CHOREOGRAPHY
Seónagh’s performances range from Concert Format to Site Specific pieces and Dance on Film. She is an independent choreographer, retreat leader, and dance educator who combines her love of somatic movement and the creative process. Seónagh performs in some of her pieces and collaborates with professional dancers and musicians who also engage in choreography development. She produced pieces for several years under the moniker Asava Dance.
“Seónagh Kummer is an emotional tour de force, eloquently rendered movement.”
— LA Dance Chronicle
Artist Statement
The art of dancemaking is a powerful vehicle for meaningful growth and collaboration, relationship development and engagement with important ideas. I believe the role of somatic storytelling and dance is to provide moments that inspire groups and individuals towards the greater integration of knowledge and heightened awareness. In my creative processes, I seek opportunities to engage with communities through dance and movement around ideas, concepts, or questions. Dance puts into form something yet unspoken, and has a unique capacity to forge new meaning.
My primary aesthetic is rooted in classical contemporary dance, which uses long extended lines, a core-distal connection, and the relationship between the body, gravity and momentum. I am also influenced by African dance languages in which I trained and taught. This sometimes arises as a tension between form and energy and inspires circular motions and wavelike energies through a somatic expression of the spine or hips. My years of research in dance as a cultural expression of deep values often causes me to look closely at everyday movements and gestures or look for cultural dynamics that may be constructed to express a deeper meaning.
My goal when creating a piece is to see it as complete. The way of presentation—whether on stage, film or site specific—decides the aesthetic choices. Concepts are built upon in each piece through the principles of dance design. Working through gestures and movements in collaboration with dancers can often provide a unifying anchor for a piece.
Performances and Works (selected)
♦ Los Angeles Dance Festival
♦ Vancouver Dance Centre
♦ Fisher Center Series, NY
♦The Huntington Garden–Powerful Visions
♦ Danza Trayectos
♦ Barcelona International Dance Exchange
♦ Especial Dansa Tarragona
♦ World Dance Alliance
♦ Centro Andaluz De Arte Contemporaneo De La Cartuja
♦ International Society for Somatic Movement Education and Therapy
♦ The Roundhouse, Vancouver
♦ Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza
♦ El acento Andaluz de Fotografía
♦ Luckman Intimate Theater, Los Angeles
♦ Dance Studies Association
♦ Congress of Research in Dance
♦ Islands Institute, Art of Engagement
♦ National Dance Education Association
♦ North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA)
♦ American Society for Theatre Research
♦ International Gandhian Institute for Non-Violence and Peace
♦ Domain Seminar for Social Justice
♦ Educating for Justice through Peace
♦ Building Capacities for Justice and Peace
Honours and Residencies
♦ Fisher Center Fellow (2006-2007)
♦ Canada Council for the Arts, National Award in Dance
♦ CID—UNESCO, Conseil Internationale de la Danse
♦ Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation Award
♦ Residencia Artistica Internacional, Alanis de Seville
♦ Japan Studies Institute Fellow
Selected Works
LA HIELERA
La Hielera
Choreographer/Director: Seónagh KummerImmigration detention centres are often referred to as “La Hielera,” The Icebox, due to extremely cold temperatures inside. This piece explores the idea of our complicity in the act of detaining children in these dangerous, unsupervised spaces.
BLUESTOCKING
Bluestocking
Bluestocking
Choreographer/Director Seónagh Kummer
Dancer/Collaborator: Anna Paris
Women who do not mold to fit societal norms often get the raw end of the stick considering words that describe them. “Bluestocking” is a word that positively describes an intellectual or literary woman interested in books and ideas rather than fitting in.
BLOOM
Bloom
Director Choreographer: Seónagh Kummer
Dancer Collaborators: Anna Paris and Alék G. López
An exploration of divine femininity, in all its forms, as a guiding principle and action.
WHERE THE LIGHT TOOK US
Where the Light Took Us
Choreography, Dancer, Concept: Seónagh KummerA daughter’s dance through memory and forgetting
EXIT FROM THE BLUE ROOM
Exit From the Blue Room
Choreographer: Seónagh KummerThis work was developed in collaboration with an original score by my longtime creative collaborator Bennie Maupin, and explores the resilience and tenets of African culture over time.
BODIES OF WATER
Bodies of Water
Choreographer: Seónagh KummerThis work explores the need for water stewardship and was inspired by a collaboration with Florence James (Penelakut) and Karolle Wall, who taught me about the life and movement of microscopic underwater creatures called nudibranchs.
