Understanding Interdisciplinary Performance
Lead:
Sarah Kanouse, Associate Professor, Art + Design, CAMD
Mentoring Team:
Antonio Ocampo-Guzmán, Associate Professor, Theater, CAMD
Mark Lomanno, Visiting Assistant Professor, Music, CAMD
Anthony Romero, Professor of the Practice of Performance, SMFA at Tufts University
Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Co-Artistic Director, Baker & Tarpaga Dance Company, Philadelphia
Deke Weaver, Associate Professor, School of Art and Design and Department of Theater, University of Illinois
Synopsis of mentoring grant:
The term “performance” is widely used across the arts: in music, theater, dance, and visual art. Yet, as Shannon Jackson has observed, expectations, modalities, and techniques for performance vary widely according to disciplinary background. In the visual arts, for instance, performance tends to be durational rather than narrative, as in theater; structures supporting improvisation have arisen differently in dance than in music. For mid-career artists who wish to perform in ways that work across these modes, it can be difficult to identify and develop the vocabularies, technical skills, and theoretical knowledge required to develop projects that resonate across disciplines.
Impact on research:
The Mutual Mentoring grant has been instrumental in making extraordinary progress on the project since December, 2017. Not only will all my goals for the grant be met by early July, but I have achieved significant internal and external validation of the project in the form of a summer artist residency, an international fellowship, and advancement to the second round of the most prestigious and competitive grant program in my field. More subjectively, working on this project has been the most meaningful, even exhilarating experience of my professional career. I am convinced that it represents the best work I have ever done and will be a turning point in my creative practice.