Collaborative Embodied Performance

Kath Bicknell is a Research Fellow in the Discipline of Anthropology at Macquarie University, Australia.John Sutton is Emeritus Professor in Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Macquarie University, Australia.

• List of FiguresList of ContributorsPreface and AcknowledgementsIntroduction: The Situated Intelligence of Collaborative Skills, John Sutton and Kath Bicknell (Macquarie University, Australia)Part 1: Complex Ecologies of Embodied Collaboration1. Dropping like Flies: Skilled Coordination and Front-of-House at Shakespeare's Globe, Evelyn B. Tribble (University of Connecticut, USA) 2. On the Edge of Undoing: Ecologies of Agency in Body Weather, Sarah Pini (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)3. A Conversation on Collaborative Embodied Engagement in Making Art and Architecture: Going Beyond the Divide Between 'Lower' and 'Higher' Cognition, Janno Martens (KU Leuven, Belgium), Ronald Rietveld (Rietveld Architecture-Art-Affordances, Netherlands) and Erik Rietveld (University of Twente and University of Amsterdam, Netherlands).Commentary: Redirecting Our Telescope, Amy Cook (Stony Brook University, USA)Part 2: Learning, Collaboration, and Socially Scaffolded Cognition4. 'No Elephants Today!' Recurrent Experiences of Failure While Learning a Movement Practice, Kath Bicknell (Macquarie University, Australia) and Kristina Brümmer (Oldenburg University, Germany)5. Not Breathing Together: The Collaborative Development of Expert Apnea, Greg Downey (Macquarie University, Australia)6. Cultivating One's Skills Through the Experienced Other in Aikido, Susanne Ravn (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)7. Musical Agency and Collaboration in the Digital Age, Tom Roberts (University of Exeter, UK) and Joel Krueger (University of Exeter, UK).Commentary: Embodied Learning Within Embodied Communities, Emily S. Cross (Macquarie University, Australia and University of Glasgow, UK)Part 3: Symmetry and Synergy in Embodied Coordination8. Symmetries of Social Performance-Environment Systems, Rachel W. Kallen (Macquarie University, Australia), Margaret Catherine Macpherson (University of Western Australia), Lynden K. Miles (University of Western Australia) and Michael J. Richardson (Macquarie University, Australia)9. Sing's Trap: Staging Low-Commitment Strategizing in Muay Thai, Sara Kim Hjortborg (Macquarie University, Australia)10. Intercorporeal Synergy Practices - Perspectives from Expert Interaction, Michael Kimmel (University of Vienna, Austria) and Stefan Schneider (Osnabrück University, Germany)Commentary: Mixing Methods in the Study of Human Action, Anthony Chemero (University of Cincinnati, USA)AfterwordsCommentary: Ecologies of Acting and Enacting, Catherine J. Stevens (Western Sydney University, Australia)Commentary: Betwixt and Between, Ian Maxwell (The University of Sydney, Australia)Index

In dancing the tango, watching a live performance, or constructing a site-specific art installation, individuals synergistically and seamlessly engage in complex collaborative actions. How can mind, body and environment mesh to achieve shared goals? Bicknell and Sutton’s superb anthology is essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding thought in action in group endeavours.