Ilana is a PhD student at Columbia University, focusing on embodiment, race, gender, and possession in 21st century Anglophone drama. She nestles herself in the interstices of literary studies, performance theory, dance history, and adaptation studies. Her MA thesis, written at Queen’s University Belfast under the supervision of Professor Mark Thornton Burnett, analyzed dance sequences in several Shakespearean ‘World Cinema’ adaptations from Brazil, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, and Mexico. She has worked on Shakespeare productions with young children, high school students, and incarcerated populations.

Ilana believes that literature and theatre are provocative lenses for viewing and interrogating reality. She cares about art as a cultural compass; harnessing literature, dance, and theatre as a means of seeing ourselves and one another.

Ilana loves reading, writing, dancing, and unleashing the inner magic of nature + human nature through narrative. She lives with her husband, Mark, and their increasing number of imaginary octopus pets.