How Do You Explain to Parents What an Informance Is?
Season 1 | Episode 4
Show Notes
This year we are not able to have our big singing concert at the end of the year, so for the past several weeks I have been recording the in class performances of each class. I was hoping to move into more in an informance direction for future years, and I was hoping to get a definition of an informance that is simple and easy for parents to understand.
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the informance model of a musical sharing event. I am in love with how it highlights the learning process instead of a final product, and highlights students’ creative musical decisions as opposed to making everything teacher-directed.
That said, if you are in a situation where perhaps this philosophy of the music sharing is new to you or your students, it can be kind of strange to explain this to your administration and then in turn to the parents. We have a really good idea of what a music performance looks like. That something that we are all familiar with. This model of an informance might be a little bit less familiar.
Today we’ll talk about what an informance is and compare it to a performance. We'll talk about a process to explain the informance to administration and parents, and then I also have a resource if you want some of these scripts a little bit more fleshed-out.
What is an Informance?
Centered around education, not solely around performance
Simple or more formal
What is a typical music class
Performance vs Informance
Performance
Showcases a final product
Designed to entertain an audience
Students are discouraged from making mistakes
The production is separated from the “behind-the-scenes” work
Informance
Showcases the process
Designed to educate an audience
Students are encouraged to show how we recover from musical mistakes
The production is the “behind-the-scenes” work
Explaining an Informance to Parents and Administration
What is your music class like? Describe it. If you were to sit in on music class, what would you hear? What would you see? If you were to participate in music class, what would you be doing?
You’ve just described your informance.
Take that description and edit it down to the length you feel you need.
I want to highlight the process of learning and the movement towards growth. My musicians are expert learners at whatever field they try.
An Informance Template for Parent Invitations and Welcome Letters
Taken from the informance based on the book, What Do You Do With an Idea?
