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“Performers receive messages on how to act from many sources: from the location of a performance in space and time, from the movements of other participants involved in the performance (who may be persons, spirits, winds, animals, birds) and from stories that recount movements through space and time. What do performers know that enables them to respond to cues with appropriate actions?” - Helen Myers, musicologist
Commentary:
I would say that the performer needs to know very little intellectually - however, they must be prepared for the eventuality that one of these ‘messages’ may arrive without warning at any time. In that case, perhaps it might be better to use the word ‘opportunity’ in its place. It might not be going too far to say that knowing something may even be an impediment to this desired state of readiness.
[…]
I would posit that this is not only applicable to performers, but anyone engaged in anything that aspires to the non-mechanical. The ‘creative’ does not come from a human place, and is not simply a re-arrangement of data, as many seem to think it is.
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Andrew McKenzie, Halfler Trio
