Improvising in the field: investigating practices of spontaneous creativity as engaged for society, community, and wellbeing

Project Details

Description

Improvisation is a complex generative phenomenon present in numerous forms of art-making in performance and participatory practices. Beyond its aesthetic capacities, improvisation has been theorised recently as a methodology of relations which is highly social and interpersonally contingent. On this basis, it has been utilised in recent years beyond the immediate arena of performance and participation by specialist arts professionals for diverse purposes across social, political, economic, and health domains. Despite diverse arenas of application, there is but a small body of research which focuses explicitly on the pragmatics of improvising in these contexts – the methods, methodologies, motivations, and mechanisms of change emergent when improvising “in the field”. This project will identify and begin to 'map' practices of improvisation as engaged across social, community, and wellbeing contexts in the United Kingdom. It will focus on experiences and perspectives of frontline professionals within the arts and culture sector (including artists and facilitators within the freelance economy), who employ improvisational methods and methodologies in arts-based interventions, participatory creative activities, and community-centred practice towards explicit social, community, and wellbeing-oriented goals. It will address the questions how, where, and why practitioners utilise improvisation in socially oriented work, as well as their perspectives on impact for various beneficiary groups. The research team will document, analyse, and compare ‘applied’ improvisation practice within the UK, outlining its salient characteristics and contexts. This will be achieved through holistic and qualitative social research methods – including semi-structured interviews with practitioners, field observation, and creative research activities. Focus will be maintained on the pragmatics of improvisation “in the field” – the practical methods employed by practitioners, the ethical and theoretical underpinnings of contemporary practice, as well as identifiable moderating cultural, situational, and environmental factors. These will be contextualised globally within the developing interdisciplinary fields of Critical Improvisation Studies, Applied Performance Studies, and interdisciplinary studies in Arts and Health.
Short titleImprovising in the Field
AcronymIITF
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/02/2430/04/26

Keywords

  • Improvisation
  • Performance
  • Applied Performance
  • Creative Health
  • Spontaneity
  • Experimental Music
  • Creative Research Methods
  • Arts-Based Methods

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Creative Manchester

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