Sandra Chatterjee’s choreographic and scholarly work, situated at the intersection of theory and practice, engages with performance, dance, and the body with a focus on gender, postcolonial, and migration studies. She studied dance and “Culture and Performance” in Honolulu and Los Angeles (1998 BA in dance, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM); 2001 MA in dance, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); 2005 PhD in culture and performance, UCLA).

Chatterjee was initially trained in the classical Indian dance form Kuchipudi and completed her Rangapravesam (debut) under the guidance of Ranga Vivekanandan-Barth in 1991. In addition to Kuchipudi (with Ranga Vivekanandan-Barth, Jaya Rama and Vanashree Rao, and Sumathy Kaushal), Bharatanatyam (with Padmini Chari, Arup Ghosh, and Malathi Iyengar) and most recently Odissi (with Sharon Lowen). Chatterjee is also trained in Polynesian, modern/postmodern/contemporary European dance techniques, and yoga. She is a co-founder the PostNatyam Collective, an internet-based network of choreographers/scholars, working in live performance, video, and scholarship. Her contemporary choreographic work has been presented in dance and academic venues such as Tanzkongress 2016 (Hannover); Tanzhaus NRW (Düsseldorf); National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi); Chandra-Mandapa: Spaces (Chennai); The Park’s New Festival (Chennai); The Other Festival (Chennai); Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles); University of Toronto; and Nehru Centre (London).

Chatterjee is currently investigating  the aesthetics of contemporary concert dance in central and northern continental Europe. She analyzes selected choreographic articulations between European and Indian dance (2012–16 as postdoctoral researcher at the department of art, music and dance studies, University of Salzburg). Additional research interests include artistic collaboration as well as the possible intersection of artistic practice, civil engagement, and cultural and artistic citizenship.