The Ambient Sound Engine is a complex and highly specialized computer utility built for work with interactive performance. It has been made possible with the dedicated contributions of numerous students and professors. My personal contributions to this project have resulted in a wide array of learning experiences. I have learned to work with database software, advanced coding environments, UI implementations in Java, and advanced sound manipulation. In the end I hope that I have created a unique and valuable product that wili provide function to the industry of interactive performance. The Ambient Sound Engine is a utility that will allow quickly adaptable environments to be simulated in surround sound. It required an interface that could respond quickly to required changes, could store a large amount of configuration and sound data, and an interface that could be navigated easily for the users to utilize.

This thesis focuses on the Theatresports as a general category of improvisational theatre. Theoretically analyses their structure in terms of theatre studies and interprets the principles of this specific approach to theatre production, deals with their history and development, also is trying to establish a suitable theoretical and conceptual apparatus for them. It also reflects the decade of work of Theatresports in the Czech Republic, summarizes their characteristics and places them in context with other selected speeches theatrical improvisation on the Czech scene. Keywords: Theatresports, Keith Johnstone, improvisational theatre, improvisation, contemporary Czech theatre, Czech improvisational League

Esta dissertação é um estudo sobre o uso de jogos de improvisação na iniciação coletiva ao violoncelo. O objetivo desta pesquisa, realizada no âmbito do Programa de Pós- Graduação em Música da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, foi investigar a implementação de modelos de jogos de improvisação, já empregados em outros grupos de educandos, na iniciação coletiva ao violoncelo, com o intuito de proporcionar a aproximação dos estudantes com as poéticas da música contemporânea. O procedimento metodológico elencado para o trabalho foi a pesquisa-ação, a qual foi realizada em três instituições de ensino do estado de São Paulo: o Instituto Baccarelli, o Projeto Guri-Polo de Indaiatuba e o Instituto Fukuda. Foram utilizados como instrumentos e técnicas de coleta de dados a observação participante, o diário de campo, a aplicação de questionário junto a vinte e quatro estudantes e de entrevistas semiestruturadas junto a quatro professores que participaram das atividades, anotações feitas pelos estudantes após a realização dos encontros e a gravação em vídeo de algumas atividades propostas. A análise dos dados foi estruturada a partir das considerações dos alunos e dos professores participantes, sendo que essas foram abordadas em relação às referências bibliográficas consultadas e à observação das atividades relatadas em diário de campo, com o suporte das gravações em vídeo. Após a análise dos dados, foi possível perceber que, na implementação dos jogos elaborados, baseados a partir das proposições de Delalande (2001), Gainza (2009), Brito (2003, 2011), Freixedas (2015) e Cruz (2017), a maioria dos alunos compreendeu as propostas das atividades como jogo e criação musical. Grande parte dos estudantes relatou que se sentiu confortável ao praticar os jogos de improvisação, reconhecendo a construção de narrativas musicais nas atividades, a possibilidade de maior integração com seus colegas de classe, a compreensão de processos de criação musical e a aproximação com poéticas da música contemporânea. Os professores envolvidos destacaram o desenvolvimento da criatividade e dos processos de aprendizagem coletiva proporcionados pelas atividades, ressaltando, porém, a necessidade de contextualização das propostas dentro de um modelo de ensino tradicional. O trabalho aponta para possíveis desdobramentos para a área da educação musical, configurando-se como uma possibilidade de aplicação de jogos de improvisação na iniciação coletiva de um instrumento musical, bem como possibilitando sua implementação no ensino e aprendizagem de outros instrumentos de cordas friccionadas, além de oferecer subsídios para a configuração de propostas semelhantes direcionadas a outros níveis de aprendizagem ao violoncelo. / This dissertation is a study on the use of improvisation games in group cello lessons. The goal of this research, conducted during the Graduate Music Program at São Paulo University, was to investigate the implementation of improvisation games, already applied in other groups of students, in the collective initiation to the cello, with the purpose of promoting the approximation of students with the poetics of contemporary music. The methodological procedure listed for this work was the research-action, applied in three educational institutions of the state of São Paulo: Instituto Baccarelli, Projeto Guri and Instituto Fukuda. Participant observation, field diary, the application of a questionnaire to twenty-for students and semistructured interviews with the for teachers who participated in the activities, notes written by the students after the activities and the video recording of some the activities were used as instruments and techniques of data collection. The analysis of the data was structured based on the students\' and the participating teachers\' considerations and this were approached in relation to the consulted bibliographical references and to the observation of the activities reported in the field diary, with the support of video recordings. After analysing the data, it was possible to notice that in the implementation of the games, based on the propositions of Delalande (2001), Gainza (2009), Brito (2003, 2011), Freixedas (2015) e Cruz (2017), most of the students understood most the proposals of the activities such a game and music creation. Most of the students reported that felt comfortable playing improvisational games, recognizing the construction of musical narratives in the activities, the possibility of greater integration with their classmates, the understanding of the processes of music creation and the approach with poetics of contemporary music. The teachers involved highlighted the development of the creativity and group teaching provided by the activities, emphasizing, however, the need to contextualize the proposals within a traditional teaching model. This work indicates possible developments in the area of music education, being configured as a possibility for the application of improvisation games in the group teaching, as well as enabling its implementation in the teaching and learning of other strings instruments, besides providing support for setting up similar proposals aimed at the other levels of celli learning.

