Performance and Identity
What?
To create a resource/bank of reference material that deals with bodies in performance from a more diverse lens.
Inspired by the shades resources, it made me reflect on how bodies in our performance course are treated and discussed within the context of film/theatre/moving image. It exposed gaps in my own knowledge, and how this is discussed with our students on the course.
I found this piece by Candoco dance theatre so inspiring on so many levels, not being constrained by expectations and also touching upon Firere’s ‘banking-model’ of education.
Why?
I feel that this is something that could be challenged more in the performance curriculum. I think there is still a dominance of bodies from a ‘normative’, Eurocentric gaze.
My aim is to create an online resource where I could create more diverse references of people working within the performance areas to stimulate critical thought around the social constructs of identities, which could be used as a discussion and enquiry point for both staff and students.
My hope would be that both staff and students would add to this resource. Whilst doing some research I realised that as a course there is not much transparency about exactly what is covered in the classroom, especially between academic and technical delivery. My hope is that this resource will open doors to conversation between staff members and create a more collaborative way of working within the department, a way of sharing good practice and go some way to bridging the gap between academic and technical delivery.
How?
The aim is to create a file-sharing document which references a diverse spectrum of bodies in performance, using an online platform, to which all students and staff from the course can contribute to.
The goal of this artefact/intervention is to shift the scope of the references and discussion points, allowing access for a more inclusive perspective. Additionally my hope is that students will consider the power of their own practice in relation to these resources, as they are the future of the industry. This resource would sit on moodle, be accessible to all staff and students on the performance to access and use.
This resource could also hopefully complement/feed into the already brilliant shades resource hosted on Diago: https://www.shadesofnoir.org.uk/education/diigo-database/ by adding to the performance section.
On this journey I will be considering my own positionality and how this effects the creation of this resource, and the challenges that it will lead to- what biases and behaviors do I need to address? As this will be a digital resource I will consider in/equity of digital accessibility, digital literacy and digital ex/inclusion across different intersectional experiences. I will also explore how my intervention could lead to a sustainable approach of embedding critical resources within your teaching space/delivery as a team and what challenges that may bring.