Improvisation Methods and Practices in Southeast Asia

Moore, Burridge, and the contributors explore the multifaceted role of improvisation, from rehearsal to performance and teaching to learning within the Southeast Asian performing arts scene. They feature a vital overview of how contemporary Southeast Asian artists use improvisation in their practice through diverse theoretical perspectives, innovative methods, and idiosyncratic strategies. The book highlights the strength of improvisation as a connective tissue facilitating collaboration and interdisciplinarity across the performing arts. It shows how artists and practitioners navigate the dynamic landscape of Southeast Asian arts, blurring taxonomical boundaries to embrace change and innovation. From interrogative full-length chapters to insightful personal case narratives, each contribution showcases the practical application of improvisation in real-world projects. The chapters affirm improvisation as both a creative process and a performance strategy, unlocking new possibilities in performing arts and providing an inspired snapshot of contemporary Southeast Asian creative practice. With discourse extending beyond conventional disciplinary confines, this book is a valuable read for graduate and postgraduate students, educators, and researchers in diverse fields encompassing dance, music, theatre studies, performance studies, aesthetics, and interdisciplinary arts. It is also a viable resource for professionals in the performing arts industry as it provides invaluable insights into the transformative power of improvisation.

Darren Moore (DMA) is a senior lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore. He is an internationally recognised drummer whose practice aims to generate new ideas concerning improvisation, multidisciplinary collaboration, and experimental music practice. Stephanie Burridge (PhD) is a research consultant at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore and is a choreographer, performer, and dance writer. She is Series Editor for Routledge anthologies Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific and Perspectives on Dance, Young People and Change, the latter co-edited with Charlotte Svendler Nielsen.

Introduction 1. Towards a Definition of Improvisation: An Ontological Quest ... (or Fool's Errand) 2. The Production of "The Secret Dreams of Teu and Kangaroo": From Traditional Water Puppet Theatre to the Improvisation of Contemporary Performance 3. Black Zenith: Creating Systems for Electro-Acoustic Improvisation 4. Reflection and Resonance: Creating Dance Theatre Through Improvisation 5. Improvisation in Balinese Performing Arts 6. Sayaw ng Pakiramdaman: Practices of Improvisation in Dance in the Philippines 7. The Role of Improvisation in the Negotiation of a Local Music Identity 8. Telelogue: On Improvisation, Presence, and Cultural Becoming 9. Unlocking Aural Skills Through Improvisation 10. Self-Reflection and Expression Through Improvisation 11. Are We Just Making Things Up? Where's the Notation? 12. A Discussion on Improvisation in Western Classical Music Pedagogy in Singapore 13. Transforming Dance Improvisation Through the Inspirations of Bloom's Taxonomy 14. Inspirations, Improvisations in the Theatre 15. Exploring Dance Improvisation and Composition from a Rhythmic Perspective 16. Soft Fireworks: A Decolonised Embodied Technique for Devising and Improvising Cross-Cultural Performances 17. Main Zapin: Improvising Dance Movements Within Play-Performance 18. Improvising as SA(-) - Breaking Conventions, Building Connections 19. Improvising Patient Advocacy in Community-Based Healthcare with Forum Theatre and Narrative Medicine 20. Making it Up while Playing Along Together: Some Methods and Practices of Collective Improvisation in Thai Performance Cultures