Informance as a hybrid between information and performance, or a talk and performance

For example: Trisha Brown Informance, Jacob’s Pillow Dance 1986

This kind of explanation is predominantly used in music (I think it is more common than elsewhere):
»A performance intended to be both educational and entertaining; especially a musical concert which includes an informative talk about the piece or instruments being played.« Lexico.com

I noticed somewhere that the definition of »informal performance« for the term »informance« is also used, and it is possibly my favourite one. In the light of exploring, discovering and getting to know the nature of the world – which is how I, at least, understand theatre and theatre acting – INFOrmal perfoRMANCE best celebrates this understanding of mine and best describes my project. Its final form may be a little bit rougher or raw, without artifice, but only to avoid any falsehood.

Three documentary stories of three people, none of them being an actress or an actor, have moved me to such an extent that I set out to explore ways of telling stories. What does it take to simply describe and outline in words a certain matter, an event, a memory, a thought, if you like, and to do it so intensely that the word becomes flesh and that the listener can enter that matter, the event, the memory, the thought, if you like – so that two – otherwise mutually unrelated – imaginations create a shared imaginary space with a life of its own? And how to do this without any visual components? I am exploring and getting intrigued whether this is possible only in documentary confessions in which the narrators are also the owners of the narrated matters, or also in the acting treatment of a conventional dramatic text. Probably or certainly the predominant answer is absolutely in favour of the actor’s treatment of a conventional dramatic text, since what else is a stage play and acting in general other than a convincing presentation of other content. In fact, these are barely perceptible nuances, but they are of key importance in the present exploration. Namely, it does not rely solely on the actor’s talent, but aims to understand the nature of the narration. This is the first attempt, the first step, the first fragment. But I have a giant mosaic in mind. My expectations are too high, so immense that they take my breath away, but then I remember that this is just the first point of departure, and I say to myself, »Just carry on boldly!«

Nina Ivanišin