Founding Artistic Director, Asava Dance Company
Dr. Seónagh Odhiambo Horne (M.A., Ph.D.) joined the CSULA faculty in Fall 2009. She defines dance as a point of contact through which ideas, inspiration, movement, and meaning travel. Both artist and scholar, Dr. Odhiambo examines theories of the body and creativity through dance processes. Dr. Odhiambo Horne teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the roles of dance and theatre pedagogy in society and history. She promotes intercultural inquiry and communication, and students learn the art of creating, performing, and disseminating original dances and analyses through both artistic and scholarly outlets. She is active in developing and guiding both a student and an alumni dance company, as well as facilitating annual dance concerts on campus.
Dr. Odhiambo Horne organizes several ongoing arts-in-education partnerships, intercultural and interdisciplinary exchanges, and arts-based research and performance for CSULA students. For example, she works in partnership with Plaza de la Raza and Los Angeles schools, including students and communities underserved in dance and aesthetic education. She also provides advanced students and CSULA alumni with opportunities to teach school aged children, and to perform their dance works in Los Angeles venues.
Interested in movement invention and communication through the body, Dr. Odhiambo Horne founded Asava Dance Company where her choreography brings together modern dance techniques, African influences, and pedestrian gestures with live music. Asava Dance's Music Director Bennie Maupin, the legendary woodwind instrumentalist and composer, premieres and performs his original music with the company. The ensemble tours internationally, giving performances, workshops and educational lectures in North America, Europe and beyond.
Dr.Odhiambo Horne has created several dances that evolved through community process. She developed evening length performances that traveled to international festivals and venues. At an Artist Residency in Sevilla, Spain the focus was upon how local women and men interpreted the Spanish economic crisis, and Dr. Odhiambo Horne worked with Spanish modern dancers to create afull length performance featuring live music with Maupin. In similar fashion, Dr. Odhiambo Horne choreographed Exit from the Blue Room (2013), Bodies of Water (2012) and other works. On the CSULA campus she crosses disciplinary boundaries, and she brings students in contact with professional experiences in Los Angeles. She has enjoyed creating projects with faculty and students from the sciences, education and international studies. For example, in 2015 she choreographed the dance called "Life" that drew attention to the hydro station on CSULA campus and was performed onstage in Pasadena, CA. Student dancers worked with professionals from the Asava company and with advanced graduate student scientists to evolve movement about the process of making hydrogen fuel.
Likewise, Dr. Odhiambo Horne mobilizes students and community members in site specific performances. She coordinated a flash mob at Union Station, Los Angeles on International Women's Day 2015 as part of the Womenseriously campaign for Global Peace. She worked with dancers and co-choreographers Linsdsay Lollie and Daniel Glenn to create movement that would be relevant to the Womenseriously campaign, and with the assistance of education faculty Manisha Jaiveri and film director Mark Hunt, a film of the flash mob was shown at the United Nations in April 2015.
Dr. Odhiambo Horne seeks to involve her audiences in creative processes with the aid of Boalian theatre techniques, and her unique choreography exercises investigate a magical, meaningful process of creative development. Topics about social and environmental justice inform the dancers’ movements and gestures, and this means of exploring in workshop format connects the movement creation to Dr. Odhiambo’s scholarly research. Therein, she offers a perspective on the body as a zone of critical praxis.
Dr. Odhiambo's research lays a foundation for somatically-oriented pedagogy that expands the areas of dance theory, dance education and curriculum theory.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Temple University, Dance (2009).
Areas: Choreography, Critical Pedagogy; Poststructuralist Theory
Dissertation: A Conversation with Dance History: Movement and Meaning in the Cultural Body
M.A., University of British Columbia, Curriculum and Instruction (2000).
Areas: African Canadian Literature; Performance in Multicultural Education
Master’s Thesis: Legacy of Influence: African Canadian Stories in a Multicultural Landscape
B.A., University of British Columbia (1995).
Thesis: Indigenous Canadian Histories and the Oral Tradition: Women speaking, dancing, singing.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Concejal de Cultura, Ayuntamiento de Alanis, Residencia Artistica Internacional (2013) Art of Engagement Network, Artist-in-Residence, (2011-12)
Canada Council for the Arts, Award in Dance, (2009-10) CID—UNESCO, Conseil Internationale de la Danse, Member (2009-) Fisher Center Pre-doctoral Fellowship (2006-07)
The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation Grant (2006-07)
In-House CSULA
Creative Leave (2013)
Mentoring Grant, (2012)
Mini-Grant, (2011-2012)
FELLOWSHIPS
Department of Dance and Fisher Center for Women and Men, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
Fisher Center Pre-doctoral Fellow (2006-2007)
TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATION
Associate Professor of Dance and Theatre (2009-)
Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, California State University, Los Angeles, CA.
