Systems Theory, Enaction and Performing Arts

Systems theory has undoubtedly been one of the most revolutionary turning points of epistemology in the twentieth century. One of the insights that has promoted a paradigm shift is the awareness that, in order to analyse living systems, we cannot merely describe their single components, but have to consider how they interact with each other. In contrast, systems sciences have highlighted the connection between the different elements and therefore reintroduced the study of the relations to which a phenomenon gives rise within its environment. Undoubtedly a great contribution to the spread of systems theories within the performing arts has been those new theories that propose patterns of cognition no longer isolated in an individual's brain, but embodied and located within an environment. A strict systemic approach forces us to imagine how the mere presence of the spectator affects – or better, interferes with – the performer's cognitive organisation.