The Details of Excellence (workshop)

April 27th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Well I intended to go the the ‘Mind at Play’ workshop but ended up at this one by mistake. I’ll write up what happened later.

The difference between an exemplary performance by a person at the top of their field, and that of a person who, for want of a better word is simply ‘accomplished’ or ‘competent’ is extremely small. For example, the world record for the 100 metre sprint is currently held by Tim Montgomery at 9.78 seconds, while schoolboy Gareth Lamb of the Stockport Harriers won the Inter Boys’ championship final in 11.4 seconds over the same distance. A difference of just 1.62 seconds. The words spoken by Ian McKellen playing King Lear are exactly the same as those spoken by an amateur actor in a village hall production of the same play, and the differences in intonation, eye gaze direction, speed of gesture, length of pause, are again apparently minor. Two cars may have the same size engine and the same basic body shape, but small differences in ignition timing and fuel mixture can dramatically alter the accelleration rate and top speed. This workshop introduce participants to a series of strategies for accessing the fine grain of performance and thereby gain control over this vital percentage. It is available for performers at all levels and aims to improve focus and presence.

Posted in Conference Abstract, Performance, Sport, Story | 1 Comment »

Sport and Spirituality

May 2nd, 2006 Fred McVittie

Abstract:

This review suggests that the concept of spirituality should be considered seriously within sport psychology research and consultancy. Four key areas are addressed: how spirituality may be reconciled into the athlete-centered model; the integration of spirituality and religious observances into mental skills training (MST); the relationship between spirituality and positive psychological states such as flow and peak experiences; and the role of spirituality in counseling. Recent work has acknowledged the importance of spirituality in consultancy work (Ravizza, 2002a) and religious beliefs and rituals for some athletes (Czech & Burke, in press). Despite extensive study in psychology, research of spirituality in sport psychology has been slow to emerge. Some of the reasons for this are discussed and suggestions made in relation to how this important concept can be integrated into research and consultancy work. Future research and theoretical work should focus on both performance enhancement and life-skills development.

WATSON, N. J. & NESTI, M. (2005) The Role of Spitituality is Sport Psychology Consulting: An Analysis adn Integrative Review of Literature. Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, 228 - 239.

Posted in Exercises, Spirituality, Sport, Training | No Comments »

Research, Art, and the Performance of Creativity

July 1st, 2006 Fred McVittie

One of the ways in which performance is routinely talked about is in terms of its distinctions and divisions. Theatrical performance, particularly, is distinguished from ‘cultural performance’, those aspects of interpersonal behaviour which can be spoken of using the theatrical metaphors of role, scene, and script. Also, the use of the term ‘performance’ within a range of other activities, including business, technology, and sport, is strongly distinguished from the theatrical use of the term, the implication being that the shared terminology is only coincidental and does not indicate a shared ontology, (but see Mackenzie 2001). And of course, a conventional distinction that is made when discussing art and theatre, is their oppositional relationship to the sciences.

Philosopher of science Robert Crease in ‘The Play of Nature’ proposes an interesting model which subverts this division. In this model he uses the concept of ‘performance’ to talk about both art and science. Rather than make a distinction between performances which take place in theatres, auditoria etc, and those which happen elsewhere, so-called ‘cultural performance’, or distinguishing between the term performance as it is used in the different domains, he divides the various acts which have been named ‘performance’ into four types; failed, mechanical, standardised, and artistic, and applies these terms to the activities of the studio, the theatre, and the laboratory. The first three terms; failed, mechanical, and standardised, as the words imply, either repeat performances that have gone before or do not ‘perform’ at all. In all of these contexts it is the latter term he regards as the most significant. Artistic performance;

“coaxes into being something which has not previously appeared. It is beyond the standardized program; it is action at the limit of the already controlled and understood; it is risk. The artistry of experimentation involves bringing a phenomenon into material presence in a way which requires more than passive forms of preparation, yet in a way so that one nevertheless has confidence that one recognizes the phenomenon for what it is. Artistic objects ‘impose’ themselves–they announce their presence as being completely or incompletely realized–but this imposition is not independent of the judgments and actions of the artist.”

This identification of performances which are ‘at the limit of the already controlled’ corresponds with terms such as ‘innovation’ and particularly ‘research’, but it is significant that Crease identifies this moment with art. Here art is not (only) the set of cultural institutions and histories which provide certain specific contexts for specific types of looking, but is the performance of creativity.

Posted in Art, Crease, Robert, Creativity, Mackenzie, John, Performance, Science, Sport, Theatre | No Comments »

Energies of Creativity

July 10th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Highly effective work by coaches Loehr and Schwartz uses the metaphor of energy, and particularly the metaphor of an energy economy, to underpin techniques for the optimisation of performance, particularly in the areas of sport and business. In this work, four different types of energy are identified; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. (In this case the term ’spiritual’ is used loosely and may mean ‘intention’ or ‘mission’ or ‘purpose’). This model of different types of energy might also be usefully applied to the creative process, or the performance of creativity.

To engage succesfully/optimally in a creative process the following four energies need to be engaged:

• Physical - this is a combination of raw physical fitness, in which one is not physically ill, plus having possession of the actual physical skills necessary to carry out a creative act (which includes practical creative skills such as synectics, scamper, triz etc)
• Emotional - to optimally create one should have enough emotional balance to be able to function, and also be sufficiently ‘in touch’ with one’s emotions to be able to discriminate aesthetically.
• Mental - one should be in possession of sufficient knowledge about the domain of practice one is operating within, and have knowledge and information about the material and ideas one is using.
• Spiritual - one should have a reason to do it, even if this reason is a ‘bad’ one such as making money or pleasing people or showing off.

Some more about energies of Creativity

• More energy does not necessarily mean better art. Aim for enough of each type of energy rather than more than enough.
• There is a hierarchy of energy (this is important). You have to make sure the physical energy is in place first, then the emotional, then the mental, then the spiritual. If you don’t have the physical energy, nothing happens.

Loehr, J. and Schwartz, T. - The Power of Full Engagement. The Free Press, New York, 2005.

Posted in Energy, Loehr, J. and Schwartz, T., Spirituality, Sport, Training | No Comments »

Theory/Theatre Training

July 15th, 2006 Fred McVittie

One possible source of the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between theory and practice (specifically training for practice) in theatre is that training for practice utilises radically different (and possibly unfashionable) theories. Theory tends to be captivated by what Tooby and Cosmides refer to as the ’standard social science model’, in which the subject/person is a product of culture, with biology and evolutionary history playing little part in the construction of complex cultural behaviour. In this model the subject is constructed, fragmented, decentred, ‘hailed by a plethora of discourses’, mediated, screened out, and misrecognised even to itself. In stark contrast to this, the model of the subject, and their place in world, as implicit in the concepts and language of practical training, is vitalist, centered, dualist, a member of the ‘universal people’ (after D.E. Brown). It is interesting to note that no such disjunction exists in the training and education of athletes, who also require coaching to improve performance

Posted in Brown, D. E., Performance, Sport, Theatre, Theory, Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L., Training, Vitalism | No Comments »