Terri's Tips for Running a Critique
Note: I wrote this to help my art students at Pratt. Feel free to adapt
it to your needs.
The Role of Critique Leader
As you know, each of you will be responsible for running a day's worth of
class performance critique. Since you are all my (fabulous) students, you
already know how to begin. We start by writing out our responses to the the
performance we're viewing on our index cards. Then, after the performance
we discuss what we've written with the performer.
As the Critique Leader, it will be your job to move conversation along in
a productive way. Some people find this directive daunting. To you I say:
you are sitting in a class full of passionate, insightful artists. The challenge
won't be finding insights, but rather encouraging your fellow students to
articulate those insights. As the Critique Leader, you will be encouraged
(nay, mandated) to directly address your fellow students in class. In other
words, don't be afraid to call a fellow student by name to ask an opinon on
a piece. This is how I teach, and you are permitted to use the same approach
when you run class.
A quick note regarding choosing students to speak: Many educators feel it's
important to make room in class for articulate students (who always have a
ton to say) and the quieter students (who often have compelling observations,
once given the space to speak.) I agree. Pick on those shy students! You don't
need to exhaust the class by calling on every single person, but spread your
love around. If there is someone who absolutely cannot be addressed in class,
I'll let you know well ahead of time.
A final word: Don't be afraid of getting anxious looks or blank stares from
students you call on directly; that is an initial panic reaction to being
"summoned" by an authority figure. Give someone a minute to collect
their thoughts and you'll get a response, I promise.
Now that you know to call directly on your classmates, you'll want to ask
them something more specific than "What did you think?" Have no
fear. If it is your turn to run critique, you need to be aware of three questions:
The Three Questions of Critique
- Question One: What worked for you in this performance?
- Question Two: Which areas of the performance do you have questions about,
clarity-wise?
- Question Three:If this performance were to be done again, are there any suggestions for fine-tuning or expanding it?
When I ask the "what worked" question, I try to get answers from
people who seemed physically involved as spectators during the performance.
You know these folks because they are the ones who were nodding in agreement,
laughing in recognition, etc. while the performance was going on. I pose the
"clarity" questions to those students who were staring intently
at the performer throughout the piece. People who stare are often trying to
figure something out!
When it comes time to ask the "fine tuning" questions, I usually
choose students who did projects in class similar to what just transpired.
For example, two storytellers can learn much by comparing/contrasting their
approaches; same goes for two life as art type people. I also have luck asking
"how could we fine tune this performance further" of people who
work on similar content-themes, even if their forms are different. For instance,
someone who focuses on "family" as a theme, and uses dance, may
have some useful things to say to someone who uses "family" as a
theme, but does installation work.
Finally, there are some students who just have a developed directorial eye.
They can always think of *something* to do to tweak a performance. You know
who these folks are...you've heard them in class! Don't be afraid to ask them
directly what they think.
Keeping the Conversation Analytical
It is common for students to respond to performance with statements like:
- "I thought it was really honest."
- "I liked the images"
- "It reminded me of my (home, life, best friend)"
- "The language was really good"
- "Clearly a lot of work was put into this..."
- "What about (X) seemed honest/good/lots of work etc.?"
- "Do you feel the presence of (X) served the piece as a whole?
- If yes, how?
- If no, why not?"
Keeping a Dialogue Moving
One indication that you need to be more active as Critique Leader is when
you start start getting too many "what she said" type responses
from students. While people do often agree with one another, there is not
much to be learned from a simple statement of that fact. It's important to
encourage nuance of interpretation, and even dissent at times. One good way
to do this is by including yourself in conversations with students. Never
underestimate the importance of telling other people when they are having
an impact on you. Here are some examples:
- "Kate, I hadn't made the connection that changing shirts echoed her
narrativbe about shedding skins, but yeah, I can see what you are saying
about that now."
- "Hmm. Luis dislikes the open-endedness of Carissa's storytelling,
but I don't know, I'm sort of captivated by it."
- "It seems like Irene likes the fact that Shannon's holding note cards
while she talks, but I don't know, I'm sort of thinking it might make a
stronger piece if she memorized what she was going to say. But what do other
people think?"
- Anthony thinks the lighting is too bright in the section of the piece
where Angela talks about death, but Tom thinks the lighting is a great unconventional
choice. I'm torn between both readings! If you had to stage this, what would
you do, Diane?"
When to Wrap it Up
This part can actually be tougher than it seems! I always make sure (okay
I try to always make sure) to ask the class, "Does anyone have anything
else they needto point out, before we move on?" And then I try to ask
the performer, "Is there anything more you want to ask us about how the
performance went?" When the answer to those questions is "no,"
then it's time to move on. Instruct everyone to forward the cards to the performer
and you're done!
Thoughts on this, or additions you think I should make?