A Sensory Journey into the Middle Ground: Interweaving Multiple Identities through Voice Merit Ariane Stephanos PhD University of York Music September 2019 2 Abstract This PhD documents and analyses my vocal practice of ‘interweaving’ (Fischer-Lichte, 2014) different languages and practices to create new pieces of music. The backbone of the submission is constituted by five newly-created performances, each telling stories of real or fantastical characters, and each developed in collaboration with artists and musicians from diverse backgrounds. This commentary explains how these performances are part of a deep investigation into vocal plurality within the dynamic potency of the ‘Middle Ground’ (Trinh T. Minh-ha, 2011), a metaphorical space without polarity and divisions, where movement is possible in multiple directions. My discussion engages with issues of personal identity as they resonate within hegemonic structures of power on national, international and ultimately global levels. Three interconnected concepts are inherent in the processes of interweaving, as developed in my practice: Wandering (Travelling), Twilight (Immersing yourself in the Middle Ground) and Sensing (Reawakening the Senses). In combination, these shape my creative methodology for practice, as well as offering a framework to illuminate how I am thinking through my work. As experiences, and as lenses through which to examine what I have created, they are threaded through with an ethos of play and reflection. Where playfulness generates a mindset of fluidity, reflection articulates and grounds the transformative process. Through these processes my artistic voice has gained a new agency, which cannot but leave the spaces in which I work unaltered. Through my work I hope to transform that of others, and ultimately reach beyond our divisions to a place of new possibilities, even transcendence. The five performances are available to view at www.meritariane.com/research. 3 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 CONTENTS OF PORTFOLIO .......................................................................................................................................... 7 DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE .............................................................................................................................................. 10 PREMISE ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10 MY BACKGROUND AND THE RESEARCH TRAJECTORY ................................................................................................................... 11 VOCABULARY ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THESIS AIMS ....................................................................................................................................... 17 THESIS STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................................................................. 18 OUTCOMES AND PROCESSES .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 2: ETHOS AND PRACTICE ....................................................................................................................... 20 THE OUTER JOURNEY .......................................................................................................................................................................... 21 THE INNER JOURNEY ........................................................................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 3: THE LANDSCAPE AND ITS ELEMENTS ........................................................................................... 26 IDENTITY ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 LANGUAGE ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 VOICE ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 4: NAVIGATING THE LANDSCAPE ........................................................................................................ 35 WANDERING (TRAVELLING) ............................................................................................................................................................. 36 TWILIGHT (IMMERSING YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE GROUND) .................................................................................................... 40 SENSING (REAWAKENING THE SENSES) .......................................................................................................................................... 44 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS .................................................................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 5: SWIMMING BETWEEN SHORES ....................................................................................................... 54 BACKDROP ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 54 My Role in the Collaboration and Creative Process ........................................................................................................ 54 Aims ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 55 Format of Submission .................................................................................................................................................................. 55 THE PROJECT ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 56 WANDERING (TRAVELLING) ............................................................................................................................................................. 58 Twilight (Immersing yourself in the Middle Ground) .................................................................................................... 62 Sensing (Reawakening the Senses) ........................................................................................................................................ 63 4 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS .................................................................................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 6: AFTER YEATS ........................................................................................................................................ 65 BACKDROP ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 65 My Role in the Collaboration and Creative Process ........................................................................................................ 66 Aims ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 66 Format of Submission .................................................................................................................................................................. 66 THE PROJECT ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 67 Wandering (Travelling) .............................................................................................................................................................. 68 Twilight (Immersing yourself in the Middle Ground) .................................................................................................... 71 Sensing (Reawakening the Senses) .......................................................................................................................................