Performing Reflection: Improvisation in Word, Thought and Action
(2025)
author(s): IRK
published in: Research Catalogue
This exposition contains the complete artistic output and accompanying reflective documentation of the artistic research doctoral project I conducted at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna between 2021 and 2024.
Free improvisation in music offers a unique field for exploring how artistic practices develop through embodied engagement, critical reflection, and collaborative experimentation. This research focuses particularly on the process of practicing within this context, tracing the evolution of specific exercises and preparatory methods. These were initially tested in collaborative projects with other musicians and later refined through a series of workshops. A central theme that emerged throughout this process is the role of reflection—both musical and verbal—as a vital component of artistic development. This realization culminated in the project Performing Reflection, which established a dialogical relationship between musical improvisation and reflective discourse. The work contributes to a deeper understanding of how structured exercises and reflective practices can support and expand the art of free improvisation, offering new perspectives on its preparation, pedagogy, and performance.
4 sides of a triangle
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Marjolein Wagter
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Abstract,
this research was done in the context of the master COMMA, master in choreography for dance, circus and community arts.
Being a performer in outdoor circusarts, I am used to start a creation with an idea for an object, in this case a mobile triangle for aerial performance. I asked my self the question: ‘how to let meaning arise through the practice of creation, using ‘the other’ by listening to reflections and reactions during the creation process.
Breaking boundaries with the audience and ask for feedback during the creation process to get informed about the meaning of the piece is the approach I use
I am interested in how much of influence on the meaning of the piece is the material, the object we work with in itself? I decided to not know what the performance is about until the presentation in May.