Critique Is Creative: The Critical Response Process in Theory and Action

by Liz Lerman, John Borstel

Overview

A thorough introduction and lively exploration of a widely recognized method for giving and getting useful feedback

Devised by choreographer Liz Lerman in 1990, Critical Response Process® (CRP) is an internationally recognized method for giving and getting feedback on creative works in progress. In this first in-depth study of CRP, Lerman and her long-term collaborator John Borstel describe in detail the four-step process, its origins and principles. The book also includes essays on CRP from a wide range of contributors. With insight, ingenuity, and the occasional challenge, these practitioners shed light on the applications and variations of CRP in the contexts of art, education, and community life. Critique Is Creative examines the challenges we face in an era of reckoning and how CRP can aid in change-making of various kinds.

With contributions from:
Bimbola Akinbola, Mark Callahan, Lawrence Edelson, Isaac Gómez, Rachel Miller Jacobs, Lekelia Jenkins, Elizabeth Johnson Levine, Carlos Lopez-Real, Cristóbal Martínez, Gesel Mason, Cassie Meador, Kevin Ormsby, CJay Philip, Kathryn Prince, Sean Riley, Charles C. Smith, Shula Strassfeld, Phil Stoesz, Gerda van Zelm, Jill Waterhouse, Rebekah West

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780819577184
Publisher:	Wesleyan University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2022
Pages:	266
Sales rank:	825,915
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

LIZ LERMAN (Tempe, AZ) is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator and speaker, and the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2002 MacArthur Genius Grant. She is the author of Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer, and Institute Professor at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. JOHN BORSTEL (Silver Spring, MD) is an artist working at the crossroads of photography, performance, and text, currently working as an independent consultant following a 20-year career in programming and development for Dance Exchange.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Critical Response Process Liz Lerman xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Prologue: Opening Circles Liz Lerman 1

Introduction 3

I The Practice

1 Framing Feedback 11

From Your Beginnings Liz Lerman 12

Living Feedback: A Short Memoir of Critique Experiences John Borstel 13

The Broadest Possible Interpretation of Creativity Mark Callahan 18

Reimagining Feedback Liz Lerman 21

2 Roles and Steps 27

"Practice, Practice" Liz Lerman 28

The Critical Response Process in Brief 29

The Roles 32

Step One 37

Step Two 48

Step Three 60

Step Four 75

II Applications

Authors' Note 86

3 Learning and Teaching 87

Interrupting Authority Liz Lerman 93

Rigorous Nurture: The Critical Response Process and Adolescents Elizabeth Johnson Levine 94

Engaging the Vital Power of Your Peers: CRP in Jazz Education Carlos Lopez-Real 105

Developing the Artistic Voice Gerda van Zelm 108

If the Artist Asks, It's Our Job to Answer: CRP in the College Dance Composition Studio Gesel Mason 112

Unleashing Autonomy, Cultivating Leadership: CRP in Advanced Music Education Sean Riley 118

An Adaptation of CRP for Peer Review in Small Seminar Courses in STEM Lekelia D. Jenkins 126

Toward a CRP Pedagogy Kathryn Prince 129

You Are the Teacher Liz Lerman 138

4 Artistry and Institutions 143

Critiquing and Caring Liz Lerman 148

Mentoring and Facilitating in the Visual Arts: CRP at Women's Art Resources of Minnesota Jill Waterhouse 149

Process and Ethos: CRP for New Operas at American Lyric Theater Lawrence Edelson 155

An Accommodating Blueprint: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on CRP Rebekah West 157

Getting Where We Need to Be: CRP in Organization, Collaboration, and Production at Dance & Bmore CJay Philip 162

CRP on Yourself Liz Lerman 168

5 Communities and Change 171

CRP in a Time of Reckoning Liz Lerman 176

Out of the Shadow Side of Niceness: CRP in a Mennonite Seminary Worship Lab Rachel Miller Jacobs 177

Learning a City, Resisting Erasure: CRP in Community and Collaborative Process Bimbola Akinbola Cassie Meador 180

Advancing Equity: CRP at Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario Charles C. Smith Kevin A. Ormsby Shula Strassfeld 190

Human Works in Progress: CRP and Personal Change Phil Stoesz 197

Civic Dramaturgy: Undoing Racism through the Critical Response Process Isaac Gómez 201

The Critical Response Process: Aesthetics of Time Cristóbal Martínez 207

Closing Ritual Liz Lerman 220

About the Authors and Contributors 225

Index 231

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Liz Lerman and the CRP were critical to my introduction to Alternate ROOTS. The woman and the process have been core to my development artistically and my ability to build community. This book is an essential tool for that development to continue."—Carlton Turner, co-founder of Sipp Culture

Editorial Reviews

"Liz Lerman and the CRP were critical to my introduction to Alternate ROOTS. The woman and the process have been core to my artistic development and to my ability to build community. This book is an essential tool for that development to continue."—Carlton Turner, co-founder of Sipp Culture

"The Critical Response Process® has transformed my work in developing new opera, helping to swathe robust criticism in grace and equanimity. Critique Is Creative is both an invaluable practical guide and a fascinating chronicle of the process in action."—Cori Ellison, Faculty, The Juilliard School, American Lyric Theater

From the Publisher