Emergent Improvisation

In a prime example of cross-disciplinary research, Susan Sgorbati is exploring how her original work in emergent improvisation in dance has led her to the concept of “emergent structuring” for collaborative, applied problem solving for political, social, and environmental issues. A key feature of her work has been ongoing dialogues with scientists on how complex systems dynamics in brain research and biological systems are reflected in improvisational ensembles in dance and music. Sgorbati is a professional mediator, and believes her concept of emergent structuring has the potential to solve the impossible in intractable conflicts.

Sgorbati’s six-week residency brings together multiple perspectives to develop mechanisms and strategies for how groups with the right kind of pattern recognition and capacity for empathy can create collective meaning to enable structures that will solve complex problems.