Hospitality and the Ethics of Improvisation in the Work of Ingemar Lindh

Ingemar Lindh's work on the principles of collective improvisation has crucial implications for the history of twentieth-century laboratory theatre. His early work with Étienne Decroux and Jerzy Grotowski contributed to the development of a unique practice that resists directorial montage, fixed scores, and choreography; and the ethical dimension that accompanies Lindh's research on collective improvisation is illuminating for a more holistic understanding of the technical and aesthetic considerations in theatre. In this article, Frank Camilleri discusses some of the key aspects of this dimension, notably the dynamics of hospitality and encounter that inform Lindh's approach and the question of responsibility in the actor's work. Frank Camilleri is Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent. From 2004 to 2008 he was Academic Coordinator of Theatre Studies at the University of Malta. He is also Artistic Director of Icarus Performance Project – an ongoing research laboratory that investigates the intermediary space between training and performance processes. Camilleri's work with Lindh in the mid-1990s was instrumental for the development of this research practice

Of pounds of flesh and Trojan horses : performer training in the twenty-first century

Performer training in the West has been increasingly commodified in the course of the last two decades by having its most tangible and transmittable aspect (i.e., training techniques) severed from the wider contexts that had initially given it impetus. This situation indicates the strong possibility of a paradigm shift that is currently still underway: performer training in the twenty-first century seems to have outgrown the twentieth-century need of a formative ethical dimension as it becomes increasingly implicated in the processes and procedures of institutionalization. I consider this a ‘fundamental’ shift precisely because it concerns the very foundations of performer training, i.e., it concerns not technique per se but the manner in which technique is approached and treated. Furthermore, the widespread extent of this movement, which is fuelled by heavy institutional intervention in the educational and cultural industries, assures its paradigmatic status rather than being merely a ‘tendency’ or a ‘trend’. Though the full effects of this shift still need to filter upwards to become more clearly manifest in performance and pedagogical practices, there is ample evidence of its activity in the inter-century decades (1990s and 2000s). The current article deals with this activity.peer-reviewe

Tilting at windmills : a case study investigating embodiment, performativity, and dramaturgy

This article examines the notion of a dramaturgically informed state of embodiment from the viewpoint of aesthetics. To this effect, the technical and dramaturgical processes of Icarus Project’s La Reina performance structure are adopted as a case study. Phillip Zarrilli’s phenomenological model of the actor’s embodied modes of experience frame the discussion on the resultant performative condition. Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship between actor embodiment and structure dramaturgy are proposed as a higher-level instance of what Zarrilli calls the bodymind. In drawing on Jean-François Lyotard’s account of the sublime sentiment, the article will also highlight the application of critical theory as an informing device for practitioners and as a methodological tool to better understand aspects of performer practice. Finally, the frame applied in this article is presented both as a model for University practice-based research and as an instrument for the analysis of contemporary performance realities, particularly those which rely on extensive vocal processes.peer-reviewe

Using multilevel random coefficient models to assess students’ spelling abilities

This paper presents statistical models that analyze cross- sectional data related to student attainment in English and Maltese spelling. For each spelling test a random sample of 2040 students, whose age ranged from 6.5 to 16 years, was selected to examine the progression of spelling skills over time. The sample comprised equal numbers of male and female students attending state, church and private schools to investigate gender and school bias in students’ spelling abilities. This hierarchical nested data can be deemed as a type of two-level data, in which the students spelling scores are level-1 units and schools are the level- 2 units. This multilevel approach provides an adequate framework for modelling hierarchical data at several levels of nesting. To inspect the effect of age on student performance in English and Maltese spelling in different schools, a random coefficient model is fitted. This allows the school-specific coefficients describing individual trajectories to vary randomly when the spelling scores are regressed against the student age.peer-reviewe

An expert consensus definition of failure of a treatment to provide adequate relief (F-PAR) for chronic constipation - an international Delphi survey

