Lele Han was born and raised in Shanghai, China. She is an academic and theatre practitioner who works in dramaturgy and translation. Her research interests revolve around body politics, fan studies, popular entertainment (especially musical theatre) and its historical roots.

The topic running through her works is investigating dance, and song in a wide range of sociopolitical practices. Recently, she has been interviewing and working with Chinese Generation Z musical fans to explore how performing musical numbers in everyday life helps them to strive for each individual’s idealized identities.

Lele Han studied dramaturgy in both Chinese and German contexts, with rich experience studying under and collaborating with international artists. Her previous dramaturgical practice centres on everyday walking during the pandemic, digital surveillance, and classical adaptation. These works have been presented at the Goethe-Institut Peking, 2022 Brechtfesival Augsburg, Literature Forum in the Brecht House, Sphinx Meta Theatre Festival, etc.     

Her translation and proof-reading works include Chinese version of Aisthetik: Vorlesungen über Ästhetik als allgemeine Wahrnehmungslehre, and PART V of The Lives of Lucian Freud: YOUTH 1922–1968. Meanwhile, she contributes to “Contemporary European and American theatre Databases,” produced by Shanghai Theatre Academy and “Theatre Babel,” an E-zine organized by Chinese students to introduce the latest international theatre research.

Why PS @ NYU? 

While confined in the dormitory during the 2022 lockdown, I first learned about Performance Studies from the concept of “liminality”. Since then, Performance Studies has not only been an academic theory for me but also gradually changed my consciousness and drives, inspiring me to explore the transformative power of performance from a new perspective. At NYU Performance Studies, I look forward to immersing myself in the extensive reading of performance theories in this vibrant community and laying a solid foundation for further research.