Margo Apostolos

Ph.D. Stanford University

Director of Dance

Dr. Apostolos is Director of Dance and Associate Professor in the USC School of Theatre. She has authored and presented numerous articles on her research and design in Robot Choreography. In addition to her doctoral and post-doctoral studies at Stanford University, she earned an M.A. in Dance from Northwestern University. She has served as visiting professor in the Department of Psychology at Princeton University and has taught in Chicago, San Francisco, at Stanford University, Southern Illinois University and California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. A recipient of the prestigious NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship, Dr. Apostolos worked for NASA at Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech as a research scientist in the area of space telerobotics.

Currently, she is Co-Director of the Cedars-Sinai/USC School of Theatre Dance Medicine Center which is a specialized treatment center- the first of its kind in Los Angeles- offering preventative care and treatment specifically designed for professional and recreational dancers. As an active member in the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS), her work utilizing motion-capture has included studies with both dancers and athletes. She has also conducted workshops on Movement for Animation at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Dreamworks and in Greece.

Her research in the area of Dance for Sports has been ongoing for many years and yielded numerous Olympians and professional athletes. This work has been presented at several IOC International Sport Science meetings including those in Sydney Australia and Athens Greece. Currently, she is preparing a study for presentation at the IOC meeting in Monaco prior to the London Games in 2012.

In 2002, Dr. Apostolos developed the Dance Minor program at the School of Theatre, and has directed numerous dance concerts at USC. Her work with Dance and Architecture has been featured with the Orange County Museum of Modern Art and with the Council for International Dance in Athens Greece. As part of the Visions and Voices program at USC, Dr. Apostolos was instrumental in bringing internationally-renown director/choreographer Mark Morris to USC for a workshop that integrated motion-capture and robotics with modern dance.