Professional development for live artists: doing it yourself

Heddon, D. (2020) Professional development for live artists: doing it yourself. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 11(2), pp. 145-161. (doi: 10.1080/19443927.2020.1740313)

Abstract

In 2002, the Live Art Development Agency, in partnership with the Live Art Advisory Network, initiated a London-based pilot project entitled DIY. Conceived at the outset as a professional development scheme run by and for artists, six artist-led projects were selected, with spaces taken up by 51 participants. By 2019, there had been 249 DIY projects led by some 250 artists, in partnership with 75 organisations, and supporting more than 2,700 participants. Given its longevity, it is surprising that DIY has not been the focus of a case study for thinking through the relationship of (live) art and professional development. This article, combining historical review of the scheme with examples of DIY projects and pedagogical analysis, aims to address that oversight. It asks what ‘Professional Development’ looks like and does in the space of live art. It argues that DIY reimagines professional development as being ‘like’ live art, and proposes DIY as a model of agential pedagogy, with artists taking the lead in identifying, defining and addressing their professional development needs.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Heddon, Professor Deirdre
• Authors: Heddon, D.
• College/School: College of Arts > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Journal Name: Theatre, Dance and Performance Training
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1944-3927
• ISSN (Online): 1944-3919
• Published Online: 06 July 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 11(2):145-161
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher