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This article focuses on my own practice and experience of teaching in the performing arts to examine how reflection could be used as a tool for facilitating learning in a way that does not construct practice and theory as distinct or opposing binaries. In it I argue that the superficial nature of the boundary between practice and theory often traps creative and performing arts students in a mindset that militates against critical and analytic writing as they struggle to make connections between their studio practice and wider theoretical contexts. Consequently, the article draws primarily on Maziar Raein's argument for a 'cohesive framework for knowledge' that recognizes the inter-relatedness of theory and practice in knowledge formation to argue that practice and theory operate along a continuum of knowledge. The article equally considers Paul Kleiman's argument about the centrality of the creative process in bridging the perceived gap between practice and theory within the creative and performing arts. Finally, I discuss the use of 'reflective breaks' in my teaching on the performing arts programme at Swansea Metropolitan University as a way of deconstructing the artificial boundaries between practice and theory.

This article draws on the idea of the elusive obvious as a useful way of examining how creative arts practitioners can make sense of their practice through expressive writing. Defining the elusive obvious as that ethereal aspect of creative arts practice that is often palpable to the practitioner but equally hard to pin Keywords elusive obvious writing writing out JWCP_4.2_Igweonu_225-238.indd 225 JWCP_4.2_Igweonu_225-238.indd 225 12/20/11 8:31:48 AM 12/20/11 8:31:48 AM Kene Igweonu | Brian Fagence | Melanie Petch | Gareth J. Davies 226 down within the creative process, the article argues that expressive writing enables the creative practitioner to engage with their practice in insightful ways that integrate theoretical insights and help to reveal the elusive obvious, which in turn gives life to what is being explored. It examines ways in which expressive writing could be used to facilitate practitioners' experience of their creative practice and facilitate a better appreciation of the interconnectedness of practice (doing) and theory (critical reflection and analysis) in the creative arts. The article draws on discussions on practice as research to highlight the distinction between 'writing out' and 'writing up'; where 'writing out' calls attention to the idea of 'searching' within the creative process, while 'writing up' is firmly located in the recording and documentation phase of that practice. It argues that it is within this process of 'writing out' -of searching -that the elusive obvious can be revealed. The article also illustrates how reflective practice/writing can be understood through drama. It examines how reflective practice/writing can often lead to 'eureka' moments when, by personalizing their practice within the creative working environment, practitioners suddenly discover the elusive obvious. Through the ideas explored in this article, we invite a consideration of how expressive writing can act as a vehicle through which meaning could be found. This article argues, therefore, that expressive writing is not an end in itself, but is exploratory and transient in nature, and a rich terrain for the elusive obvious to be revealed.

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