Collaboration in Performance Practice ─ Premises, Workings and Failures

Collaboration has established itself as a significant mode of working in performance practice. This publication examines cultural, philosophical and political issues tied to specific instances of collaborative practice in the performing arts. Contributions from leading scholars and practitioners review historical developments of collaborative practice and reveal what it means to work together in creative contexts at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Key questions addressed include how artists are developing new ways of working together in response to contemporary economic trends; what it means to collaborate across cultures in a globalized world; and what the opportunities are of co-working between genres and disciplines. Noyale Colin and Stefanie Sachsenmaier present these perspectives in three thematic sections which interrogate the premises of collective intentions, the working strategies of current practitioners and the role of failure in collaborative modes of creative work. This volume is an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and those interested in contemporary artistic methods of working.

Noyale Colin is a lecturer and the course leader of the BA (Hons) Dance programme at University Campus Suffolk, UK. She has worked as a performer and choreographer in the United States and Europe. Her current research examines the politics of co-working in contemporary performance making.

Stefanie Sachsenmaier is Senior Lecturer in Theatre Arts at Middlesex University, UK. With a background as a performer and tai chi practitioner, her research interests centre on the processual in creative practice.