Dr. Margaret Jean Westby is an artist, researcher, and educator, who lectures and supervises both undergraduates and post-graduates in both theoretical and practical courses in dance studies. She has taught previously at the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago and Metropolitan College of New York in The Bronx, New York. Her areas of teaching and research are quite interdisciplinary based in movement through critical race, anti-colonial, queer/feminist aesthetic practices and studies. She also applies historical and theoretical methods of communications, dance, and science and technology to understand interactive media, sound, film, and digital performances.
She received her PhD Humanities – Fine Arts from Concordia University through her research-creation dissertation,"Empowering the Female Machine: Remapping Gender Dynamics in Technologically Augmented Dance Performance," that makes a mess of dance through feminist science and technology studies. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, she attended Interlochen Arts Academy as a dance major and the independent study program at The Ailey School. She studied digital performance through earlier degrees in New York City (BA Marymount Manhattan College) and in London, England (MA Brunel University). She holds certifications from Yoga Alliance Teacher Training from Modo Yogo, American Ballet National Training Curriculum, Laban Movement Analysis and Language of Dance for Dance Educators, Alvin Ailey School for Horton Technique, and UWI's Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
She has created and collaborated in over 20 performances in Austria, Canada, Finland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and the United States. She has received funding from Hexagram Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts, Design, Technology, and Digital Culture and Studio XX, a media arts and multimedia resource centre for women in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She regularly presents and publishes her research at a wide-range of conferences including the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Conference, EASST, AdaCamp, Dance Studies Association, and Digital Resources for the Humanities and Arts. She has published in Research in Dance Education, dancercitizen.org, Feminist Journal of Art and Digital Culture (.dpi), and Aparté journals.
research-creation interdisciplinary methods and practices
human-technology relations and interactions in artistic/social practice particular to healing and caring
critical race, decolonial, and queer/feminist aesthetic practices and studies
issues of embodiment, materiality, agency, and subjectivity
(continuing) Margherita Borg (M.Phil/PhD in the School of Performing Arts). "Recreation of Movement and Affect in a Contemporary Dance Performance through the Medium of Photography" University of Malta
(continuing) Claire Cassola (Masters in Teaching and Learning in Dance Education). "A Comprehensive History of the Development of Contemporary Dance in Malta: A Guide for Dance Educators" University of Malta.
(continuing) Sonja Dumas (PhD Cultural Studies) “Bodies of Memory: The Middle Passage and African-Caribbean Aesthetics of Movement in Trinidad and Tobago”, University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
(continuing) Cindy James (Master of Arts Human Communication Studies) “An examination of the effectiveness of Trinidadian Instagram Influencers in Social Media Marketing campaigns” University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
(completed) Kelly Stewart-Waittie (Postgraduate Diploma in Arts and Cultural Enterprise Management) 2021. “Caribbean Dance & Dance Education Platform – (CARIDEP)” University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
First Assessor for Postgraduate Thesis Proposal: Mphil in Cultural Studies: Mr. Lutalo Masimba’s “Rapso and The Oral Tradition as Lived Experience: A Voice for Caribbean Social Movement.” University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
