Constructing a framework for interdisciplinary performances featuring classically trained musicians and dancers or actors

Joel Gester Suarez

The research aims to construct a framework for interdisciplinary performances. This framework is organised in the different components that shape creative processes. The research follows a process that begins with my experience in the dance-music collaboration “The Devil on the Dance Floor”, which included my ensemble Quinteto del Diablo, dancer Rosanna Ter Steege, and stage director Laura Suárez. The insights gained from this project, as well as the interview with director and actress Laura Suárez, led to the theorisation of the framework. The mentioned components are organised in a map. Each one of them serves as a possible starting point for a creative process. The propositions drawn from the framework support the notion of non-hierarchical creative processes. However, it also concludes that all the mentioned components have to be observed and worked with according to their qualities. After the layout of the framework, the interview with dancer and choreographer Mar López provides a critical comparison to support the theory through the experience of someone outside my environment. The last section analyses my master project, a piano-dance duo with Rosanna ter Steege, as a practical application of this theoretical framework. The research aims to set a framework that can help me and others, especially classically trained musicians, when working on an interdisciplinary performance. The format of the presentation is a research exposition.