Workshop: Performance as Experiment

Description:

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This workshop focuses on performance art as a site of learning.  The performance action is an investigation in which the end result is not known, either by the performer or the viewers.  Instead, something is discovered through the process of doing the work, in the act of observing and experiencing change and transformation.

Using performance, you might choose to learn something about yourself, about the world around you, or about the audience.  The challenge is selecting materials and designing an action that allows you to effectively examine the question that you are asking.  In some performances, your action may be very literal, while in others it might be more metaphorical.

Unrehearsed, this work is made in front of viewers.  What is the role of the witness in the work?  What does their presence allow you to do?  Is there a way to involve them directly in the inquiry?  How might they help you?

During the workshop, you will design and execute several different experiments in order to learn something new.  You will utilize different performance strategies including ones that engage the viewer.  Guided writing exercises will further develop your practice of constructing and analyzing your own work.