Aoibhinn O’Dea is a multidisciplinary artist, working across visual arts, dance, performance and film. She graduated with a BA in Fine Art Sculpture (NCAD, 2014), where her practice evolved through installation, video and performance
She developed a body based practice through puppetry/object manipulation and studying somatic movement (Feldenkrais and Klein Technique). Over the last number of years she has developed the performative aspects of her body based practice through intensive professional dance training in Berlin (Tanzfabrik, Marameo, Katapult and Ponderosa), Portugal (Preformact) and Ireland (Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick and CoisCeim) and continues to prioritise and explore this mode of performance through dance. Her practice is influenced by Cie Toula Limnaois, Oonagh Doherty, Sasha Waltz and Dimitris Papaioannou. O’Dea works closely with choreographer/Sasha Waltz dancer Maria Colusi, who has had a significant influence on her practice and professional development.
Her practice explores the effects normative social structures have on the body and seeks to challenge the conventional expectations around human interaction and behaviour. Her work is often site specific and public, underpinning an interest in making dance and performance more accessible to a wider audience. She teaches inclusive dance workshops across Ireland and collaborates with musicians, visual artists, dancers and theatre makers.
Most recently she founded dance/theatre collective BLUSH, who toured across Germany in 2020. In Ireland, her work has been supported by Visual, Carlow Arts Festival, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, IMMA, Dance Ireland and Dublin Fringe Festival, among other venues and festivals. To date O’Dea has choreographed works such as Cruinniú na nÓg Carnival Parade (2022), Invisible Volcanos (2022), Crossed Paths (2022), Norm (2021), Game Changer (2020), The World Outside (2020), Lord Hear Us (2020) and Why Knots (2019).