Performance Studies Seminars, Dance History, Composition, Choreography, Technique
Co-Coordinator AA Program, Curriculum (2008)
Transpacific Hawaii College, Honolulu, HI.
Assistant Professor (2007-2008)
Transpacific Hawaii College, Honolulu, HI.
Theatre Arts, Women’s Studies, Intercultural Communication Multidisciplinary Appointment.
Lead Teaching Assistant, Adjunct Professor of Dance (2004-2006)
Dance Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
World Dance, Dance and Pluralism, Dance as Art, Dance and Human Society
Lead Instructor, Adjunct Professor in Dance and Communication (2001-04)
Fine Arts Department, Communications in Technology Bay Path College, Longmeadow, MA.
Dance Composition, Dance History, Intercultural Communication, Digital Video
Adjunct Professor (2002-04)
Department of Humanities, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA.
English Composition, Literature
Adjunct Professor (2001-02)
Department of Humanities, Springfield College, Springfield, MA.
English Composition, Literature
INVITED LECTURES, RESIDENCIES, PERFORMANCES, PUBLICATIONS
(2014). Movement, Contact, Social Justice: A Dialogue in the Service of Expressive Arts Therapies. The Southern California Chapter of the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA).
Venice, CA.
(2012—Opening Event) Bodies of Water. Downstream: Reimagining Water. Emily Carr University: Vancouver, Canada (Choreographer, Opening Event).
(2011) “Fragments and Possibilities: Choreographing an Intervention in Dance History,” in Studies of Embodiment and Transformation Through Dance, Literature, Music, and Philosophy.” Powerful Visions Lecture Series. The Huntington, CA.
(2008) “Modern Dance, Negro Dance.” Book review in Dance Chronicle.
(April, 2007—Artist in Residence). “Sand and Bone: ‘World Dance,’ Choreography, and Pedagogy,” Art, Gender, and Activism. Fisher Center Lecture Series. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY.
(May, 1999— Keynote) "Shanks" Domain Seminar for Social Justice, Ottawa, Canada (Performance and Lecture).
PUBLICATIONS (PEER REVIEWED)
PUBLICATIONS WITH MULTIPLE AUTHORS (PEER-REVIEWED, SELECTED)
Meglin, Joellen, Greenbaum, Matthew, Kim, Sue-In, Jae, Hwan-Jung, Jeong, Ok-Hee, and Odhiambo, Seónagh (November, 2005). “Music of the Body: Modern Minuets and Passepieds Far from Passé,” pp. 125-141 in Sound Moves: An International Confrerence on Music and Dance Proceedings. http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/soundmoves London, U.K.: Roehampton University.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS (PEER-REVIEWED)
Odhiambo Horne, Seónagh (2016). “Choreography of Memory: Postwar Avant-Garde Japanese Dance in Intercultural Dialogue.” Honolulu, Hawaii: Japanese Studies Association.
Odhiambo Horne, Seónagh (2015). “Engaging Pedagogy: Choreography as an Approach to World Performance” 2015 Hawaii University International Conferences on Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. (Declined)
Odhiambo Horne, Seónagh (2014). “Body of Theory: Choreographing an Approach to Dance History” in Writing/Dancing, Society of Dance History Scholars, Iowa City, Iowa.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2013). “Playing the Blues: Resonance and Connection through Critical Dance Pedagogy,” in World Dance Alliance Festival—Evolve and Involve: Dance as a Moving Question. The Scotiabank Dance Centre: Vancouver, Canada.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2012). “Bodies of Water,” Opening Lecture in Downstream: Reimagining Water. Emily Carr University: Vancouver, Canada.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2011). “Dancing Water: Healing the LA River through Dance,” Society of Dance History Scholars. Toronto, ON.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2011). “Fragments and Possibilities: Choreographing an Intervention in Dance History,” in Studies of Embodiment and Transformation Through Dance, Literature, Music, and Philosophy.” Powerful Visions Lecture Series. The Huntington, Pasadena, CA.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2010). “Choreography and Liberation Theatre in Critical Dialogue,” in Hybrid Lives of Professional Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre: Questions of Power in Performance, Teaching & Community Work. Congress of Research in Dance/American Society for Theatre Research. November 2010, Seattle, WA.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2010). “Dancing in Time: Choreographic Process as a Genealogy of History.” World Dance Alliance—Global Dance Event, New York, NY.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2009). “Choreography as Engaged Pedagogy: The Embodiment of Fractured Coalitions.” Topographies: Sites, Bodies, Technologies. Society of Dance History Scholars. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2008). “Modern Dance, Negro Dance.” Book review in Dance Chronicle.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2008). “African Women’s Dance History in the 1930s: Cultural Memory in Conversation.” Society of Dance History Scholars. Syracuse, NY: Syra U.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2007). “Educating the Student Body: Somatic Processes in Cultural Studies.” Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2006). “Une Idée Fixe?: Culture and Choreographic Practice.” Continuing Dance Culture Dialogues: Southwest Borders and Beyond. Annual Conference, Congress of Research in Dance, Arizona State University: Tempe, Arizona.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2006). “Dancing Embrace: A Transnational Choreography.” International Conference on the Arts in Society. Edinburgh, U.K.: University of Edinburgh.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2006). “Dances in the Stories I tell: A Transnational Approach to Dance Studies” World Dance Assembly. Toronto, Canada: York University.
