Tracing the Interdisciplinary Practitioner: A Case Study of Eddie Ladd

The premise of this article is that “interdisciplinarity” becomes embodied within the performance practitioner, resulting from an informal ‘training’ process that encompasses an engagement with a variety of art forms. To develop this argument I utilise philosophical frameworks based in phenomenology and theories of embodied knowledge, in order to explore how the performer has accumulated knowledge through a training and developmental process. Performance work which crosses the boundaries of supposedly separate artistic disciplines creates space and opportunity for dialogue and a fresh view upon the structures and processes used within the specific disciplines. I argue that a similar process occurs within the performer herself, and to illustrate this I will draw on examples from the work of Wales-based practitioner Eddie Ladd. I then ask questions about how to construct training experiences to foster “interdisciplinarity” as a set of skills or knowledges within the practitioner.