Burrows & Bogart

 ‘The best way to collaborate is to choose the right person to collaborate with, and then trust them implicitly.’ This was said to me by the composer Kevin Volans.

From a conversation with the author, 1993.’

(Burrows p5)

 

When Volans spoke to Burrows about collaboration in this manner Volans speaks about finding the “right person” to collaborate with. This is interesting because this raises the question of what makes someone the right person? How do we know if someone’s the “right person”? Within “intentions” by Anna Bogart, Bogart speaks about how if you look for the “right person” to collaborate with you will never find someone, and how it is better to work enthusiastically with equally enthusiastic people who are currently present and allow connections to form that will lead you to more people. Due to this, we know Bogart and Volans have different views on who to collaborate with although both discuss similar attitudes to Collaboration. From the readings, it would appear both practitioners feel that trust in your collaborators is essential.

Bogart, on pg 31 describes collaborators as people who “will serve as mirror, engine, necessary resistance, and inspiration”. This quote explains the multiple roles collaborators will undertake, and also begins to explore the dynamics within a collaborative relationship. Bogart later says how you need to “learn to love, admire, respect and appreciate” your collaborators. Part of this process is to trust your collaborators, even if only within a professional capacity.

 The phrase “necessary resistance” begins to discuss how whilst collaborating people may not all agree on the same things, but this is required to create and develop the work. Within his writing, Burrows discusses collaboration as ‘From the writer Joe Kelleher: ‘Collaborating is like two people banging their heads against each other, and the collaboration is the bruises that are left behind.’ Joe Kelleher, Ibid.’ (Burrows p59). This quote for me shows how Burrows shares a similar perspective to Bogart about the collaborative dynamic. The metaphor of the collaboration being “the bruises left behind” creates a mental image of a forceful, rather painful process at times. However, this is necessary as without this process a  “bruise” or performance wouldn’t be produced.