The Importance of Novelty:
A Movement Exploration

Explore how to avoid habitual responses to innovation and unlock creative potential

The supposition that creativity involves the production of novelty is of particular importance in contemporary dance, a field invested in the re-invention of form, decolonization of the body, and formulation of novel movement sequences. It has been proposed that awareness of mental imagery skills and habits can be honed to help individuals avoid habitual responses to innovation. Our current work features longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of undergraduate dancers to examine the effects of training in mental imagery, and its impact on their creative potential.

In our workshop we will share an understanding of how our partnership was initiated and our aims for the wider dance sector. Workshop attendees will be given a chance to experientially discover what it is like to generate choreography from imagery, and reflect on which forms of imagery most impact their own creative exploits. Workshop attendees will be thinking, moving, and dancing, and then have a chance to feedback into our future research on creativity and cognition in dance.

Movement encouraged, but no dance skills required.
Please wear clothes that will allow you be move comfortably.

Workshop Leaders: Creativity, cognition and choreography researchers Lucie Clements (Trinity Laban) and Becca Weber (Coventry University)