Practice-based research project into the event of choreographic performance as a site of embodied knowledge-generation
Lead Research Organisation:
De Montfort University
Department Name: School of Arts
Abstract
This will be a practice-based research project will investigate the event of choreographic performance as a site of embodied knowledge-generation. It will combine choreographic research with ideas from neuroscience, neurophysiology, cognitive philosophy to look at different kinds of tacit and explicit knowledge and the blurred boundaries between them.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ramsay Burt (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Matthias Sperling (Student) |
| Title | 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress' (Performative Symposium) |
| Description | 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress' is a performative symposium that I conceived, curated and presented at Sadler's Wells (London) on 2nd November 2018 alongside performances of my solo science-fiction performance-lecture Now That We Know (created in 2016). This performative symposium was a creative output in that it was a hybrid between an academic symposium and an artistic product, because it had a fictional framing that grew directly out of Now That We Know: the 'Institute of Neurochoreography' is a fictional institution that figures in the speculative future described within Now That We Know; this 'First Open Congress' was presented as the 'launch' of this fictional institution, during which I invited the guest speakers and attendees to discuss what the content of the inaugural research programme of this fictional institute should be. This event was directly related to my PhD research award because it expanded on and helped to enable the ways in which my PhD research further evolved my earlier artistic research from Now That We Know (2016, preceding my PhD studentship). The performative symposium was a unique opportunity to bring a public focus to this ongoing research, in a prestigious professional and cultural context reaching audiences from multiple disciplinary perspectives crossing artistic practice, humanities research and science research. This was a half-day event with multiple elements: • The core programme of the symposium, which was an interdisciplinary discussion between myself and 4 Guest Speakers whom I invited: Choy Ka Fai (Artist, Performance-Maker), Kélina Gotman (Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies, King's College London), Guido Orgs (Lecturer in Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London), Colette Sadler (Choreographer). This included my 'Opening Address' paper, which framed my propositions for the symposium and their relationship to my research, alongside presentations from each of the 4 Guest Speakers, a panel discussion amongst the speakers and a plenary discussion with attendees. • Publishing a guest blog post on Sadler's Wells' website, called 'A Short Introduction to Neurochoreography' ( http://blog.sadlerswells.com/a-short-introduction-to-neurochoreography-by-matthias-sperling/ ). • The creation and display of a large-scale drawing presenting written questions that the symposium should address, sent in advance by 20 people in response to my online call for contributions. • Screening of a new short film, 'Conjuring Neurochoreography', that I created especially for the symposium thanks to a residency opportunity that arose at Roehampton University, where I was invited to work intensively with a group of 11 BA and MA Dance students to create a public outcome shared during the symposium ( https://vimeo.com/300758326 ). The performative symposium was made possible through support from Midlands4Cities, Roehampton University, Dance4 and Siobhan Davies Dance, in partnership with Sadler's Wells. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | The performative symposium at Sadler's Wells (London) was attended by a live audience of approximately 100 attendees. The Facebook Live streaming of the symposium proceedings additionally reached over 3000 people. A Facebook Page for the Institute of Neurochoreography was created, which continues to exist and reach further audiences (https://www.facebook.com/InstituteofNeurochoreography/). Sadler's Wells' extensive marketing activity in advance of the symposium generated substantial public profile for the event and its research content. Further elements associated with the performative symposium which generated impact and public reach were: my guest blog post on Sadler's Wells website, communicating the research content of this output; and the online publishing of the specially-created short film 'Conjuring Neurochoreography', expanding on the research content of this output in partnership with Roehampton University. (Details of and URL links to both of these additional elements are provided in the section above.) |
| URL | https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2018/matthias-sperling-institute-of-neurochoreography-first-op... |
| Title | No-How Generator |