Esta dissertação é um estudo sobre o uso de jogos de improvisação na iniciação coletiva ao violoncelo. O objetivo desta pesquisa, realizada no âmbito do Programa de Pós- Graduação em Música da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, foi investigar a implementação de modelos de jogos de improvisação, já empregados em outros grupos de educandos, na iniciação coletiva ao violoncelo, com o intuito de proporcionar a aproximação dos estudantes com as poéticas da música contemporânea. O procedimento metodológico elencado para o trabalho foi a pesquisa-ação, a qual foi realizada em três instituições de ensino do estado de São Paulo: o Instituto Baccarelli, o Projeto Guri-Polo de Indaiatuba e o Instituto Fukuda. Foram utilizados como instrumentos e técnicas de coleta de dados a observação participante, o diário de campo, a aplicação de questionário junto a vinte e quatro estudantes e de entrevistas semiestruturadas junto a quatro professores que participaram das atividades, anotações feitas pelos estudantes após a realização dos encontros e a gravação em vídeo de algumas atividades propostas. A análise dos dados foi estruturada a partir das considerações dos alunos e dos professores participantes, sendo que essas foram abordadas em relação às referências bibliográficas consultadas e à observação das atividades relatadas em diário de campo, com o suporte das gravações em vídeo. Após a análise dos dados, foi possível perceber que, na implementação dos jogos elaborados, baseados a partir das proposições de Delalande (2001), Gainza (2009), Brito (2003, 2011), Freixedas (2015) e Cruz (2017), a maioria dos alunos compreendeu as propostas das atividades como jogo e criação musical. Grande parte dos estudantes relatou que se sentiu confortável ao praticar os jogos de improvisação, reconhecendo a construção de narrativas musicais nas atividades, a possibilidade de maior integração com seus colegas de classe, a compreensão de processos de criação musical e a aproximação com poéticas da música contemporânea. Os professores envolvidos destacaram o desenvolvimento da criatividade e dos processos de aprendizagem coletiva proporcionados pelas atividades, ressaltando, porém, a necessidade de contextualização das propostas dentro de um modelo de ensino tradicional. O trabalho aponta para possíveis desdobramentos para a área da educação musical, configurando-se como uma possibilidade de aplicação de jogos de improvisação na iniciação coletiva de um instrumento musical, bem como possibilitando sua implementação no ensino e aprendizagem de outros instrumentos de cordas friccionadas, além de oferecer subsídios para a configuração de propostas semelhantes direcionadas a outros níveis de aprendizagem ao violoncelo. / This dissertation is a study on the use of improvisation games in group cello lessons. The goal of this research, conducted during the Graduate Music Program at São Paulo University, was to investigate the implementation of improvisation games, already applied in other groups of students, in the collective initiation to the cello, with the purpose of promoting the approximation of students with the poetics of contemporary music. The methodological procedure listed for this work was the research-action, applied in three educational institutions of the state of São Paulo: Instituto Baccarelli, Projeto Guri and Instituto Fukuda. Participant observation, field diary, the application of a questionnaire to twenty-for students and semistructured interviews with the for teachers who participated in the activities, notes written by the students after the activities and the video recording of some the activities were used as instruments and techniques of data collection. The analysis of the data was structured based on the students\' and the participating teachers\' considerations and this were approached in relation to the consulted bibliographical references and to the observation of the activities reported in the field diary, with the support of video recordings. After analysing the data, it was possible to notice that in the implementation of the games, based on the propositions of Delalande (2001), Gainza (2009), Brito (2003, 2011), Freixedas (2015) e Cruz (2017), most of the students understood most the proposals of the activities such a game and music creation. Most of the students reported that felt comfortable playing improvisational games, recognizing the construction of musical narratives in the activities, the possibility of greater integration with their classmates, the understanding of the processes of music creation and the approach with poetics of contemporary music. The teachers involved highlighted the development of the creativity and group teaching provided by the activities, emphasizing, however, the need to contextualize the proposals within a traditional teaching model. This work indicates possible developments in the area of music education, being configured as a possibility for the application of improvisation games in the group teaching, as well as enabling its implementation in the teaching and learning of other strings instruments, besides providing support for setting up similar proposals aimed at the other levels of celli learning.

