Active listening and socially extended cognition

What a great time I am having at Improvention 2025 in Canberra! I am getting ready to present my ImproCOG content for a workshop, but was tonight offered an opportunity to come an play piano for Kit Kat Prov, a Bob Fosse-esque improvised cabaret. Of course I said "yes...and" to this offer, and was soon on stage at Smiths in Canberra playing for a full house. The audience key word suggestion was "box" and the performers and I created a wide range of songs based on many different interpretations of that word and in multiple narratives/contexts. Lots of divergent thinking happening on stage based on s single stimulus.

This is a great example of socially extended cognition - were the learning and creating happens outside the individual and exists somewhere in the ether of the learning environement, in this case the cabaret stage. I was actively listening to the performers and providing a mix of minimalist atmospheric sound, iconic patterns (eg semitone clusters for tension moments) and then improvised chord loops for the singers to improvise upon. The performers are likewise actively listening to me to be motivated by the sounds to move their bodies, have a emotional response to the sounds or burst into song. And all in real time, no edits or reviews .....and with an audience watching.

It is terrifying and thrilling in equal measure!

Thanks Rik and the Impro Melbourne team for inviting me and letting me play.