OLADOTUN AYOBADE The University of Texas at Austin [email protected] (512) 903-7590

DEGREES Ph.D. in Theatre History, Criticism, Theory and Text 2016 (Emphasis in Performance as a Public Practice) The University of Texas at Austin Dissertation Title: “Women That Danced the Fire Dance: Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat Queens, Performance and the Dialectics of Postcolonial Identity”

Masters of Arts , Creative Arts 2008 University of , Thesis Title: “ Èṣù and the Dynamics of Conflict in Ahmed Yerima’s Yemoja and Aetu .”

Bachelor of Arts , Performing Arts (B.A. Honors) 2004 Department of Performing Arts University of , Nigeria

PORTFOLIOS AND CERTIFICATES Doctoral Portfolio in African and African Diaspora Studies 2016 African and African Diaspora Studies Department The University of Texas at Austin

Doctoral Portfolio in Women's and Gender Studies 2016 Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies The University of Texas at Austin

Interdisciplinary Teaching Certificate 2016 Sanger Learning Center School of Undergraduate Studies The University of Texas at Austin

Graduate Teaching Scholars Certificate 2012 Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) The University of Texas at Austin

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS Fela Kuti and Afrobeat Subculture Performance and Postcolonial Theory Postcolonial Literatures West African Cultural Studies Gender and Sexuality in

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS • Ayobade, Dotun. “Re/Reading Spectacles: Historicizing the Nigeria Movement.” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences . Vol 5, No 24 (2015). pp. 61-65. • Ayobade, Dotun. “Fela’s Clenched Fists: The Double ‘Black Power’ Salute and Political Ideology.” Body Talk and Cultural Identity in the African World . Ed. Augustine Agwuele. Sheffield, UK: Equinox Publishing, 2015. pp. 37-57.

ARTICLES IN PROGRESS • “‘Queens in Flight: Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat Queens and the Performance of ‘Black’ Feminist Diasporas,” to be published in Gendering Knowledge in Africa and the African Diaspora: Navigating a Contested Terrain . Edited by Toyin Falola and Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2017) • “‘We Were on Top of the World’: Fela Kuti’s Queens and the Politics of Space,” being reviewed for publication by the Journal of African Cultural Studies (JACS), United Kingdom • “Olaide Babayale: A Critical Biography of an Afrobeat Queen,” to be presented at the 2017 International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) • “Performing Wives: Polygamy in West African Theatre History,” to be presented at the 2017 Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS • “Spirit Queens: Gender, Play and Possession in Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat,” Presented at the Symposium of Gender, History and Sexuality at the Department of History, UT Austin, September 2016 • “Afrobeat Queens and the Poetics of Space,” Presented at the 2016 African Literature Association (ALA), Atlanta, Georgia. • “Notes on Fela Kuti’s Use of the Yoruba Language,” Presented at the 2015 Yoruba Day, Hosted by the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies (WCAAAS), The University of Texas at Austin; April 2015 • “To Rape a Queen: The Geopolitics of a Red-Light District” presented at the Feminist Geographies: Mapping Spaces, Nations, and States of Being Conference, Center for Women and Gender Studies (CWGS), The University of Texas at Austin; March 2015 • "Afrobeat Queens at the Decolonial Turn" presented at the 2014 Mid-American Alliance for African Studies Conference (MAAAS) at the University of Kansas, Kansas • "Rereading Spectacles: Historicizing the Occupy Nigeria Movement" presented at the 2014 Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference (REP) VII, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX • “Queens and the Saints: Afrobeat Queens and Decolonizing the Religious Gaze,” presented at the 2013 Graduate Student Initiative (GSI) of the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics, Los Angeles, California • “Playing a Race Where There is No Race: Standup Comedy and Performing Race in Postcolonial Nigeria” presented at the 2013 Mid-American Alliance for African Studies Conference (MAAAS) at Texas A&M University • “Fela Kuti as Tragic Protagonist: Between Fela Kuti and African Theories of Tragedy” presented at Conference on Art, Social Struggle and the Nation State (September 2013), The University of Texas at Austin • “Renegade Hips: Feminine Revolution in Fela’s Afrobeat” presented at the 2013 Africa Conference at The University of Texas at Austin • “Fela’s Clenched Fist: Gestures and Ideology from Afrobeat to Occupy Nigeria,” presented at the 2012 Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference (REP) VI, San Juan, Puerto Rico • “Script Tortoise, Revive Tortoise: Reimagining Yoruba Tortoise Folktales in Contemporary Nigerian Theatre” presented at the 2012 Yoruba Day Celebration by the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin • “Poor Performances: Poverty, Survival and Creativity in the Performances of Comic Acts in Urban Nigeria,” Presented at the Second Toyin Falola Annual International Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora (TOFAC 2012), Nigeria