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2005). “Dances Embrace and Theories Talk: A Conversation Between two Aesthetics, Doris Humphrey and Kenya Luo Dance,” Dance and Human Rights. Annual Conference, Congress of Research in Dance. Montréal, Canada: UQAM.
CHOREOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCES (PEER-REVIEWED, SELECTED)
Odhiambo Horne, Seónagh (2013). “Canto,” Residencia Artistica, Alanis de Sevilla, Spain. (Choreographer and Artistic Director; International Peer Reviewed Competition)
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2013). Exit from the Blue Room. Mainstage in World Dance Alliance Festival— Evolve and Involve: Dance as a Moving Question. The Scotiabank Dance Centre: Vancouver, Canada (Choreographer, International Peer Reviewed Festival).
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2012). “Bodies of Water,” in Downstream: Reimagining Water. Emily Carr University: Vancouver, Canada. (Choreographer)
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2011-2012). Artist-in-Residence, The Art of Engagement Network. (Choreographer)
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2011). “Chiarascuro,” Society of Dance History Scholars. Toronto, ON. (Choreographer, International Peer Reviewed Conference).
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2010). “Healing Water,” Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada. June 20, 2010. (Choreographer and Artistic Director, Peer-Reviewed Grant).
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2009). “Bitten.” in Topographies: Sites, Bodies, Technologies. Society of Dance History Scholars. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University (Choreographer, International Peer Reviewed Conference).
Odhiambo, Seónagh (2007). “Sand and Bone” Faculty Dance Concert. Geneva, NY: Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Choreographer in Residence, International Fellowship).
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
Editorial and Review Board Membership
(2015-present). International Advisory and Editorial Board, Dance, Movement, and Spiritualities (Academic Journal). London: Intellect.
(2014-2015) TEAL Dance Expert. Member of a task group that will develop arts education modules for K-6 teacher education.
(2013) World Dance Alliance, Peer Reviewer of both creative and scholarly submissions for international festival and conference.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
I maintain membership at the following four premiere professional organizations in my field: Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS), Congress of Research in Dance (CORD), World Dance Alliance (WDA), and National Dance Education Organization (NDEO).
SERVICE TO UNIVERSITY
University Service Positions
Educational Policy Committee (Winter 2014-June 2015) Institutional Review Board (Fall 2013-Win 2015) University Student Union Board (Spring 2012-June 2015)
University Student Union Board, Personnel Committee (Win 2014-Fall 2014) Faculty Advisor, Engaged Buddhist Club (Fall 2013-)
Fall Faculty Day, Workshop Leader (Fall 2011)
College Service Positions
ISAC College Curriculum Committee Chair (Fall 2009-Fall 2013)
Department Service Positions
Primary Graduate Advisor (Fall 2012-present)
Faculty Advisor, Dance Clubs (Fall 2009-present) Dancing Calstatela Club (Fall 2014-)
Salsa Club (Fall 2012-) Eccentric (2010-2013)
United Dance Troupe (2010- 2011)
IRA Grant Writer for Dance Area (2012-present)
Committee Service in Music Theatre and Dance, Theatre Arts and Dance:
Department Curriculum Committees
Quarter to Semester Conversion—Course Proposals and Modifications for Dance Graduate MA in Theatre Arts, Committee Chair (Fall 2009-Present, Committee Chair) ISAC-Theatre and Dance Curriculum Committee Chair (Fall 2009-present
ISAC-Music, Theatre and Dance Curriculum Committee (Fall 2013-Present)
MFA in Television, Theatre, and Film Acting Applicant Review Committee Chair (Fall 2012- 2015)
Department Committees
Adjunct Review Committee (Fall 2012-Present)
Policy and Procedures (Fall 2013-Present, Committee Chair) Scholarship Review (Fall 2009-Fall 2013)
Working Group Committees for Music, Theatre and Dance Merger