This project investigates the methodology of TeaterPi, an Italian Stockholm-based theatre collective known for its multilingual, transcultural performances and collaborative devising practices that bridge the gap between professional and non-professional theatre-makers, and the fluid leadership used within this context. Departing from an initial exploration of film montage theories applied to performing arts, the research shifts to an in-depth examination of fluid leadership, a dynamic and adaptable approach that has organically emerged from TeaterPi's process. Fluid leadership, characterised by a conscious shifting of roles and responsibilities, a willingness to relinquish control and self determination, and a focus on facilitating collective creativity, directly reflects TeaterPi's commitment to ensemble-driven creation and the integration of diverse skill sets within a mixed ensemble. Through a detailed case study of the collective's production of Pinocchio 2.0, the written reflection analyses the practical application of fluid leadership and TeaterPi's methodology, highlighting how this approach fosters collective ownership, embraces emergent artistic choices, and cultivates a strong sense of belonging among the diverse ensemble. Situated within contemporary discourses on collaborative and transcultural theatre-making and evolving leadership models in the arts, the research argues for the significance of fluid leadership as a valuable alternative to hierarchical structures, offering potential benefits for artistic innovation, alternative work setting and process and ensemble empowerment in the performing arts field.

The research is based on personal experiences of working as a director and creator in the field of participatory performance. It raises questions about how the specific conditions of the field, where authenticity, presence, and relationality often are prominent aesthetic values, can influence the role of the director and the interaction between director and performer. Furthermore, the project examines how an artistic practice situated in this field and shaped in relation to these values is challenged and conflicted by the shifting and sometimes conflicting management cultures that exist in contemporary performing arts.

The project consists of seven documented artistic projects, a reflective lyrical essay, and a summary of methods, all of which examine weakness as a cultural taboo and a potential path to artistic, professional, and personal liberation in different ways.

i svaghet - att regissera deltagandebaserad performance / in weakness – directing participatory performance

How is the relationship between me and the actor affected by the specific conditions that the field of participatory performance sets for our joint work?What challenges and opportunities arise when I, as a director, try to apply an artistic practice based on weakness within the framework of this work?These questions form the starting point for a reflective essay on directing, acting, intimacy, and integrity. The essay describes how the participatory field constantly brings the creator into contact with vulnerability, both their own and that of others. It describes how the work culture within the same field can simultaneously make it difficult for both the director and the performer to exercise their profession based on acknowledged and shared vulnerability. The essay provides personal examples of how formative experiences and asymmetrical power relations can lead to a working culture characterized by short-term attempts to live up to stereotypical expectations, even when they conflict with one's own values or have a directly inhibiting effect on artistic work.

på en ostörd plats / in a secluded place

The doctoral students compilation of the methods she has applied to navigate thecontradictions of the director's role.

HEAVEN & HELL was a participatory performance piece written especially for Gathenhielmska Huset in Gothenburg, a building that has remained largely untouched since the 18th century and which, in 2019, housed three active fraternal orders. HEAVEN & HELL aimed to explore ritual as an individual and collective practice, and in what ways a reflection in mythological narratives can help or hinder the individual in their identity work. By approprating the fraternal order as organizational and aesthetic form, we wanted to investigate the conflict between common narratives and the personal perspectives and experiences that such generalized stories exclude. In our project, we drew on the work of French sociologist and cultural anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu and his socioanalysis of the androcentric unconscious 1, as well as French philosopher Luce Irigaray's view of language as essential to the formation of personal identity2. We combined these theories with structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss's ideas about mythology as a concrete expression of experiences that can't be put into words any other way.3 In HEAVEN & HELL, we combined these theories with theory drawn from affect-focused psychodynamic therapy, in which the process of giving the client access to language for their experiences, by reconnecting with the body's affect system, is seen as a way of giving the body access to its own language.4 Building on the assumption that we humans need mythologies/language to understand our experiences, combined with Bourdieu's assumption that our current mythologies/languages have a particular predisposition towards the experiences of dominant groups, we wanted to offer visitors the opportunity to engage hands-on with questions about the political nature of language and the personal nature of mythology.

1 Bourdieu, Pierre (1999). Den manliga dominansen. Gothenburg: Daidalos (Orig: La domination masculine, 1998)

2 Irigaray, Luce (1985). This Sex Which Is Not One. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press

3 Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1979). Myth and Meaning. New York: Shocken Books

4 Lindert Bergsten, Katja (ed.) (2015). Affektfokuserad psykodynamisk terapi: teori, empiri och praktik. 1st edition. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur

This text analyses through a thematic analysis method a field diary from an autoethnographic study in the areas of dance and theatre, focusing on the subgenres of folk dance, authentic jazz, and improvisational theatre. 

The analysis uses a thematic method that identifies themes, categories and keywords. These keywords are then discussed in light of previous research in the respective fields. The conclusion explores whether ideas, thoughts, and concepts from one field can inspire, enrich, or challenge the other. Notes from the field diary serve as the empirical material collected during the study. In the conclusion, the keywords “presence”, “spontaneity”, “interplay”, “music” and “originality” are seen as important aspects of improvisation meanwhile "performativity," "full of meaning," "honesty," and "knowledge of the room" are highlighted as aspects that can enrich the other field. 

This book brings together a range of critical perspectives on dance education in contemporary contexts, positioning it as an expanding field deeply entangled with broader transformations in the arts and education. It reflects a paradigm shift toward critical and inclusive educational practices, and highlights ongoing efforts to open, stretch, challenge, and question established – and often exclusive – structures and pedagogies within dance education. The book emerges from the critical explorations that have shaped the editors’ and authors’ trajectories through the dance and dance education fields. The contributors are affiliated with institutions in and/or have backgrounds from Sweden, Uganda, Norway, the United States, Brazil, Finland, Iran, South Africa, Jamaica, and New Zealand, and each chapter draws from their ongoing work in glocalized, contemporary dance education contexts. The book is intended for dance teachers, researchers, and students in tertiary-level dance and arts education, as well as for the broader community engaged in critical arts pedagogies. The idea for the book was sparked by the critical transformation of dance education underway at Stockholm University of the Arts (Sweden) and Makerere University (Uganda). While the editors have known each other for many years, their collaboration deepened through the international online conference Decolonizing Tertiary Dance Education: Time to Act, hosted by the two institutions on April 7–8, 2022. Although this is not a conference proceedings volume, the energy generated through that gathering helped inspire and shape the project. The book explores dance education as an artistic, practice-based, exploratory, and innovative field – one that creates the acquisition of knowledge and skills in a rapidly changing world. It responds to and reflects the ongoing paradigm shifts toward decolonization, anti-ableism, and inclusive pedagogical practices. The chapters offer insights that contribute to critical discussions and actions promoting diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion in dance research, education, and pedagogy. Comprising fourteen peer-reviewed chapters written by 23 authors in various constellations, along with an Editorial and an Editorial Closure co-authored by the three editors, the book is organized into four thematic sections—each with intentionally porous boundaries: Decolonial and Norm-Critical Perspectives on Dance Education; Tertiary Dance Education Transformations; Space-Making for Indigeneity in Dance Education; Critical and Creative Dance Pedagogical Practices. The result is a multi-contextual, multi-sited collection that embodies the value of celebrating difference. The publication amplifies voices and practices from diverse cultures, geographies, identities, and bodies, contributing to a richer and more inclusive vision of dance education and pedagogy.