On habit and performance

Abstract

A recent editorial, aimed at offering a ‘snapshot’ of the performing arts at the turn of the 2020s, focused on the ‘unfolding debate of decentring the field of theatre and performance studies’ (Zaroulia and Odom Citation2021: 1). This decentring impulse can be situated in the wake of major changes in perspectives and the ways we live on this planet brought about by upheavals and developments such as the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, decolonization, the climate crisis, COVID-19 as well as a heightened awareness about diversity and inclusivity related to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and different abilities. Faced by the magnitude and wide-ranging impact of such ongoing sociocultural and ecological currents, the customary and conventional bearings of generating and studying performance have been pushed offkilter, demanding calibration even as events are still in motion. Although the authors of that editorial were aware of the ‘inherent limitations’ of any single approach to provide an overview of this decentring, thus endeavouring to include as many realities as possible, the process of going about it still ‘exposed how ingrained, and often unconscious, certain assumptions around knowledge, pedagogies and disciplinary languages are’ (2, emphasis added). For example, the well-meaning invitation itself to individuals and organizations to contribute to the snapshot uncovered hierarchies of power and responsibility, however unintentional these may have been.