Performing the World 1 - History

Performing the World came into being at the end of 2000 when plans were finalized for a multi-disciplinary conference, entitled Performing the World: Communication, Improvisation and Societal Practice.

Convened by Kenneth Gergen, Mary Gergen, Lois Holzman, Sheila McNamee and Fred Newman and sponsored by Performance of a Lifetime and the Taos Institute, the conference took place in October, 2001 in Montauk NY. Nearly 250 participants from 27 states and 8 countries enthusiastically and creatively produced the performance of a conference, the "topic" of which was performance.

Conversations, panels, workshops and performances explored the rich potential of performance for personal, organizational and social change:

• The liberating and developmental potential of performance -- both on stage and off.
• The study of performance as the means by which people create themselves and their culture.
• The opportunities performance presents for new understandings of human life and culture.
• Utilizing performance to help create new forms of relationship in families, organizations and communities.
• The emerging synthesis of theater and social science and its challenges to the methodological-philosophical foundations of knowledge.

Performing the World was sponsored by Performance of a Lifetime, a training and consulting firm with a unique performance approach to personal, professional and organizational development, and The Taos Institute, a non-profit community of scholars and practitioners who use social constructionist ideas to design and promote creative, appreciative and relational practices in families, communities and organizations around the world.

Conference program (PDF)

Participant bios (PDF)

Photos

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