BACKGROUND: As treatments for constipation become increasingly available, it is important to know when to progress along the treatment algorithm if the patient is not better. AIM: To establish the definition of failure of a treatment to provide adequate relief (F-PAR) to support this management and referral process in patients with chronic constipation. METHODS: We conducted an international Delphi Survey among gastroenterologists and general practitioners with a special interest in chronic constipation. An initial questionnaire based on recognised rating scales was developed following a focus group. Data were collected from two subsequent rounds of questionnaires completed by all authors. Likert scales were used to establish a consensus on a shorter list of more severe symptoms. RESULTS: The initial focus group yielded a first round questionnaire with 84 statements. There was good consensus on symptom severity and a clear severity response curve, allowing 67 of the symptom-severity pairings to be eliminated. Subsequently, a clear consensus was established on further reduction to eight symptom statements in the final definition, condensed by the steering committee into five diagnostic statements (after replicate statements had been removed). CONCLUSIONS: We present an international consensus on chronic constipation, of five symptoms and their severities, any of which would be sufficient to provide clinical evidence of treatment failure. We also provide data representing an expert calibration of commonly used rating scales, thus allowing results of clinical trials expressed in terms of those scales to be converted into estimates of rates of provision of adequate relief

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for moderately central and ultra-central oligometastatic disease: initial outcomes

Background: Delivery of SBRT to central thoracic tumours within 2 cm of the proximal bronchial tree (PBT), and especially ultra-central tumours which directly abut the PBT, has been controversial due to concerns about high risk of toxicity and treatment-related death when delivering high doses close to critical mediastinal structures. We present dosimetric and clinical outcomes from a group of oligometastatic patients treated with a risk-adapted SBRT approach. Methods: Between September 2015 and October 2018, 27 patients with 28 central thoracic oligometastases (6 moderately central, 22 ultra-central) were treated with 60 Gy in 8 fractions under online CBCT guidance. PTV dose was compromised where necessary to meet mandatory OAR constraints. Patients were followed up for toxicity and disease status. Results: Mandatory OAR constraints were met in all cases; this required PTV coverage compromise in 23 cases, with V100% reduced to <70% in 11 cases. No acute or late toxicities of Grade ≥ 3 were reported. One and 2 year in-field control rates were 95.2% and 85.7% respectively, progression-free survival rates were 42.8% and 23.4% respectively, and overall survival rates were 82.7% and 69.5% respectively. No significant differences were seen in control or survival rates by extent of PTV underdosage or between moderately and ultra-central cases. Conclusion: It appears that compromising PTV coverage to meet OAR constraints allows safe and effective delivery of SBRT to moderately and ultra-central tumours, with low toxicity rates and high in-field control rates. This treatment can be delivered on standard linear accelerators with widely available imaging technology

The participation of the small shareholder in the annual general meeting : a reflection of good corporate governance?

This paper analyses the level of small shareholder (SS) participation in the Annual General Meeting (AGM), assessing how this reflects upon the corporate governance of listed entities. It focuses on SS attendance, voting and proposals (excluding those of institutional and majority shareholders), improving SS participation and the significance of such AGM proceedings to listed company corporate governance. Empirical mixed methodology research is carried out in a Maltese listed company (LC) setting by means of semi-structured interviews with seventeen LC secretaries, five stockbrokers, an online questionnaire responded by fifty-four shareholders in different LCs, as well as the analysis of company notices and documentation relating to the AGM. Results indicate that SS participation is weak. Attendance is poor, and is often spurred both by legitimate factors such as information on current financial performance and by questionable ones such as refreshments served and venue. Shareholders seem uncomfortable in asking management formal questions and even in voting by show of hands, and therefore opt for informal interaction with management and for voting by poll, the latter often rendering attendance fruitless and even unnecessary by permitting proxies. As for proposals, they could induce management’s later action despite seldom, if ever, being approved, but their submission is rare and mostly frivolous, commonly hampered by a lack of financial knowledge. The study concludes that the current level of SS participation does not render the AGM a tool reflecting good corporate governance, as it does not keep in balance the interests of this shareholder with those of other stakeholders. For the sake of better direction and control, and, in particular, for more transparency and accountability, the AGM has to be less stage-managed, as well as more interactive and engaging towards such shareholder. This calls for increased management commitment, particularly towards more investor education and guidance.peer-reviewe

Editorial

An editorial preface to the 'Digital Training' special issue of the Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 10(2)

American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society consensus statement on intraluminal measurement of gastrointestinal and colonic motility in clinical practice

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73395/1/j.1365-2982.2008.01230.x.pd