Iris Rosa was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico and raised in East Chicago, Indiana. She is a Professor Emerita in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies and the founding and former Director of the African American Dance Company. Her specializations include teaching dance technique, history, and choreography from the perspective of the African American and African Diaspora and bridging the contemporary modern dance genre with African diaspora dance forms and styles. Prof. Rosa has studied, researched, presented, and taught dance in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Havana, Matanzas, Guantanamo, and Santiago, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica and Beijing, China. Rosa opened the Iris Rosa Dance Studio in May 2022 and is the Artistic Director of Seda Negra/Black Silk Dance Company (SNBSDC) both located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her choreographic themes explore immigration, emigration and lived experiences of people in the African diaspora.