by Qianye Liu

Personal Statement

Throughout the past two decades of my life, collaboration has been a continuous and evolving theme. From a young age, I have been passionate about performing, and during my secondary school years, I often organized classmates to rehearse and perform short pieces or participate in stage productions. At university, I majored in Musical Theatre, where I primarily took on the role of a performer in various collaborative projects, working with both internal and external directors on theatrical and stage productions.

As I have a strong interest in dance, I also participated in numerous dance rehearsals during my studies, collaborating with choreographers of diverse styles. I greatly enjoy the process of working with others as a performer; however, I am also eager to explore and experiment with new collaborative roles and approaches in the future.

Line of Enquiry

As a practitioner in the performing arts, I have always been keen to explore and experiment with various methods, models of collaboration and personal positioning in collaboration. In recent years, my collaborative experiences have primarily stemmed from academic coursework and stage productions, involvement in student union activities, participation in various types of workshops both on and off campus, as well as professional rehearsals, creative projects, and performances. Throughout these collaborative processes, I have encountered a range of challenges—such as how to allocate tasks more effectively and improve efficiency when working with peers, how to communicate with supervisors and adapt to unfamiliar colleagues in professional settings, and how to establish connections and accomplish tasks with strangers in workshop environments.

Documentation

Over the past two months, I have engaged extensively in collaborative practices through programs such as the ICP course, New Work Lab, Performance Project, and R&D Week. These experiences have provided me with new practical insights and understandings of collaborative approaches. Through related reading, I have also come to learn that collaboration can be categorized into distinct types—for instance, Linda Candy(2020) identifies four forms of collaboration in <The Creative Reflective>：

 “distributed, complementary, integrative, and family.”(Linda Candy 2020:109)

However, as an individual navigating an unfamiliar cultural environment and communicating primarily in a non-native language, I have encountered significant challenges in the practice of collaboration. These experiences have been both impactful and enlightening. Among these practices, I have observed a variety of collaborative methods and techniques. Setting aside linguistic barriers, I believe my primary difficulty currently lies in adapting to the communication rhythms and decision-making processes shaped by cultural differences. Therefore, I aim to reflect on recent readings and collaborative experiences to further clarify effective collaborative methodologies, as well as to better understand my personal working style and role within collaborative contexts.

New Work Lab Wk 1 – “Tomorrow”

In the first week of the New Work Lab course, the instructor divided students from various disciplines into several small groups and provided the theme “tomorrow.” During group discussions, the British students tended to express their opinions directly, share personal experiences, offer ideas, and move the conversation forward quickly. In contrast, my habit was to listen carefully to others’ opinions before speaking cautiously. Additionally, due to language barriers, I needed to process what was said multiple times mentally to fully understand, while the other students spoke rapidly and densely, which initially weakened my sense of participation. These differences in discussion style made me realize that cross-cultural collaboration requires not only language proficiency but also sensitivity to implicit norms, as well as proactive adjustment of one’s own interaction patterns to achieve truly effective cooperation.

Our team’s organizational model reflected what Davis Robinson(2015) describes in <ensemble-devising-structures> as

“tossed in the pool together.”(Davis Robinson 2015:97) 

We had no designated leader. As it was our first time creating together under time constraints, the group was full of energy and ideas. Within just one session, we established the content we wanted to develop and assigned individual roles. In just one week, we completed the creation of a song, learned and rehearsed it, and performed it, along with preparing and presenting a PowerPoint about the concept we wanted to express. As noted in the text,

“Because there is no leader, and everyone needs to be comfortable as performers with the choices made, I also suggest people find their own way to commit to a piece, and do something else when they can’t fit into the main action. Enter later, or play a supporting part. You can also try out different power structures.”(Davis Robinson 2015:100) 

Although I did not integrate smoothly at the very beginning, I gradually assumed a supportive role and became well integrated into the group during the rehearsal and presentation phases. I experienced each member’s talent and strength, and together we completed the performance. This was my first collaborative project after arriving in the UK, and it remains a highly memorable and educational collaborative experience for me.

ICP Workshop – Micro Workshop

This session revolved around a particularly interesting theme, where each student prepared a small workshop to share with the class. Since all the students are majoring in theater-related disciplines, the content brought by everyone was closely related to drama and literature. However, due to the diversity in specializations, the workshops presented were rich and varied. For instance, students specializing in dramatic studies focused more on theoretical aspects, such as the reading analysis and interpretation of Shakespearean poetry, while those in directing and music directing offered content that leaned more toward practice and experiential learning. As for my peers in the company and myself, we conducted activities related to voice and body.

I believe the instructor’s objective for this lesson was to allow each of us to experience what it feels like to be a “leader,” to learn how to engage others as a facilitator or lead person, and to develop our organizational, expressive, and adaptability skills. The workshop I conducted was centered around a Chinese tongue twister focusing on “plosive sounds.” Since my audience was not Chinese, I needed to put extra effort into explaining the pronunciation and meaning of each character. I also incorporated gestures and familiar English letters to help everyone better understand the meaning of each word, thereby enabling them to learn something about Chinese pronunciation through my workshop. In preparing for this workshop, I did a lot of groundwork, such as writing down the pronunciation of each character on paper and looking up English translations for the content I needed to explain. When it was finally my turn to present, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. However, since everyone was learning with great enthusiasm, my emotions gradually turned somewhat excited—an aspect I believe I need to work on improving.

Of course, apart from being leaders, we were also participants in every workshop. During the process of participation, we were able to learn a lot about areas we are not familiar with. We could also observe what other leaders did well or not so well and reflect on how to incorporate those insights into our own practice, thereby refining our own content. Therefore, in teamwork, whether as a leader or a follower, we can learn and grow significantly from one another. This aligns well with what Linda Candy(2020) refers to as

“Complementary collaboration”(Linda Candy 2020:110)

 in The Creative Reflective.

