Call and response: Social affordances in virtual Egyptian music and dance performance

Abstract

Disciplinary background A. Ecological psychology and distributed creativity. The theoretical framework of the research drew on Gibson’s (1979) ecological psychology and concept of affordances, considering the role of technology and music as social affordances. The distributed and inherently social nature of music and dance (Linson & Clarke, 2021; van der Schyff, Shiavio, Walton, Verlado, & Chemero, 2018) and online creative participation (Literat & Glăveanu, 2018) was considered, drawing on ecological perspectives from the fields of human-computer interaction (Norman, 2013), music (DeNora, 2009; Duby, 2019; Krueger, 2014; Magnusson, 2010; Martinez & Villanueva, 2018) and creativity studies (Glăveanu, 2012). Disciplinary background B. Participatory Action Research. The work took the form of a participatory action research (PAR) project, exploring the creation of a virtual music and dance performance in ashra baladi, an Egyptian improvisational form of dance and music by six experienced arts practitioners. Participatory action research centres local knowledge and needs, aiming to involve members of the community in the research project and create social change in the process (Brydon-Miller, 1997; Lykes, 2013; Smith, Rosenzweig, & Schmidt, 2010). During COVID-19 lockdown, arts practitioners were required to adjust rapidly to changing circumstances to maintain their livelihood, and this research investigated this process. As community-based arts practitioners, the researchers further investigated how virtual improvisation might be applied for social connection in larger culturally diverse settings. Abstract The research aimed to explore: