Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Questioning Maud Allan

For my new role as creative process facilitator, I have been guiding the group to open up the possibilities around the collaborative study "the sins of such wonderful flesh" using the Question Formulation Technique, which I was recently trained in at the Music Center's Education Division.  While the context was to use it to guide our work in arts education in schools, I was immediately struck how it could be used in creative processes as well.  Thus, we watched the original study "sins of such wonderful flesh", and followed the Question Formulation Technique Process as detailed below:

PROCESS:
A. Watch group study:   "sins of such wonderful flesh"
B. Brainstorm as many questions as can related to the video
-don’t stop to answer or discuss any questions
  1. -write down every question exactly as it was stated
    -change any statement into a question
C. identify which questions are open and which are closed
D. change one closed question to an open one and vice versa
E. each choose top 3 questions
F.  Discuss 

We found the process stimulating and so we decided to categorize all 
of our questions, see below where I have also highlighted ones that 
are "red hot" because many, if not all of us, were the most interested 
in each categ
ry.  The orange ones are still "hot" because at least two 
of us was most interested in them.  The yellow categories are "warm"
because at least one of us was most interested in them. We created 
categories as we went and so there is some duplication of questions 
that fit in more than one category.

CATEGORIES:

RECIPRICOL GAZE THEORY (GAZE/SPECTATOR, 
SUBJECT/OBJECT, COMMUNICATION/RECEPTION 
THEORY)
-how are we asking the audience to participate in desire? -can we ask
 the audience to participate in desire? 
-who is the subject and who is the object? 
-does the audience have a voice?
-what can the audience take home? (pearls?) 
-do the participants ever change roles? Does dancer become camera 
person etc.? 
-who is the performer?(How much is the audience also the performer?  
What does that mean for the audience? How to make that the 
gaze of the audience?  Is Maude Allen the performer and all of 
us are the audience? Is it all of our gaze reacting to her?  
Are we all spectators of her?)
-why is the camera moving? 
-who is the voice? 
-(Who is Cynthia representing when reading the text?)
-is the voice the viewer/camera or is the voice the person we are 
seeing?
-how does live audience fit into this? 
-how does this piece negotiate visibility and invisibility/who is seen 
and not seen?
-who will interact with the audience?
-If live, would camera be on stage or in the audience?
-where would the performer be seated?  On stage or in the audience?
-who is the performer? Sandra or the camera person? is everyone 
the performer?
-how would the piece change if another body was being filmed by the 
camera?
-what costume could further help contextualize?
-what is the relationship between the digital and the live?
-does Maude Allen have a voice? 
-are we objectifying Maude Allen (-yes we are and what else are we 
doing?)
-if we are objectifying Maude Allen, what else are we doing?

LOCATION/SITE
-how does Maude Allen’s trans`national trajectory between Canada, 
Europe and the US relate to the PNC process? 
-what context would this piece want to be performed in?  
theater/gallery/livingroom/woods/academic, conference/museum? 
-where does this happen?
-why is there sunshine?
-If live, would camera be on stage or in the audience?
-where would the performer be seated?  On stage or in the audience?
-what is the relationship between the digital and the live?
-does the performer ever move in space?

VOICE/AUTHORSHIP
-would the dancer ever speak? Would the speaker ever dance? 
-does the audience have a voice?  
-are we dancing with ghosts?  
-who is the author?  
-who is the voice?-(Who is Cynthia representing when reading the text?)
-who wrote the text? (-Authorship, gender, point of view, which text?)
-how could we make the voice sound better?
-does Maude Allen have a voice?
-are we authenticating Maude allen/providing her with cultural authority?

DRAMATURGY/PROCESS
CREATIVE METHODOLOGY
-how does Maude Allen’s trans`national trajectory between Canada, 
Europe and the US relate to the PNC process?  
-what can we do with pearls? ( props ideas for performers, for 
audience?) 
-what can the audience take home?
-what role does mediatization take/conceptually?   
-how does this triangulation between speaker/camera/
spectator-performer relate to the 3 Avanthi Meduri roles of 
dancer/musician/text in abhinaya improvisation? 
-what costume could further help contextualize?
-how could we make the voice sound better?
-is the voice recorded or live?
-is there any music?
-does the performer ever move in space? 
-how does this piece want to be expanded? 
-do the participants ever change roles? Does dancer become camera person etc.?

QUEERNESS/POLITICS
-how does Maude Allen’s trans`national trajectory between Canada, 
Europe and the US relate to the PNC process?
-how are we asking the audience to participate in desire? -can we ask 
the audience to participate in desire? 
-how does the past influence the present and vice versa 
-would the dancer ever speak? Would the speaker ever dance?
-what is the role of whiteness? 
-how does forefronting Maude Allen’s queerness add anything to our 
understanding  
-why this piece now?
-what role does mediatization take/conceptually? (queer the camera 
gaze)    
-what can the audience take home?   
-how does this piece negotiate visibility and invisibility/who is seen 
and not seen?
-what is the relationship between past and present?
-how would the piece change if another body was being filmed by the 
camera? 
-are we dancing with ghosts?
-are we authenticating Maud Allan/providing her with cultural authority?
-how is this piece queer? 
-are we objectifying Maud Allan (-yes we are and what else are we 
doing?)
-if we are objectifying Maud Allan, what else are we doing?   
-what do we make of Maud Allan’s queerness?

LEGACY, LINEAGE
-how does Maude Allen’s trans`national trajectory between Canada, 
Europe and the US relate to the PNC process?
-how does the past influence the present and vice versa?
-what can we do with pearls? 
-what is the role of whiteness? 
-are we dancing with ghosts?  
-how does this piece negotiate visibility and invisibility/who is seen 
and not seen?
-who will interact with the audience?
-where is the historical archive of Maud Allan? (-how does the 
historical archive circulate 
within the piece?)
-what is the relationship between past and present?
-is there any music? (memory)
-does Maude Allen have a voice?
-are we authenticating Maude allen/providing her with cultural 
authority?


Top guiding questions (in no particular order): 1. how are we asking the audience to participate in desire? 
 -can we ask the audience to participate in desire? 
2. how does Maude Allen’s trans`national trajectory between 
Canada, Europe and the US relate to the PNC process?
3. how does the past influence the present and vice versa?
4. what can we do with pearls?

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