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS • Recipient of the Graduate School Named/Endowed Continuing Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2014-15) • Recipient, Warfield Center for African and African American Studies Travel Grant, The University of Texas at Austin (Spring 2014) • Nominee for the College of Fine Arts (COFA) Continuing Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2014-15) (Award Declined) • Winner of the Ken Lohrentz Graduate Paper Award at the 2013 Mid-America Alliance for African Studies (MAAAS) Conference at Texas A&M University (2013) ° Title: “Playing a Race Where There is No Race: Standup Comedy and the Performance of Race in Postcolonial Nigeria” • Recipient of the Maurice J. Schaded Memorial Scholarship, College of Fine Arts , UT Austin (2013-14) • Recipient of the Oscar G. Brockett Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Theatre History and Criticism , UT Austin (2012-13 & 2013-14) • Recipient of the College of Fine Arts (COFA) Student Excellence Scholarship , UT Austin (2012-13) • Recipient of the Louis Jules Hexter Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Theatre Arts, UT Austin (2011-12) • Best Graduating Theatre Student , Creative Arts Department (Theatre), University of Lagos (2008) • Artistic Director , NYSC Dance and Drama CD Group, Rivers State (2006) • Artist of the Year , Performing Arts Students Association (PASA), University of Ilorin (2004)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE Lecturer , African and African Diaspora Studies, The University of Texas at Austin • West African Popular Culture (Spring 2017) • Introduction to Modern Africa (Spring 2017) • Yoruba History and Culture (Fall 2016) • Beginning Yoruba (Fall 2016) • Introduction to the Study of Africa (Fall 2015) • Beginning Yoruba (Fall 2015)

Instructor , African and African Diaspora Studies Department (AADS), The University of Texas at Austin • Second-Year Yoruba II (Spring 2014) • First-Year Yoruba II (Spring 2013)* *One-on-one instruction with a Special-Needs student

Instructor , Department of Theatre and Dance, The University of Texas at Austin • Theatre History Before 1800 (Fall 2012) • Theatre History After 1800 (Spring 2013)

Guest Lectures • Lecture Title: “Dance in Yoruba Spiritual Traditions,” (Fall 2014/2015) Rebecca Rossen’s (Ph.D.) Dance History I Class, Department of Theatre and Dance, UT Austin

• Lecture Title: “West African Theatre: Yoruba Performance Traditions Before 1900” (Fall 2014) Katelyn Wood’s (PhD) “World Theatre History” Class (Skype-In), Department of Theatre, Miami University, Oxford OH

• Lecture Title: “Postcolonial African Theatre: Woza Albert! ” (Spring 2013) Lydia Nelson’s “Theatre History” Class, Department of Theatre and Dance, UT Austin

Teaching Assistant , Department of Theatre and Dance, The University of Texas at Austin • Art, (Your) Money and the Nation (Spring 2016) • Languages of the Stage (Fall 2013) • Introduction to Theatre for Non-Majors (Spring 2012) • Dance History II (Spring 2012) • Theatre History (Fall 2011) • Dance History I (Fall 2011)

As a TA, my responsibilities included maintaining students’ attendance records, grading students’ papers and providing them with feedback. In most of these T.A. classes, I guest-lectured at least once per semester.

Academic Mentor, Intercollegiate Athletics, The University of Texas at Austin • Football / Women’s Cross Country (Fall 2014) As am academic mentor, I worked with student-athletes in UT Football and Women’s Cross Country departments. I helped them improve their study, time management, test-taking skills.

Literature-in-English Teacher , Rundele Community Girls’ Secondary School (RCGSS), Rivers State, Nigeria (2005- 2006) I taught Literature-in-English as part of my National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), a one-year mandatory service to the Nigerian government usually rendered by every youth after college graduation.

ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE Acting/Dance • Played Father Hogan in The Beautiful People by William Saroyan, Directed by Steven Wilson, MFA Directing Student, Department of Theatre and Dance, UT Austin (October 2013) • Played Uloko in Wedlock of the Gods by Zulu Sofola, Directed by Jide Ibrahim, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos (2005) • Played Yekini in Hangmen Also Die by Esiaba Irobi, Directed by Olufemi Awoyale, Performing Arts Department, University of Ilorin (2003) • Played Tiresias in Antigone by Sophocles, Directed by Oluwadare Kayode, Performing Arts, University of Ilorin (2003) • Played Prince in Opiri , a concert dance piece produced in the 2002 season of performances, Performing Arts, University of Ilorin (2002)

Directing/Choreography • Director of a series of 15-minutes liturgical dramas produced by the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM): “ One O’clock,” “The Enemy,” “Maniacs ,” and “Man and Wife.” • Artistic Director , Rivers State Dance and Drama Community Development Group (2006), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Rivers State, Nigeria. • Choreographer , Nsibidi, a dance theatre performance produced during the UNILORIN Performing Arts 2004 season of plays • Choreographer , Oil Field , an experimental dance piece that employed soccer motifs to explore the challenges of oil exploration in Nigeria; Performing Arts (Advanced Choreography Workshop, 2003) • Choreographer , Adam, a 2004 Yoruba-derived dance performance exploring the Christian concept of creation • Choreographer , Abiku, a 2004 dance adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s poem, “Abiku”

SERVICE • Volunteer, Black Matters: The Futures of Black Scholarship and Activism Conference , UT Austin, September 2016 • Production Assistant , Performance of “Relativity” by Rhonda Ross, the Fall 2014 African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) Visiting Performing Artist, The University of Texas at Austin • Research Assistant, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones Theatrical Jazz: Performance, Ase and the Power of the Present Moment (Ohio State UP: 2015) • Curator, Fridays@2 symposia in the Performance as Public Practice (PPP), Department of Theatre and Dance, The University of Texas at Austin • Curator, 3rd Annual Performing Blackness/PPP Symposium: "I Am Here, and I Am Real": Dancing Blackness, Negotiating Black Subjectivity” at The University of Texas at Austin • Photographer, 2013 Black Performance Theory Colloquium, “BLACK GOLD,” The University of Texas at Austin

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS • African Literatures Association (ALA) • African Studies Association (ASA) • Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA) • Performance Studies International (PSi) • The International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) • Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) • Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics