Three generations of the MA Performance Practices share their experience

The master’s programme Performance Practices brings together people from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Who are they and what attracted them to the master’s? Alumni Vicky Maier and Antrianna Moutoula, and second year student Lisa Hoffman share their experiences. 

Vicky Maier did a bachelor’s in Theatre, Media Studies and Pedagogy at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, and  finished the master’s course Performance Practices in 2023. Antrianna Moutoula has a bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She finished the master’s in 2021. Lisa Hoffman is a second year student and has a background in sociology, media and contemporary dance. 

What led them to this master’s course? Vicky tells: ‘After my bachelor’s I was working for a couple of years as an event manager and city guide, telling stories. Around that time, I also started to develop an artistic practice. When the whole world was changing during the pandemic, I had the calling to do what I really wanted to do: art. I was looking for a place or a course to figure out what my practice was, how to deepen and how to broaden it.’ 

Antrianna was working with performance already during Rietveld, specifically with participatory performances. ‘I was interested in ‘everydayness’: ordinary events of everyday life.  Sometimes I invited non-trained performers, many of whom I knew personally. After the bachelor’s programme I started to work as an artist, and had some side jobs. In 2019 I joined Performance Practices. I wanted to follow a course were people from different disciplines gather and would have the medium of performance as a base. And that was really what I found.'

Lisa, in turn, had a specific research question that led her to the master’s. ‘I wanted to have time and space to dive into the question how to create a performance film. That was a topic that arose because of corona, when so many videos were made. That led to a lot of challenges and frustration for me because I was searching for something I could not find. And at the same time, I was looking for a place for my own development as an artist and to find my own voice’. 

The master’s course challenges the boundaries of your own discipline. You work together with students from other disciplines towards undoing and expanding your disciplines. For Vicky, this focus on de-disciplining was amazing.  ‘My cohort was a group of ten people from very different artistic backgrounds. That really helped to get new ideas and to become a bit lost at the beginning. The master’s is designed to start questioning a lot.’ Lisa agrees: ‘The first year was intense. You read a lot, dive into philosophy and write about your art. It took me some time to find out how to deal with that without getting frustrated’.

During their master’s, both Lisa and Vicky slightly changed their focus . Vicky: ‘My practice is storytelling, and I also did a little bit of puppetry and theatre. During the master’s programme I focussed not only on telling stories, but audience interaction, collecting stories and creating environment for the audience to feel free.’

Lisa let go of her original research question: ‘I turned my whole question to my working process, and I am trying to create a methodology of intuition now.’ She agrees that the de-disciplining is of great value. ‘You get so many different perspectives on your work that you could not get in any other way.’

For Antrianna, the de-disciplining was something new. ‘I wanted to work with the medium of performance exclusively. My classmates came from dance, theatre and opera, but we all had a base in performance. The de-disciplining environment offered a really nice perspective on what performance is, how it is done and on different kind of spectatorships.’ 

Another important focus of this master’s is that it deals with social transformation and a just society. This became important in Vicky’s work: ‘I changed my focus from collecting stories and audience interaction to finding ways to break through the toxic, patriarchal norms of comedy.’ They agree that the master’s programme can be a step towards becoming an activist or an artivist. 'We had quite a great variety in nationalities, believes and characters. That variety and everyone's personal story made me realise my own privileges and how important activism is. We all can have an impact.’ 

Vicky and Lisa find that the master’s programme equips them for professional artistic work by providing the language needed to express their artistic endeavours. Vicky: ‘In addition, this course gave me possibilities how to find my own way and to rethink my ways of working. It really gave me appreciation for feedback and collaboration. And a network, a lot of encouragement and self-development. I feel like I am a different person now, after these two years’. 

Antrianna highly values the concept of practice in her professional life. ‘Before, I went from project to project, I always thought of a new work. During the master’s I developed a practice, that I call ‘nonstop languaging’, which became the core thing of what I was doing. That really has been a shift for me. Since I emphasize on it, it feels like everything is flowing more organically. I continue the practice, I practice the practice, I read new things, I get new references and then new questions emerge. It feels more sustainable to work this way’.

When asked who would benefit from this master's programme, they all agree that being open-minded is essential. Vicky explains: 'I think you should not be afraid of change. For me it was the right moment because I was open to explore. I had the freedom to dive into all the critical questions of the world’. Lisa states that you need to have an interest to challenge questions: ‘To think about them from an academic and philosophical perspective and to rethink what you already know.’

Antrianna adds that it's important for the timing to be right in one's life. ‘I would recommend this master’s programme to someone who really has the time and space to engage in something intense and to go into this bubble for two years. You will be really busy with yourself, your practice and your art. And you should also be open to new input and ready to get feedback from tutors, guest teachers and students. And to learn how to give feedback.’

The master’s programme Performance Practices is a breeding ground for artistic research around the Body in Performance and its wider ecology. As a student, you are part of a community of bold and visionary artists, you challenge the boundaries of your own discipline and push the limits of what performance can achieve. You discover how to use the power of performance to effect meaningful social change and transform the world around you.