Improvisation and the art of well-being: Relational and emergent practices

This article outlines key areas in which improvisation is engaged by artists to support individual and collective well-being in applied contexts. It proposes a number of structural, affective and experiential features which render improvisation a valuable resource for living and dying ‘well’ – both in the form of discrete artistic activities and as a framework for understanding the complex dynamics of professional arts and health practice. Grounded in its contingent, emergent nature and its unique ‘in the moment’ temporality, we position improvisation as a multifaceted phenomenon which supports well-being across overlapping psychological, social and sensory domains. In departure from positivist approaches, we advocate the need to consider improvisation as a dynamic relational activity whose various clinical and non-clinical health benefits emerge through contextuality, the interaction of multiple creative agencies and in embodied and affective registers of meaning-making.