Improvisation in the Arts

@article{Bresnahan2015ImprovisationIT,
  title={Improvisation in the Arts},
  author={Aili W. Bresnahan},
  journal={Philosophy Compass},
  year={2015},
  volume={10},
  pages={573-582}
}
This article focuses primarily on improvisation in the arts as discussed in philosophical aesthetics, supplemented with accounts of improvisational practice by arts theorists and educators. It begins with an overview of the term improvisation, first as it is used in general and then as it is used to describe particular products and practices in the individual arts. From here, questions and challenges that improvisation raises for the traditional work-of-art concept, the type-token distinction… Expand
View via Publisher
ecommons.udayton.edu
11 Citations
Background Citations
1

11 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Investigating Dance Improvisation: From Spontaneity to Agency
  • S. Ravn
  • Sociology
  • Dance Research Journal
  • 2020
This article argues that the performance of a dance entails varying degrees of openness and spontaneity and that, on these terms, any dance can be considered improvised. The first part substantiates… Expand
Free Music Improvisation in Brazil: an ethnography of Brazilian improvisers
A four-month research period into the practice of free music improvisation in Brazil during February-June 2014 allowed intriguing insights into how musicians think about, play and teach the music… Expand
Investigating the Structural Gap in Igbo Dance Theatre through the Primary, Performative and Quoting Repertoire Theories
This work represents an on-going Ph.D. investigation of Igbo dance theatre in eastern Nigeria. Existing research on Igbo dance theatre reveals that different authors wrote about the forms of Igbo… Expand
The Aesthetic Concept of Yi 意 in Chinese Calligraphic Creation
Abstract:This article proposes that the aesthetic concept of yi is essential for understanding the creative process and the nature of creativity in calligraphy and in wider Chinese aesthetic… Expand
The Aesthetics of Electronic Dance Music, Part II: Dancers, DJs, Ontology and Aesthetics
What's aesthetically interesting or significant about electronic dance music? The first answer I consider here is that dancing is significant. Using literature on groove, dance and expression, I… Expand
Tonight We Improvise!: Real-Time Tracking for Human-Robot Improvisational Dance
TLDR
An exploratory study based on dance improvisation to explore embodied interaction between human dancers and a mobile robot and develops a novel method for tracking the dancers in real time using inputs to generate choreography for the non-anthropomorphic robot. Expand
Every Breath is a Wave: In what ways can contemporary dance making express an ecofeminist perspective
.................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements… Expand
That's debatable!: Genre issues in troubadour tensos and partimens
...................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF… Expand
The Assumptions behind Musical Stage Theory: A Reply to Letts
Digitalization meets improvisation: Developing a personal way of dealing with the rising digital presence in design
...
1
2
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 25 REFERENCES
Improvisation and the creative process : Dewey, collingwood, and the aesthetics of spontaneity
Improvisational performance has been neglected by many fields that study creativity and the arts, including both philosophy and psychology. Psychologists, for example, have focused on product… Expand
Imaging Music: Abstract Expressionism and Free Improvisation
The author defines free improvisation, a form of music-making that first emerged in the 1960s with U.K. composers and groups such as Cardew, Bailey, AMM and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. The… Expand
The Rhetoric of Cinematic Improvisation
Considering the importance of improvisation for many moder filmmakers, it is surprising that the technique has received so little critical attention. In part this is due to the lack of interest among… Expand
Improvisational creativity: An analysis of jazz performance
Abstract: This article addresses the phenomenon of improvisational creativity, taking jazz performance as a prominent example within American culture. A series of interviews were conducted with… Expand
Improvisational Artistry in Live Dance Performance as Embodied and Extended Agency
This article provides an account of improvisational artistry in live dance performance that construes the contribution of the dance performer as a kind of agency. Andy Clark's theory of the embodied… Expand
The Essential Role of Improvisation in Musical Performance
Western musicians generally distinguish jazz from classical performances in part by observing that the former are improvised, while the latter are prepared and interpreted. They presuppose,… Expand
The Elements of Improvisation: Structural Tools for Spontaneous Theatre
Please, sit. Relax. Grab a beverage. I know improv usually starts with standing, and that improv is about doing things—building characters, developing narrative, you know—but this is a little… Expand
Music improvisation and Related Arts
Everyone improvises every day. In choosing our clothing, meals, or material for lesson plans, we select from among known items and then put them together in a new way, spontaneously adding and… Expand
The art of improvisation and the aesthetics of imperfection
Soulignant l'importance de l'improvisation en jazz a travers le temoignage de B. Evans, le pianiste de M. Davies en 1959 pour «Kind of blue», l'A. reprend la definition d'une esthetique de… Expand
What is a Theatrical Performance
My aim here is to present a theory of theatrical performance. On my view, a theatrical performance is a particular kind of interaction between performers and observers (actors and audience members)… Expand
...
1
2
3
...