Philosophy of Improvisation

Susanne Ravn is Professor at the Department of Sports Science and Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark. Her research focuses on movement practices in sport, dance and health and the interdisciplinary challenge of combining phenomenology and qualitative research methodologies. Her latest publications include ‘Investigating dance improvisation – from spontaneity to agency’, Dance Research Journal (2020) Simon Høffding is Associate Professor at the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark and affiliated researcher at the RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo. James McGuirk is Professor of Philosophy and former Director of the Centre for Practical Knowledge at Nord University, Norway. His research focuses on themes in phenomenology, practical knowledge, and the interface between philosophy and professions research. He is the author of Eros, Otherness, Tyranny: The Indictment and Defence of the Philosophical Life in Plato, Nietzsche, and Lévinas (2017).

"We do not just improvise sometimes and in some domains but all the time, in multi-modal, online, and interactive ways. Or so this wonderful book claims in ways that are fully persuasive. This book on improvisation in thought, in life, in action, and in interaction in a wide variety of everyday, artistic, and social domains is a breath of inter- and transdisciplinary fresh air in a field that continues to grow and expand. It is required reading for improvisation scholars in philosophy, in the arts, in pedagogy, in sports, and in creativity studies in general."Aili Bresnahan, University of Dayton, USA"Improvisation is the defining feature of human social life and is the essence of creativity. This fascinating book contains chapters on music, dance, planning, the classroom, and social life. The unifying insight is that improvisation is always present in our everyday lives. This book will be essential reading for anyone concerned with improvisational action, collaboration, and creativity, including scholars in the arts, in sociology, and in philosophy."Keith Sawyer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA"The volume is definitively highly valuable, particularly because it makes readers think intensely and extensively about key aspects of improvisation that open up very interesting perspectives on central issues in the philosophy of action and in the philosophy of art, as well as in other areas of contemporary philosophical discussion such as ethics and pedagogy."Alessandro Bertinetto, Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics

• IntroductionImprovisation: The Competences of Not Being in ControlSusanne Ravn, Simon Høffding, and James McGuirkPart I: Reconsidering Improvisation 1. The Birth of Planning out of the Spirit of Improvisation: The Iceberg ModelBeth Preston2. Improvisation as Online Planning Raul Hakli3. Towards a Wide Approach to ImprovisationJoel Krueger and Alessandro Salice 4. Improvisation as a Social Process Nick CrosslyPart II: Specific Aspects of Improvisational Practices 5. Taking Responsibility by Letting Go: The Improvisation of Responding to the CallBruce Ellis Benson6. Dance Improvisation and the Metaphysics of ForcePhilipa Rothfield7. Joint Improvisation as Interaction RitualMikko SalmelaPart III: Improvisation in Practice8. Improvising Affectivity – Kitt Johnson’s site-specific PerformancesSusanne Ravn9. Inner & Outer Ears - Enacting Agential Systems in Music ImprovisationSimon Høffding and Torben Snekkestad 10. Improvisation in the Classroom: Towards an Aspectual Account of Improvisatory PracticeJames McGuirkAfterword‘Yes, and…’: Having It All in Improvisation StudiesJohn Sutton