Katherine St. John

Katherine St. John earned an MA in ethnic dance at Brigham Young University, an MA at University of Utah in Persian Studies and completed coursework towards a PhD at the University of California/Riverside in Dance History and Theory. She has mastered several dance traditions from Central Asia to the Balkans having performed with various international companies over the years and has created choreographies for numerous dance, opera and theater ensembles. She taught international dance two years at UCR and has been invited instructor at festivals and events in London, Zurich, Paris, and Dusseldorf and throughout the USA. She taught history of Eastern dance at University of Utah for 9 years and currently teaches Dance and Music in the Islamic World at BYU. She has authored many articles and given lectures through the Utah, California and Nevada Humanities Councils on arts of Iran and Afghanistan. Ms. St. John has presented papers at the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Middle East Studies Association and Dance Ethnology Forum conferences. She serves as director of Eastern Arts; is past president of the National Folk Organization; serves on the board of the United Nations Association of Utah and is a member of IOV (International Organization of Volkskunst).