Eluza Maria Santos, tenured Associate Professor in the School of Dance and a member of the UNCG faculty for twelve years from 1996 to 2008, passed away on September 1, 2006.
Dr. Santos completed a degree in physical education at the Federal University of Espírito Santo in Brazil in 1977, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in dance from Arizona State University in 1983 and 1985, and a PhD in dance and related arts from Texas Woman’s University in 2000. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Dancing Voice of Culture: An Ethnography of Contemporary Dance in Vitória, Brazil,” researched cultural expression in the works of contemporary dance companies in her hometown of Vitória.
In 2002, alongside Eva Tessler, Juanita Suárez, and Licia Perea, Santos co-founded the Latina Dance Project, an organization with which she maintained professional activities even after her return to Brazil in 2008. Since its founding, Latina Dance Theater Project has presented shows, workshops, roundtables, and lectures in the United States and other countries. In 2008, Santos created the EluzArtes Project in Vitória, with the aim of working with mature professionals in an exploration of the body in motion. Examples of her work can be found on Facebook on the Projeto EluzArtes page and on the website of the Latina Dance Project: www.latinadanceproject.com.
The wake and burial for Eluza Maria Santos were held on Wednesday, September 2nd at the Jardim da Paz Cemetery in Serra, Brazil. Memorial donations for Dr. Santos to the UNC Greensboro School of Dance can be made at <https://giving.uncg.edu/how-to-give/> or by making a check out to UNCG with “ Santos Memorial Donation” in the memo line and mailing it to UNCG Advancement Services, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402.