The purposes of the essay are to transcribe and analyze selected solos from the 1964 J. J. Johnson recording, Proof Positive as well as to increase the amount of analytical literature on J. J. Johnson presently obtainable for study by jazz trombonists. J. J. Johnson will further be affirmed as a jazz musician worthy of doctoral level study. Selected solos from the 1964 J. J. Johnson recording Proof Positive will be transcribed and analyzed in depth using a method of analysis incorporating improvisational devices identified by the author. A brief biography of J. J. Johnson is presented along with a review of jazz trombone history in order to provide perspective. A review of related literature will be provided as well. The study will be limited to those solos that meet a selection criterion. The specific solos that were selected met the standard of containing a substantial number of Johnson's characteristic improvisational devices. Melody, harmony, rhythm, and stylistic inflection within each solo are discussed in detail and musical examples from the improvisations are cited to provide emphasis. The 1964 J. J. Johnson recording, Proof Positive was chosen for transcription and analysis due to its historical significance as a seminal recording and for the fact that only "Stella by Starlight" has been published. The remaining trombone solos have not yet been readily made available for study.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The present study evaluates the influence on the four factors of an innovative work group climate, namely participative safety, vision, support for innovation and task orientation, of a team development intervention based on improvisational theatre exercises. In the literature study, these four factors are compared with the principles of improvisational theatre, namely trust and support, agreement, listening and awareness, and narrative skills. A quasiexperimental study was conducted. Differences in pre-test and post-test scores of an experimental group (ne=15), who took part in a half-day improvisation theatre team development intervention, are compared with the differences in pre- and post-test scores of a control group (nc=13). The sample consisted of two teams from a health care management unit, which formed part of the health care department of a large insurance company in South Africa. The results show that, for innovative work group climate as a whole, the experimental group’s scores improved significantly (p<.01) in comparison to the control group’s scores. The experimental group’s scores for the three factors, vision, participative safety and task orientation, also improved significantly in comparison to the control group’s scores (p<.05 for all three factors). However, the experimental group’s score for support for innovation did not improve significantly. It is therefore concluded that the intervention had a positive influence on climate for work group innovation, based on its impact on the three factors, vision, participative safety and task orientation. In conclusion, this study builds on previous research that endorses the application of improvisational theatre techniques in organisational development settings.

Both researchers and jazz professionals believe the expansion of jazz performance programs in universities over the last several decades warrants a need for critical research into the processes and experiences by which jazz students develop into professionals. Although the number of colleges offering degrees in jazz performance has risen dramatically during this time, instructional approaches remain relatively standardized throughout the schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of five working professional New York City jazz musicians in an attempt to better understand how they learned to improvise and develop their individual voices. These musicians included Joe Lovano, Otis Brown III, Francisco Mela, James Weidman, and Matthew Wilson. In this study I used Wenger's (2008) theory of Communities of Practice as the theoretical framework for an exploration of the meaning, practice, community, and identity of these five professional jazz musicians. Data collected for this case study entailed interviews, observations, and collection of artifacts. The interview data provided by the participants were transcribed and coded for the purpose of identifying emerging themes. The themes were then woven into a narrative based on the participants' responses to a series of open-ended questions. The themes that emerged included auto-biographical recollections of the participants' earliest musical experiences. The musicians spoke openly about their childhoods and various aspects of the context of their learning experiences on the way to becoming jazz professionals. The discussion included the musicians' views on communicating through improvisation, mentoring, and the value of relationships created through involvement in a jazz community on the development of a unique improvisational voice. Two major themes emerged in data analysis. First, Joe Lovano and Us Five experienced university jazz educations but in interviews and observation, the musicians seemed not dependent on, or even utilizing that part of their past. Instead, the musicians strongly emphasized community and community building, professional on-stage experience, and longitudinal exposure and life study that many college jazz majors may never experience. Second, the musicians eschewed certain viewpoints within the music profession, within university music programs, and within the public sector that musicians can simply blend technical prowess with diligent study of a prescribed curriculum to become a professional jazz musician. Here the interviewees uniformly suggested that a unique, individual voice was necessary for acceptance within the field. Finally, I present an example based upon the data from this study of how Wenger's (2008) community of practice could be used to develop a new understanding of the process of jazz improvisation and the development of a unique improvisational voice in an institutional setting.

