The class also allowed us to experiment with the language of feedback . Jim Payton , SUNY Brockport professor emeritus and a former soloist with the José Limon Company , said to me once , “ Anne , the only important thing a choreographer needs is encouragement . We beat ourselves up enough in the process .” I keep this in mind when offering feedback to both students and colleagues . Borrowing from the Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective ’ s approach to giving feedback , I asked the students to give only non-constructive feedback . In other words , one could comment only on what they saw , heard , or experienced , and not on what they would like to see , hear , or experience . By giving feedback only on what was perceived , we left the decision to change the work entirely with the artist . I stressed that a viewer be careful not to impose her own aesthetic on the artist with a comment like , “ I think it would be great if all the performers wore black and white stripes …” This kind of comment , though seeming helpful , flips the decision-making role to the audience member . Feedback is most useful when it helps the artist gauge whether he ’ s on track with an idea , or shows how others perceive a work-inprogress . If the affect the work is having isn ’ t to the artist ’ s liking , then it will be up to him to figure out what ’ s necessary to create the desired affect ; autonomy is always kept with the artist . This method wasn ’ t always easy to abide , but we worked hard to employ this process to keep the creative power in the artist ’ s hand .
THE RESULTS
The students ’ finals showed imagination and skill . After a full semester of looking at work as providing potential for further development , students were able to appreciate the effort and rigor needed to bring a concept to fruition . My favorites were quite varied . One group created a one-act play in which the audience and stage remained completely in the dark . From the work they ’ d done during our unit on sense limitations , they developed a script that heightened the auditory experience of the audience . Another excellent project was a gallery of photographic images done in shadow , with viewers creating shadows of their own while interacting with the gallery . Both took assignments from earlier in the course as a basis for concepts the artists wanted to explore .
Admittedly , several favorable circumstances made it possible to conduct my experiment . First , the class size was small , just 10 students . Writing narratives was not expedient by any means , but it was manageable . Second , my boss was 100 % supportive of the idea . So long as each student received a grade , our program met its requirements . Having the support of your administrator is absolutely key . And third , the class met every other day for 80 minutes , which provided ample time for experimentation , outings , and rehearsal . All these factors contributed to the students ’ success . I later taught other electives following this method , with similar success . Each had its own personality , but the overarching concepts for promoting creativity were common to all .
The challenge I face now is keeping this learning-driven approach in other programs and institutions . Certain classes definitely lend themselves to this approach better than others . Technique classes may not be as well-suited . But in classes in which students are asked to create — choreography , improvisation , or inter-disciplinary classes — the need is critical .
I ’ m currently teaching World Dance and Culture at the University of Rochester , where I use a slightly altered version of this approach . The students agreed that all papers would be given an “ A ” ( for Acceptable ) if the student
STEAMed Magazine
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October 2016 Edition