Dr 'Funmi Adewole

‘Funmi Adewole has a background in media, education, arts development and performance. She started out as a media practitioner in Nigeria and moved into performance on relocating to England in 1994. For several years she toured with Physical/Visual theatre and African dance drama companies. Her credits include performances with Ritual Arts, Horse and Bamboo Mask and Puppetry Company, Artistes-in-Exile, Adzido Pan-African Dance Ensemble, Mushango African dance and Music Company and the Chomondeleys contemporary dance company. She was chair of Association of Dance of the African Diaspora in Britain (ADAD) from 2005 to 2007. In this role she initiated and directed the ADAD Heritage project, which contributed to the documentation of black-led dance companies and choreographers in England between the 1930s and 1990s. She continues to perform as a storyteller. As a dramaturge she works mainly with makers who are interdisciplinary or cross-sectorial in focus. She completed a PhD in Dance Studies at De Montfort University Leicester in 2017. Her thesis is entitled 'British dance and the African Diaspora: The Discourses of Theatrical dance and the art of choreography – 1985 to 2005'. She is now a VC2020 lecturer in the Dance Department at the same university. Her focus is teaching and research. She is interested in PhD students with similar interests to her own.

Institute of Drama, Dance and Performance Studies

Dance as a profession, The cultural industries in Africa, Theorising the dance of Africa and the Diaspora as a professional practice, Black British Choreographers, African arts at Independence, African modernity and the arts, Contemporary dance in Africa, Choreography and intentionality, Choreographic fusion, Interdisciplinary and cross-art practice, Storytelling as performance, Dance in intercultural and transnational contexts, Practice as research.

Dance as a profession, Dance technique (Africanist dance principles in contemporary dance), Choreography for performance, Dance and cultural studies, Performance and representation, Narrative.

B.A Modern European Languages, M.A Postcolonial Studies, PhD in Dance Studies.

Exploring the dance profession, Choreography for performance, Dance in festivals context, Performance Practice (embodiment), Intersectionality between dance, race, ethnicity and culture.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee at DMU - Overseeing and contributing to the development of inclusive practices for staff and students in the university.

Editorial Advisory Committee, Hotfoot magazine at One Dance UK - Deciding on the content of this magazine which focuses on the Dance of the African Diaspora as well as writing and proofreading articles.

People Dancing - A national organisation for community dance practitioners One Dance UK - A national organisation for dance artists

Dance Studies Association - Academic organisation for dance scholars.

Professional Graduate Certificate in Education

The cultural Industries and performing arts companies in Africa

Director - the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora Heritage Project

Dance dramaturge with dance artists including Alesandra Seutin, Vicki Igbokwe, Cindy Claes, Yinka Esi Graves and Asha Thomas

Dramaturgy with organisations - Immersion dance - Toronto, Dance Umbrella - London, One Dance London.

Consultant - Sky Arts dance documentary 'Why do we dance?'

Consultant - Multiple body research group at Amsterdam Theatre School.

Iyobosa Olaye, PhD in Drama, Thematic Concerns of Post-Colonial Playwrights in Nigeria: A Study of the Last Two Decades in Nigerian Drama (1995-2015), 2^nd Supervisor.

Fernanda Prata, PhD in Performance Practice (awarded DMU Graduate Full Bursary), The Dancer Training Within an Integrative Approach: A Transpractice Methodology Towards the UK Dance Conservatoire. 1^st Supervisor.

Dissecting Principles - researching pedagogy of teaching African based dance classes with co-investigator with dance artist Judith Palmer, funded by The Creative Exchange - 2017