Recently in robotics, substantial efforts have been invested on critical applications such as military, nursing, and search-and-rescue. These applications are critical in a sense that the robots may directly deal with human lives in life-or-death situations, and they are therefore required to make highly intelligent decisions as rapidly as possible. The intelligence we are looking for in this type of situations is proactiveness: the ability to anticipate as well as improvise. Anticipation here means that the robot can assess the current situation, predict the future consequence of the situation, and execute an action to have desired outcome based on the determined assessment and prediction. On the other hand, improvisation is performed when the consequence of the situation is not fully known. In other words, it is the ability to deal with a novel situation based on knowledge or skill being acquired before. In this presentation, we introduce a biologically inspired computational model of proactive intelligent behavior for robots. Integrating multiple levels of machine learning techniques such as temporal difference learning, instance-based learning, and partially observable Markov decision process, aggregated episodic memories are processed in order to accomplish anticipation as well as improvisation. How this model can be implemented within a software architectural framework and integrated into a physically realized robotic system is also explained. The experimental results using a real robot and high fidelity 3D simulators are then presented in order to help us understand how extended experience of a robot influences its ability to behave proactively.

This project addresses problems of political disengagement, social exclusion, multi-generational poverty, and social injustice in communities left behind by an incomplete democracy, now in acute crisis. Using jazz improvisation as a metaphor for Dewey’s ideals for a thriving and creative American democracy, this normative critical theory and pedagogy is part of a multi-pronged approach to radical democratic reform. Building on theories of humanistic prophetic pragmatism, critical pedagogy, and democratic theory, and suffused with critical race feminism, this critical approach begins with individual transformation, critical consciousness, and agency of marginalized citizens, through critical improvisational pedagogy. The approach seeks to prepare more diverse voices for active democratic deliberation and effective participation in democratic public spaces of input, negotiation, and challenge for the issues that affect marginalized people. The project creates an architecture, a basic template, and an operationalization strategy for the development of centers of critical improvisational pedagogy for the transmission of critical knowledge, mentoring, community support, and apprenticeships through culturally appropriate arts and cultural programming in accessible local community sites. Key Words: critical improvisational pedagogy, prophetic pragmatism, critical feminist theory, radical democratic reform, jazz imaginary, critical consciousness / Political Science

Ämnet för studien var improvisation och improvisationsundervisning i relation till begreppet Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) samt tänkbara kopplingar däremellan. MPA beskrivs enklast som ångestkänslor i samband med musikutövande. Syftet med studien var att utforska Music Performance Anxiety utifrån en jazzmusikers perspektiv. Är det möjligt att känna prestationsångest i en kontext där det egentligen inte går att ”spela fel”? Jämförelser med konstmusiken blir därför relevant. Ett vidare syfte var att finna verktyg för att kunna uppmärksamma och hjälpa elever med MPA inom ensembleundervisning med fokus på improvisation. Vilka metoder och material använder pedagogerna? I studien valdes en kvalitativ metod, baserat på forskningsintervjuer med tre olika musiker och pedagoger inom improvisation. Det kompletterades genom att utforska befintlig litteratur inom improvisation och MPA. Studiens resultat påvisar att samtliga informanter hade stora erfarenheter och personliga upplevelser av både improvisation och MPA samt kopplingar däremellan och att MPA är ett förekommande fenomen inte bara inom konstmusik utan även bland jazzmusiker. Resultaten påvisar även att MPA framställs som något mindre vanligt bland jazzmusiker än hos klassiska musiker. Det finns inom jazzkulturen en reservation mot att visa tecken på svagheter som nervositet och prestationsångest. Förhoppningvis kan studien bidra till att lyfta ämnet MPA inom jazz och populärmusik, då det tidigare inte varit så beforskat inom dessa genrer. En vidare aspiration är att uppmärksamma musikpedagoger på hur de kan hjälpa elever som upplever svårigheter i improvisationsundervisning. / The subject of the study was improvisation and improvisational teaching in relation to the concept of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) and possible connections between them. MPA is most easily described as feelings of anxiety in connection with playing music. The purpose of the study was to explore Music Performance Anxiety from a jazz musician's perspective. Is it possible to feel performance anxiety in a context where it is not really possible to "play wrong"? Comparisons with classical music therefore become relevant. A further purpose was to find tools to be able to draw attention to and help students with MPA in ensemble teaching with a focus on improvisation. What methods and materials do the educators use? In the study, a qualitative method was chosen, based on research interviews with three different musicians and educators in improvisation. It was supplemented by exploring existing literature in improvisation and MPA. The results of the study show that all informants had great experiences and personal experiences of both improvisation and MPA as well as connections between them and that MPA is a common phenomenon not only in art music but also among jazz musicians. The results also show that MPA is presented as somewhat less common among jazz musicians than among classical musicians. There is a reservation in jazz culture against showing signs of weaknesses such as nervousness and performance anxiety. Hopefully, the study can help to raise the topic of MPA in jazz and popular music, as it has not previously been so researched in these genres. A further aspiration is to draw the attention of music educators to how they can help students who experience difficulties in improvisational teaching.