Performing Arts & Pedagogy: An Austrian Perspective

Abstract

As far as theatre education is concerned, Austria offers a variety of forms of experience – artistically, socially and pedagogically. In what follows five authors from different backgrounds in theatre education will attempt to illustrate this landscape. This report has been quite a challenging process as the authors came together without any prior extensive discussion on the topic and also had to express themselves in a foreign language. Some of the authors are well-known in the Austrian landscape of Performative Arts and Pedagogy; others were invited to participate in this project and comment from a non-Austrian position. The observations from a non-Austrian perspective are highly appreciated and underline the necessity of further systematic development in the area Performing Arts and Pedagogy in Austria, for example by designing both short and long-term courses for theatre pedagogues who wish to develop professional expertise in specific areas. Each section of this report has been written by another person. The authors' different and partly also overlapping perspectives give the readers a first impression of the complex Austrian Performative Arts and Pedagogy landscape. All of the authors are experienced in the field of teaching drama and theatre; their perspectives are based on personal experience within ...