WHATCOMESTOMINDWHENYOUHEARTHE

WORD“PERFORMANCE”?

S U SANN E   E V EN                                       I N D I ANA  UN I V E R S I T Y

LEARNINGSPACES.

ANINTRODUCTIONTOPERFORMATIVEPEDAGOGY.

WHATCOMESTOMINDWHENYOUHEARTHEWORD“PERFORMANCE”?

WHATCOMESTOMINDWHENYOUHEARTHEWORD“PERFORMANCE”?

WHATCOMESTOMINDWHENYOUHEARTHEWORD“PERFORMANCE”?

WHATCOMESTOMINDWHENYOUHEARTHEWORD“PERFORMANCE”?

TEACHERSAREPERFORMERS

STUDENTSAREPERFORMERS

ALLTHEWORLDISASTAGE.

• Weallperforminourdailylives.• Wehavemultipleroles.• Thereareclose/controlledscriptsandtherearesemi‐openandopenscripts.

• Weallimproviseinourrolestoagreaterorlesserextent.

• Wedon’tusuallythinkaboutit.

THINKABOUTIT.

• Whichrolesdoyoufeelmostcomfortablewith?

• Whichrolesdoyouperformbest?

• Whichrolesboreyou?

• Whichrolesmakeyouanxious?

THOUGHTSONROLES

• Wearemostcomfortableifweknowwhatourroleis.

• Wefeelsecureifwecaninhabitthatrolewithoutanxiety.

• Wearemostintriguedifwedonotknowwhat’shappeningnext.

• Wearemostengagedifwefeelwecanmakeadifference.

Knowledge

Nofear

TheUnexpected

Impact

TEXTBOOKROLEPLAY

ROLE‐TAKING:PROBLEMS

1. Therolehasnothingtodowithme.

2. IfIdon’tdoitright,Igetabadgrade.

3. Iknowexactlywhat’shappeninginthedialogue.

4. WhetherIorsomeoneelseplaystherole,itwillbeexactlythesamewords.

ROLE‐CREATING

1. Chooseacharacterandinventashortrolebiographyabouthim/her.

2. Takethedialogueasablueprintandinventaproblem.

3. Together,workoutasolutiontotheproblem.4. Bringthescenetoanend.5. Practiceyourdialoguetogetherandperformitto

theotherstudents.6. Audience:Telltheperformerswhatyouliked

aboutthescene.

THOUGHTSONROLE‐CREATING

1. Yourownideasareimportantforthedevelopmentofthescene.

2. Withthedialoguefromthecoursebookyouhaveasecurebaseandcangoonfromthere.

3. Youworkcollaboratively.4. Youcometoyourveryownresults.5. Youmakeyourownscenepublic.6. Yougetpositivefeedback.7. Theaudienceisinterestedbecauseit’snewand

unforeseen.

THOUGHTSONROLE‐CREATING

1. Ownideas.2. Securebasetostartfrom.3. Collaboration.4. Ownresults.5. Performance.6. Feedback.7. Audienceinterest.

ROLE‐CREATINGTECHNIQUES

EmpathyQuestions StillImage

Doubling

Thought‐Tapping

Hotseating

EMPATHYQUESTIONS

Ruck‐Pauquet (1960: 37)

EMPATHYQUESTIONS

STILLIMAGE

Ruck‐Pauquet (1960: 15)

THOUGHT‐TAPPING

Ruck‐Pauquet 1960: 15

DOUBLING

Ruck‐Pauquet 1960: 15

THECONTEXT

• GinaRuck‐Pauquet1960:DerFlohimSauerkraut• Place:Blumenhausen,atinyvillagewithonly13inhabitants:themayor,thepoliceman,severalfarmers,housewives,threechildren

• Exposition:arrivalofastranger– MrFloh.• Firstreaction:surprise,delight.• Secondreaction:disappointment,rejection(adults),friendship(children)

• Action:attemptstogetridofMrFloh• Climax:MrFlohsavesthepeople• Denouement:MrFlohiswelcome

TEACHERINROLE

Ruck‐Pauquet 1960: 43, 39 

HOTSEATING

Ruck‐Pauquet 1960: 44

HOTSEATING

IMPROVTHEATER

• Inorderforanimprovisedscenetobesuccessful,theimprovisersinvolvedmustworktogetherresponsivelytodefinetheparametersandactionofthescene,inaprocessofco‐creation.Witheachspokenwordoractioninthescene,animprovisermakesanoffer,meaningthatheorshedefinessomeelementoftherealityoftheimprovisedscene.Itistheresponsibilityoftheotherimproviserstoaccept theoffersthattheirfellowperformersmake;tonotdosoisknownasblocking,negation,ordenial,whichusuallypreventsthescenefromdeveloping.Acceptinganofferisusuallyaccompaniedbyaddinganewoffer,oftenbuildingontheearlierone;thiscanbeconsideredthecornerstoneofimprovisationaltechnique.

CLASSROOMTHEATER

• Inorderforalessontobesuccessful,theteachersandstudents involvedmustworktogetherresponsivelytodefinethecontents andactionofthe lesson,inaprocessofco‐creation.Witheachspokenwordoractioninthelesson,aparticipantmakesanoffer,meaningthatheorshedefinessomeelementoftherealityofthelearningprocess.Itistheresponsibilityoftheteachers toaccept theoffersthattheirstudentsmake;tonotdosoisknownasblocking,negation,ordenial,whichusuallypreventsthelesson fromdeveloping.Acceptinganofferisusuallyaccompaniedbyaddinganewoffer,oftenbuildingontheearlierone;thiscanbeconsideredthecornerstoneofsuccessfulteaching.

PERFORMATIVETEACHING

„Performativeasalargerconceptmeansacompleterethinkingofeducation,andyoucouldapplyelementsoftheateraesthetics.Ifyoulookattheateraesthetics,onefactorisphysicality.Weneedmoreofthat.Wehavethefactorofemergence,meaningthatteachersareopentowhatisemerginginalesson.Soit’snotallpre‐packaged,pre‐planned.Somethinghappensintheclassroom;[let’ssayyouhave]astudentresponse...whynotbuildonthatandhavethecompetencetoimprovise,andthenteachonthebasisofwhatactuallyhappensintheclassroom.Theatermeanstobepresent[...],theteacherhastobeinthespace,withfullconcentration,andhastobeabletorelatetothestudents.“

ManfredSchewe(2014)

TEACHINGISPERFORMANCE

• Performativeteachingmeanslettingscenes,situationsunfold.

• Itmeanslisteningtoyourstudents,goingwiththeflow.

• Italsomeanslettinggoofrigidteachingplans.• Itrequiresflexibilityandcourage.• Italsorequiresbalancingconflictingdemands(limitedtime,lackofspace,syllabus,etc).

FINALTHOUGHTS

• Eachlessonislikeasmallplaywithdifferentactors.

• Takethestageandmakeityourandyourstudents’own.

• Makesurethatthereisspaceforthestudents’ownvoices.

• Whilethereisascript(thelessonplan),leaveroomfortheunexpected.

• Don’tbetoohardonyourselvesifthingsdonotturnoutthewaytheywereplanned.Youarehuman.Andsoareyourstudents.