Paul Watkins | Improvisation, Community and Social Practice

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Paul Watkins

Media and Public Relations Coordinator

University of Guelph

Paul Watkins is a PhD Student of English and Theatre at the University of Guelph. His dissertation will focus on intersections between music and text, particularly examining the engagement of communal audiences by many African Canadian poets using African American musical forms (blues, jazz, hip-hop, and improvisatory practices) that inscribe resistance against hegemony to remap the concept of community. He recently completed his MA at the University of British Columbia with a focus on First Nations oral literatures in translation. Paul is thrilled to have joined the ICASP team, acting as the Media and Public Relations Coordinator. Paul also serves as the Interim President on the board of the Guelph Jazz Festival. Currently living in Toronto, Paul is an aspiring hip-hop artist, poet, and avid record collector.

So one of the things that improvisation has come to mean in the context of highly technological performance is that improvisation is the last claim to the legitimate presence of a human in the performance of music.

– Bob Ostertag

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Media and Public Relations Coordinator

University of Guelph

Collection Highlights

So one of the things that improvisation has come to mean in the context of highly technological performance is that improvisation is the last claim to the legitimate presence of a human in the performance of music.