Think Pieces: Improvisation and Leapfrogging

Think Pieces is a special project curated by PhD student Mark Kaethler (School of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph).

In this new Think Piece, Improvisation and Leapfrogging: The History of Improvisation in Toronto and the Episteme of the Twentieth Century, Mauricio Martinez interprets improvisation’s history from a Marxist perspective. When improvisers talk about the beginnings of free improvisation in Toronto during the mid-twentieth century, they speak of a “leap-frogging” from older forms of jazz over bebop. In a grounded theoretical tour de force, Martinez outlines this act as a radical history movement.

Dr. Mauricio Martinez has been producing documentaries and interviews for ICASP and IICSI since 2010. This Think Piece has emerged from his recent work researching the first wave of improvisation in Toronto, which is culminating into a documentary “Just Play: A History of Improvisation in Toronto” that is due to be screened in Guelph this spring.