The University of Northern Colorado announced that Cristina Goletti will become the next dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts (PVA).

Goletti currently serves as the chair and an associate professor of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)’s Theatre and Dance Department where she has led the curricular restructuring of undergraduate degrees and renovation of studios and classroom spaces. She also serves as the president for the World Dance Alliance Americas.

She is part of Engineering + Art + Science = Social Impact (EASSI), an interdisciplinary research group, and was granted start-up funding and the use of space at UTEP’s new interdisciplinary building. Her research interests involve dance pedagogy, interdisciplinary improvised performance practices and queer and migration studies.

“Ms. Goletti firmly believes in the arts as a medium for addressing many challenges facing our communities – at UNC, in Greeley and beyond,” said Mark R. Anderson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at UNC. “She will lead PVA with optimism while building upon the many successes of the excellent students, faculty, staff and programs that have positioned arts education as a cornerstone of our institution.”

As a dancer, she performed works by Hofesh Schechter, Jonathan Lunn, Charles Linehan, Maresa Von Stockert and Yann Lheraux, Arno Schuitemaker, Darrel Jones and others. While living in Ireland in the 2000s, she danced with Daghda Dance Company and Myriad Dance Company, and in 2007, she co-founded Legitimate Bodies Dance Company, the dance company in residence at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre.

She received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a secondary emphasis in Gender Studies and Somatics. She previously trained at the London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) where she received a postgraduate diploma with distinction while also dancing and touring across Europe with Edge, the postgraduate company of LCDS.

Goletti’s awards include “danceWEB European Scholarship” to attend ImPulsTanz in Vienna, two Bursary Awards, the Project Award and several travel awards from The Irish Arts Council and the European Cultural Foundation, totaling over $150,000 in grants.

Previously, she was the director of I.F. O.N.L.Y., the first and only festival in Ireland dedicated to dance solos. In 2013, she moved to Mexico to work at Universidad De Las Americas Puebla as a professor and became the chair of the Arts Department in 2015. While in Mexico, she also co-directed the international festival Performática and was a finalist in the 4x4 choreographic contest in Tijuana.

“I am incredibly grateful and honored that I’m joining the UNC community soon, particularly the College of Performing and Visual Arts. This is a college with a strong tradition of excellence, and together with the rest of faculty, staff and students, I'm excited about building upon its success,” she said. “I'm looking at a future where the arts are an integral part of our community, and model social justice, equity, respect and the celebration of different cultures and traditions through a deep engagement with the creative industries of Colorado and beyond.”

Goletti will begin her new role at UNC during the summer of 2021.

—Written by Katie Corder