fellow, The Ohio State University
2015 Graduate Teaching Associate, UNC-Greensboro
2010 Sidney Beyer Award for Excellence in American History, Tulane University
2010 Jill Karp Prize for Most Outstanding Dance Student
Scholarship
I am broadly interested in popular culture, feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, dance and performance studies, history, gender and sexuality studies, social justice, and am an overall dance nerd. I am also deeply passionate about the possibilities around social and racial justice that can be explored in burlesque dance.
Teaching
I have experience teaching a variety of levels of ballet, jazz, contemporary, and yoga. I have a particular fondness for teaching beginner level ballet to adults and college students with little to no formal dance training. My goal is always to create a truly inclusive, welcoming environment for any student who walks into a class I am leading, regardless of age, technical experience, race, body type, or gender expression.
Alyssa has been a company member with Ballet Hysell, D’Project, and Komenka Ethnic Dance and Music Ensemble. She has choreographed numerous works for D’Project productions, produced full-length performances, and performed extensively as an independent artist.
Alyssa Stover 