Overview
Isabel Padilla Carlo (she/her/ella) is a dance scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University. At the intersection of memory and body studies, Isabel’s research examines how dance and performance play a role in challenging or reinforcing particular social imaginaries in the Hispanophone Caribbean, helping shape collective identity on the archipelago and the diaspora. During the pursuit of her degree, Isabel hopes to broaden access to dance historiography, underscoring its importance in cultural studies as an agent of social change and community healing.
In Spring of 2024, Isabel won the 2024 Marvin Carlson Award for Best Student Essay for Theatre or Performance essay titled “Si Tu No Sabe Kokobalé” and The Reclamation of Collective Memory as a Praxis of Liberation. Isabel also worked with NAKA Dance Theater and Dr. Juan Manuel Aldape Muñoz as the production assistant for Y Basta Ya! Nueva York, a performance and community outreach project. As of Fall of 2024, Isabel serves as the Graduate Representative for the Dance Studies Association (DSA) and a Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) Fellow, fostering curious dialogue about dance and performance at Cornell and beyond. Isabel’s artistic and scholarly endeavors have been supported by the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA), the Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) program, and the Performing and Media Arts Presentation Series (PMAPS).
In Summer of 2024, Isabel presented her research and forthcoming publication Léeme la cuerpa: Queer Laziness and the Body Politics of El perreo combativo at the Puerto Rican Studies Association biennial conference. Additionally, Isabel presented her award-winning essay on kokobalé at Northwestern’s Performance Studies Graduate Conference, The Aesthetics of Race and participated in Northwestern’s 2024 Performance Studies Summer Institute, Performance in the Interstices of Radical Thought.
Before commencing her graduate studies at Cornell, Isabel earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature with a minor in Writing and Communications at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM). During her undergraduate career, Isabel formed part of the Ballet Escenario dance company, served as a chief editor for Sábanas Bilingual Literary Magazine, and managed the UPRM English Department’s website. Isabel also participated in The Library of Congress Internships Program (LOCI) in 2021 and the Michigan Humanities Emerging Research Scholars Program (MICHHERS) in 2022.