She mentions in the book:

“In these scenarios, success depends on the kind of collaboration that facilitates and enhances the creative practice of everyone in the team. That practice is enhanced by having greater opportunities for active reflection on the work as it progresses towards a final outcome.” (Linda Candy 2020:111)

Thus, I believe this workshop was an excellent opportunity to enrich and improve ourselves, as well as to broaden our learning horizons.

At the same time, I think the approach applied in this sharing session resembles “Rotate leadership,” where each person takes the lead in their area of expertise to guide everyone through certain activities, and different segments can interact and collaborate with one another. For example, Frankie’s workshop was about Shakespearean poetry, so she printed some materials for everyone to read. The next workshop, led by Brandon, happened to require some texts, so he used the poetry Frankie had provided. We also created something like a “mind map,” extracting key feelings and points from everyone’s workshops, and discovered that many elements could mutually support and connect with one another. If we were to carry out a project in this format, I believe every member of our team would gain immensely, and we could achieve an outstanding outcome.

ICP Workshop – Working Methods

In this session, I was grouped with Kaz and Winnie, and the teacher assigned us the theme “Vacation.” We were asked to create a small-scale work within a short period using several working methods mentioned in Davis Robinson’s Ensemble Devising Structures. The methods included

“yes, and…,” “rotate leadership,” “Choose a director,” “Assign roles,” and “Debate the vote.”(Davis Robinson 2015:95)

Initially, through discussion, we decided to create a dance piece about vacation. As a result, we directly ruled out “Assign roles” and “Debate the vote.” The primary reason was that all three of us took on the role of choreographers in this work. Additionally, we considered voting to be quite time-consuming. Given our limited time, it was impractical for each of us to choreograph a full section and then vote on the outcome. Ultimately, we chose the “rotate leadership” approach to proceed with the choreography.

We collectively selected the song “In Summer” from Frozen, with each of us choreographing three short segments, which we then integrated and learned together. However, due to the very limited time provided by the teacher, we did not have enough time to fully learn all the segments choreographed by each member. During the inter-group presentation phase, we observed the work produced by Lucy’s group using the “yes, and…” method. Although their piece was not highly polished, it was at least complete. Therefore, for our next creation, we also decided to adopt the “yes, and…” method. As might be expected, the resulting work, while lacking strong logical coherence, was completed smoothly.

After the creative process, we engaged in a brief discussion reflecting on what we had just done. We concluded that “yes, and…” is indeed an effective method for rapid creation under tight time constraints. However, to refine the work further, it would be necessary to filter and reconsider the content generated through this method, making its logic more coherent and exploring deeper layers of meaning. That said, for certain forms of improvisational theatre, it serves as an excellent working method, as it heavily relies on spontaneous response and improvisational skills.

As for our first approach using “rotate leadership,” I believe it is also a highly effective method. It not only allows each individual to contribute their strengths but also respects everyone’s input, thereby facilitating better collaboration. I have had some experience with the remaining three methods in past collaborations, and I consider each to be a valuable collaborative tool when applied in appropriate contexts.

Reflections/Analysis

In my past collaborative experiences, I typically engaged in “Groups with a leader”–style collaborations, where I often positioned myself in a role of learning and following. However, over the past two months, my participation in various collaborative practices such as the ICP course, New Work Lab, Performance Project, and R&D Week has deepened my understanding of collaborative models and my self-awareness within them.

In the New Work Lab, my attentive listening style contrasted with the direct and rapid communication of my peers, highlighting how cultural differences can influence participation and decision-making processes. I observed that individuals in this context are highly skilled at expressing their views and opinions, and they confidently voice their ideas in a mutually respectful environment. Whether collaborating on a project or developing new individual works, everyone engages in collective discussion, offering their thoughts and constructive criticism to make the creative content more comprehensive and refined.

During the ICP workshop, I experienced both leadership and participation. When facilitating the Chinese pronunciation workshop, I needed to provide detailed explanations and guide flexibly, while participating in others’ workshops allowed me to observe diverse methods and refine my own practice. I also experimented with collaborative approaches such as “rotate leadership” and “yes, and…”, discovering that each method offers distinct advantages in different contexts. Through reflection, I have come to recognize the importance of selecting appropriate collaborative methods and structures, balancing leadership and participation, and being sensitive to cultural and communicative rhythms.

Conclusion

Over the past two months, I have experienced many forms of collaboration
— both familiar and entirely new to me. My major insights are threefold:

• through the course materials, I have gained a clearer understanding of the classifications and various methods of collaboration
• working with classmates from different cultural and national backgrounds has given me new perspectives on collaborative approaches
• the discussions, creative projects, and assignments in our workshops and lectures have enabled me to appreciate the diversity of teaching methodologies

Moving forward from here

During the ICP lecture class, the instructor showed us a table which reveals the relationship between choreographers and dancers.

I believe the relationship between choreographers and dancers shares many similarities with that between actors and directors, which is why we also created a positioning framework for the “performer”.

I aspire to engage in more collaborations with my peers and professors throughout my year of graduate studies, gradually evolving from a “tool” into a capable actor who can engage in thoughtful creation. Through continuous practice, I aim to enhance my learning and creative abilities while experiencing diverse collaborative methods and roles.

Bibliography

Candy, L., 2020. The Creative Reflective Practitioner: Research Through Making and Practice. Oxford: Routledge.  

Robinson, D., 2015. A Practical Guide to Ensemble Devising. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.  

Butterworth, J. (2009) ‘Too many cooks? A framework for dance making and devising’, in Contemporary Choreography. Routledge.