Caitlin Belem Brown Romtvedt is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology. Born and raised in Buffalo, Wyoming, she grew up in a Basque community in a musical family. After high school, she spent a year in Brazil as a Rotary exchange student, which sparked an enduring interest in Brazilian music, dance, and society. At Oberlin College, she graduated with a Latin American studies major and a dance minor. Between Oberlin and UC Berkeley, she spent extensive time in Brazil, Cuba, and the Basque Country and made a living teaching and performing Brazilian and Latin music, Basque music, and North American music with the groups Maracujá, Ospa! and Modern Bygones.
Caitlin’s dissertation research focuses on music and dance in the Basque Country and its political, social, and economic entanglements. Other research interests include Capoeira Angola within the globalized capitalist world; Afro-Brazilian music, dance, and identity; and the social and political roles of music and dance in the Basque Diaspora.