| Description | 'No-How Generator' is the choreographic work that is the primary practical output of my practice-based PhD in dance, and will be 50% of my thesis submission. It is a 1-hour long performance, presented in theatre spaces, with audiences seated in the round. A brief audience-facing description of the work can be found on the URL included below. Creative Credits: Choreographer and performer: Matthias Sperling | Collaborating performer: Katye Coe | Guest performer: [different for each performance] | Lighting and space design: Jackie Shemesh | Clothing design: Alexa Pollmann | Sound consultant: Joel Cahen | Producer: Iris Chan. Funding Credits: The performance was developed in 2 stages. Stage 1 was supported by Midlands4Cities. Stage 2 was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 were additionally supported by partner organisations Dance4, Siobhan Davies Dance and Sadler's Wells. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | No-How Generator was first performed on 10/10/19 at The Space, Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham), as part of the biennial festival Nottdance, presented by Dance4. During the development of the work, the following seven presentations of work-in-progress with audiences took place: · 6-7/1/19, public presentations of solo work-in-progress in 'Future Oceans' at Marlene Meyerson Theatre JCC Manhattan, New York, USA (part of Dance from England at APAP 2019, supported by Dance4). · 25/1/19, solo work-in-progress presented to students at Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London. · 3/3/19, public presentation of work-in-progress in the context of a 'Sunday Supplement' at iC4C, Dance4, Nottingham. · 22/3/19, presentation of work-in-progress for an invited audience at Siobhan Davies Studios, London. · 30/3/19, public presentation of work-in-progress at Eintanzhaus, Mannheim, Germany. · 12/4/19, presentation of work-in-progress as a plenary session of the conference 'Per/Forming Futures: investigating artistic doctorates in dance and performance', presented by ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe) at Middlesex University, London. · 28/6/19, presentation of solo work-in-progress in the conference 'Cracking the Established Order: Practice-based Research in Academia' at De Montfort University, Leicester. Extended impact from related output,'No-How Q&A' videos: In the lead-up to the first performance of No-How Generator as part of Nottdance, I produced a series of 4 short videos called 'No-How Q&A's', which give public audiences insight into the research content of the work. These videos were shared on social media and on the URL included below. |
| URL | https://2019.nottdance.com/event/no-how-generator-by-matthias-sperling/ |
| Description | Midlands3Cities Student Development Fund, Award ref. M3C1005 |
| Amount | £693 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 06/2018 |
| Description | Midlands3Cities Student Development Fund, Award ref. NPIF0008 |
| Amount | £4,016 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 11/2018 |
| Description | Midlands3Cities Student Development Fund, Award ref. NPIF0010 |
| Amount | £10,407 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2019 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | No-How Generator - Creation and Premiere |
| Amount | £13,986 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts Council England |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2019 |
| End | 11/2019 |
| Description | Participation in ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe) |
| Organisation | Artistic Doctorates in Europe |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| PI Contribution | My contribution to ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe) has been as a participant in aspects of this 3-year international research project into best practice in artistic doctorates. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ADiE is a 3-year European Union Erasmus-funded research project with the full title 'Artistic Doctorates in Europe: Third cycle provision in Dance and Performance', consisting of a partnership between 8 leading professional arts organisations and universities in the UK, Finland and Sweden. I benefitted from participating in several phases of this network's research programme: through the support of Midlands3Cities SDF funding, I participated in 2 subsidised intensive research weeks for current PhD candidates in dance and performance titled 'Researching in/as Motion' (week one in Stockholm, Sweden in March 2018; and week two in Chichester, UK in June 2018); then in April 2019, I presented a work-in-progress performance of No-How Generator (my practical PhD research) as a plenary session of the conference 'Per/forming Futures: Investigating Artistic Doctorates in Dance and Performance' held at Middlesex University. |
| Impact | The primary output of my involvement as a participant in this research network's programme of activities was my work-in-progress performance of No-How Generator (my practical PhD research) as a plenary session of the conference 'Per/forming Futures: Investigating Artistic Doctorates in Dance and Performance' held at Middlesex University in April 2019. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership with Dance4 |
