Dismantling the demands of performing

Many practical pedagogies of instrumental teaching argue (1) that the demands to which the performer is bound when she is practising (the majority of which are defined in terms of the work that is to be performed) remain active when she is performing live on stage; and (2) that it is in the nature of these demands that they should divert the majority of the performer’s energy towards their fulfilment. I argue, instead, (1) that during the epistemic passage from practising to performing, from green room to stage, these demands are dismantled; and (2) that they come to afford a source of creative energy for artistic and interpretative decisions when performing live on stage.