Co-performer connection

: the context behind the work. A thesis on co-performer empathy and empathic rehearsal ecologies

Abstract

This PaR thesis on the topic of co-performer connection looks at how performers connect, how they can connect better and what kind of different creative output can result from a radically changing creative ideology that puts interplay and chemistry between co-performers at the heart of the creative process. The research starts from the observation that in Western acting, dance, and music theory of the twentieth and twenty-first century, profound interpersonal exchange between performers has been repeatedly framed as leading to peak performance experiences for actors and audience (Lipps, 1903; Stanislavski, 2008; Waddington, 2013, 331; Christensen et al., 2021; Hermans, 2021). In acting, it is explicitly considered one of the performer’s most important sources of inspiration (Grotowski, 1976; Meisner, 1987; Brook, 1990; Barba, 1991; Donnellan, 2002; Bogart, 2005; Zarrilli, 2009; Merlin, 2014). Still, performers generally find it difficult to connect with co-performers. This thesis argues that this difficulty is partly the result of co-performer connection being practically absent as a dedicated subject in performance training which — under the influence of neoliberalism and individualism — tends to focus increasingly on individual action and behaviour and the development of an individual skillset (Chapter 1 & 2). Such methods overlook the impact of the personal contexts of the performers and the circumstances in which they work that determine the existence of co-performer connection. This PhD honours practical knowledge about empathic rehearsal contexts that has traditionally been hard to capture in meaningful ways in a scholarly context and have, as a result, often been represented as a weaker alternative theory to individual-skill-based performer training. This thesis argues co-performer connection functions as an other-oriented, non-performer centric “game of responding to the third space” (Chapter 3). The definition implies that it is through the continually changing performance-in-progress that performers connect to each other. Looking at the limited influence of individual performers on this process, an action framework of ongoing work on the self is proposed (Chapter 4). This framework focusses on creating the right personal context — partly generated through embodied knowledge and increased consciousness of transferable skills relating to co-performer empathy — and an other-oriented intentionality in approaching creative work. With regard to the latter, I argue that since connection happens when performers tune into the shared activity of performing together, the performer’s intentionality is vital. This thesis stems from my personal experience as a professional actor, however the scope of the research methods is interdisciplinary, and the findings have relevance for practitioners in a wide range of performing arts. I will bring auto-ethnographic research as a dancer, teacher, actor and director as well as theoretical discourses into the argument. The practice incorporates dance styles that foreground connection such as Argentine tango, contact improvisation and butoh dance. The main theoretical dialogue in this thesis is between performance theory and philosophy. Specifically, I draw on Emmanuel Levinas’ notion of call and response and Martin Buber’s theorisation of “I and You” versus “I and it”. Insights from Homi K. Bhabha’s postcolonial theory and Edward’s Soja’s spatial theory have informed my redefinition of performance that is based on connection principles as “a game of responding to the third space”.

Note that the following video files, listed in the addendum of this thesis, are not currently available on Queen's Research Portal owing to copyright issues:

Video 1: VideoCS1.1.mp4
Video 2: VideoOptional1.mp4
Video 4: VideoCS2.2.mp4

Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2025.

Date of Award	Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Aoife McGrath (Supervisor) & David Grant (Supervisor)