| Organisation | Dance4 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | My contribution to this partnership encompasses the whole of my PhD research activity associated with this award. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dance4 is a Nottingham-based professional dance organisation who are a core partner in my PhD research associated with this award. Due to the practice-based nature of my research in dance and choreography, the core of my PhD research associated with this award would not have been possible without their very substantial, multi-faceted and ongoing contributions. The primary elements of these contributions include: cash support for undertaking, realising and disseminating the practice-based research activity that is the core of my PhD research; in-kind access to their purpose-built studio facilities at their Nottingham base iC4C (International Centre for Choreography), to enable the intensive practical research periods to happen in a fully appropriate and fully supported environment; additional forms of essential, specialist, in-kind support including producing support, advocacy, marketing support and access to technical equipment; covering costs of venue hire in order to make it possible for the public presentation of the practical research activity to take place. In addition to all of this specific support for my practical research activity, the whole of my PhD journey is supported by Paul Russ (Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Dance4), who is my third supervisor. Dance4 also provide me with extensive ongoing advocacy, additional platforms and opportunities to disseminate my research (at each stage of its development), by publishing my writings in professional discourse contexts, by arranging opportunities for me to present talks about my research for/ with artistic colleagues and audiences, as well as by creating opportunities for performances of the practical research. This generous support around my PhD research is grounded in and enabled by the extensive history of my mutual partnership with Dance4, which began in 2007. |
| Impact | Artistic Product: Performance - No-How Generator. Artistic Product: Performance - 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress'. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Partnership with Sadler's Wells |
| Organisation | Sadler's Wells London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | My contribution to this partnership encompasses several key points in the development and public presentation of the practice-based outputs of my PhD research associated with this award. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sadler's Wells Theatre (London) have provided key support for the realisation and public presentation of the practice-based outputs of my PhD research associated with this award. In 2018, they supported the presentation of the performative symposium 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress' in the Sadler's Wells Lilian Baylis Studio, and in 2019 they supported aspects of the creation of No-How Generator, with a view to presenting a performance of No-How Generator at Sadler's Wells in future. Their extensive in-kind support has included: providing several days of access to studio space to support the development of practice-based artistic outputs; and providing venue hire, technical support, marketing support, ticketing, project management and hospitality for the performative symposium in 2018. Through the prominent national role that Sadler's Wells plays in the dance field and the cultural field more broadly, their partnership support for my artistic research has been a crucial factor in making it possible for my research process and outcomes to reach wider audiences. This generous support around my PhD research is grounded in and enabled by the history of my artistic involvement with Sadler's Wells, which began in 2002. |
| Impact | Artistic Product: Performance - No-How Generator. Artistic Product: Performance - 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress'. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Partnership with Siobhan Davies Dance |
| Organisation | Siobhan Davies Dance |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | My contribution to this partnership encompasses the whole of my PhD research activity associated with this award. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Siobhan Davies Dance (SDD) is a core partner in my PhD research associated with this award. SDD is an artist-led organisation that advances the art forms of dance and choreography, based at Siobhan Davies Studios in London. Due to the practice-based nature of my research in dance and choreography, the core of my PhD research associated with this award would not have been possible without SDD's very substantial, multi-faceted and ongoing contributions. The primary elements of these contributions include: offering in-kind access to studio space for daily solo practice for one hour each morning throughout the duration of my PhD, which has provided the necessary grounding out of which all of my practice-based PhD research outcomes have germinated and developed; in addition, SDD has contributed the expert artistic mentorship of Artistic Director Siobhan Davies and Programme Director Lauren Wright at key points throughout my PhD journey; SDD has also contributed producing support, marketing support, access to technical equipment and has given studio space in-kind in order to make it possible for presentations of the practical research activity to take place. SDD also provide me with extensive ongoing advocacy, additional platforms and opportunities to disseminate my research (at each stage of its development), by offering me opportunities to present talks and workshops about my research for/ with artistic colleagues and audiences. This generous support around my PhD research is grounded in and enabled by the extensive history of my mutual partnership with SDD, which began in 2006. |
