Deirdre is author of Irish Moves, an illustrated history of dance and physical theatre in Ireland (The LIffey Press), and Orientalism, Orientation, and The Nomadic Work of Pina Bausch (Peter Lang Gmbh).  Committed to re-inscribing the body into Irish cultural history, Deirdre’s influential BAI-funded feature radio documentary, short dance film ‘Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity’, (both starring Evanna Lynch), and her Joyce Studies Annual essay ‘Fail Better: Lucia Joyce and the Abbey Theatre Ballets’, change the accepted narrative, and invite consideration of Lucia Joyce as a significant artist in her own right. In 2022 Deirdre presented an interdisciplinary Saint Lucia’s Day event ‘Come and See Me, I’m a Crossword Puzzle’, at Dublin’s James Joyce Centre.  Celebrating Joyce’s overlooked creativity and marking the 40th anniversary of her death, in tandem with this, Deirdre curated an associated exhibition featuring her own original research which is transferring to Sandymount Community Centre in association with a talk and screening by Deirdre on Friday October 4th at 7.30pm.   After producing, directing, and editing ‘Calico’ by Michael Hastings for Bloomsday Festival 2021, Ranelagh Arts Festival 2023 presented readings from Deirdre’s original play ‘Brancusi Bird’.   Deirdre also presented ‘Sweet Dancers: An Illustrated Talk on Irish Dance’, at Princeton University FÍS, and hosted Dance Ireland’s 30th Anniversary podcasts. 

 

 

Deirdre produces and directs theatre, and her own creative film documentaries including ‘Damhsa na hÉigeandála’ (TG4), and ‘1943 – A Dance Odyssey’ (RTE), about Irish-German modern dance pioneer Erina Brady; ‘TRUE NORTH’, and many more BAI-funded, commissioned, and Indie projects with her own production company ‘Out There Productions’. Deirdre has contributed over ten essays to RTE Sunday Miscellany; contributed several chapters to books on theatre and dance; and her Arts journalism has appeared in top publications. On top of her original academic work, teaching, broadcasting, and making original feature radio documentaries (RTE Lyric FM & Newstalk 106 – 108fm), Deirdre curates exhibitions too. 

 

 

Deirdre contributed to Photo Album of the Irish: Canada, (also exhibited at EPIC Museum of Emigration, 2023), and is developing a new documentary with her Ojibway school friends in Cat Lake, North Ontario. During the pandemic, Deirdre did Ardteist Gaeilge Ardleibhéal, and was delighted to get a H2!  In 2022 Deirdre directed a TG4 Finné episode on one of her Gaeilge gurus, ‘Limerick’s own Billy Elliot’, Roy Galvin, and her new experimental short Goodbye Marian Avenue was selected for Irish Artists’ Film Index.   During the centenary year of Ulysses’ publication, Deirdre was an invited participant in Global Irish Studies’ ‘Ulysses and the World’ symposium at Georgetown University, Washington DC, and was on the steering committee of #Ulysses80 virtual bookclub.  After featuring in Bloomsday Film Festival 2022 at the IFI, Lucia Joyce: FULL CAPACITY was selected in 2024 for the James Joyce Centre permanent collection. Deirdre was awarded an Artist’s Residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris in 2024 to work on her Paris-related projects and is currently scribbling away after being awarded a place on the 2024 Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring programme.