PRACTICE RESEARCH IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY:
THREE ACTS OF TRANSLATION IN MY OWN PRACTICE RESEARCH
DR SUE MILLER
Taking Simon McKerrell’s paper ‘Towards Practice Research in Ethnomusicology’ as a starting point I present here three examples of my own practice research which use performance as ‘a central methodology, ’ as a ‘translation of artistic performance aesthetics’ and as a ‘research outcome sited in original performance.’ (McKerrell, 2019, 1)
In the three examples presented here (monographs on performance aesthetics and improvisational creativity), a British Academy funded performance and production project, and a music, dance and animation collaboration), I will demonstrate how, in my translational role, I have employed my own performance practice to produce text, performances, scores, audio and audio-visual research outputs which translate research findings and insights for outside the artistic community of practice, and, in some cases, within it.