| Impact | Artistic Product: Performance - No-How Generator. Artistic Product: Performance - 'Institute of Neurochoreography - First Open Congress'. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | 'Choreography and/as the welling up of knowing' - Seminar in conversation with cognitive scientist Guy Claxton at De Montfort University (Leicester) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited by CIRID (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Dance) at DMU (De Montfort University) to present a seminar with a guest that would be relevant to my research, and was delighted that cognitive scientist Professor Guy Claxton joined me for this, with Professor Ramsay Burt as Chair. The seminar took place on 21/11/18 and was titled: 'Choreography and/as the welling up of knowing'. An audio recording of the seminar is published at the URL below. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://soundcloud.com/user-398638562/guy-claxton-and-matthias-sperling-choreography-andas-the-welli... |
| Description | 'Doing Day' public workshop at Siobhan Davies Dance (London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I co-led a one-day workshop together with collaborator Katye Coe at Siobhan Davies Dance (London), which shared my current research with members of the public interested in learning more about dance and choreography, titled 'Doing Day: Magic and Science'. The workshop tool place on 22/9/19 and was attended by 24 participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.siobhandavies.com/whats-on/workshops/doing-day-magic-and-science-matthias-sperling-and-/ |
| Description | De Montfort University (Leicester) MA Performance Practices guest workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to share my research in the form of a practical workshop with students from the MA Performance Practices at De Montfort University (Leicester) on 23/10/18. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | In conversation with artist Mark Bleakley at Talbot Rice Gallery (Edinburgh) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited by artist Mark Bleakley to be his guest in an evening of discussion and performance hosted by Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh. In this talk for a public arts audience, I shared my current research interests. The event took place on 18/9/18 and was titled 'Schema: Chapter 1 - Re:Re: J.B.'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://markbleakley.co.uk/Schema |
| Description | Independent Dance (London) Research Lab session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This workshop was a Research Lab hosted by Independent Dance at Siobhan Davies Studios (London). In leading this Research Lab session, I shared practical and conceptual aspects of my practice-based research in dance with other professional practitioners. This helped to disseminate my research within my field of practice, and also was a valuable opportunity to receive feedback through the perspectives of peers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.independentdance.co.uk/author/matthias-sperling/ |
| Description | Midlands4Cities Research Festival (Birmingham) - video presentation of practice |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | As part of the annual Midlands4Cities Research Festival (which took place in Birmingham), I presented a video installation of work-in-progress of my practice-based research in dance. The event is attended by several hundred fellow PhD candidates and members of the Midlands4Cities DTP research community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Presentation and Panel Discussion 'Dance x Science' hosted by Cambridge University Dance Society (Cambridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a presentation on my interdisciplinary research and participate in 'Dance x Science', a panel discussion with other dance and science professionals, hosted by Cambridge University Dance Society (Cambridge) at Corpus Christi College on 10/2/20. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.cambridgedance.org/ |
| Description | Presentation at "Borderlines' conference at De Montfort University (Leicester) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk titled 'No-How Generating' discussing my current research at the conference 'Borderlines', which took place at De Montfort University (Leicester) on 20/6/19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/DMUborderlines/ |
| Description | Presentation at the symposium 'Crossing Disciplinary Divides: A PhD Symposium' at De Montfort University (Leicester) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation about my practice-based PhD research as part of the symposium 'Crossing Disciplinary Divides: A PhD Symposium' at De Montfort University (Leicester) on 26/9/19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Seminar with MA Experimental Performance at Birmingham Royal Conservatoire/ BCU (Birmingham) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a seminar and practical workshop on my practice-based PhD research for participants in the MA Experimental Performance at Birmingham Royal Conservatoire/ BCU (Birmingham) on 18/10/19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Workshop with Siobhan Davies Dance (London) 'Next Choreography' participants |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A practical dance workshop and discussion with participants in Siobhan Davies Dance's 'Next Choreography' - a training programme for 16-24 year olds interested to learn about choreography. I shared aspects of my practice-based research and lead a discussion around my research questions, sparking ongoing interests among participants and further conversations with individuals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://siobhandavies.com/work/next-choreography/ |