Co-operative Make-Believe as Practice in Children’s Interactive Dance Theatre

Abstract

Interactive dance theatre for young children will often rely upon a successful willing suspension of disbelief for both participating and non-participating audience members (commonly ‘interactors’ and ‘non-interactors’). This is through a combination of “user freedom and system design” (Ryan, 1997 pp. 677-707). In my research, led by the instructions from performers, audiences are able to enter into a co-operatively constructed make-believe world. These co-constructed physical movement and physical actions are contained by a pre-prescribed narrative arc. In other words, the closed narrative form contains an open dramatic form. This offers audiences a satisfying story whereby the narrative arc is coherent to both interactors and non-interactors, giving rise to two distinct experiences—an active, make-believe experience for interactors and a more passive, spectator experience for non-interactors.

This paper explores how this dual narrative might be achieved; what autonomy and what limitations might exist for interactors and non-interactors in contemporary children’s theatre practice. This paper also discusses some possible solutions—the role of children’s creative input and the extension of collaborative practice to include co-operation between children and professional artist-makers in research and practice.