How can participatory aesthetics contribute towards a revolutionary pedagogy?

Abstract

This practice-led thesis examines how participatory aesthetics can operate as a form of revolutionary pedagogy within contemporary performance. Drawing on four core works—In the Interest of Health and Safety can Patrons Kindly Supervise their Children at all Times (ITIO), Dancer, The Ballad of the Apathetic Son and His Narcissistic Mother (Ballad) and Common Is As Common Does: A Memoir (Common)—it explores how co-creation between vocational and non-vocational artists can challenge hierarchies of authorship, expertise and representation, particularly in contexts of childhood, disability, family and classed experience.

Methodologically, the thesis is grounded in embedded, iterative practice: making, observing and reflecting on live processes of co-creation in rehearsal and performance. It argues that participatory performance can function simultaneously as artwork and pedagogical experiment, generating situated knowledge about power, care and social relations. The original contribution to knowledge lies in proposing a model of participatory art-making that treats performance as a valid mode of critical inquiry and collective world-building, offering practical tools and conceptual frameworks for artists, educators and cultural practitioners seeking to cultivate co-authored, critically engaged and politically responsive performance.

Date of Award	29 Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Supervisor	Laura Bissell (Supervisor) & Minty Donald (Supervisor)