🎬Performance Studies Unit 10 – Performance Methods & Practices

Key Concepts and Terminology

• Performance studies encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including theater, dance, music, and visual arts
• Performativity refers to the idea that identity is constructed through repeated actions and behaviors
  • Gender performativity suggests that gender is not inherent but rather performed through societal norms and expectations
• Liminality describes the transitional state between two phases or identities, often associated with ritual and performance
• Embodiment involves the physical manifestation of ideas, emotions, and experiences through the body
• Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, which can be applied to analyze the meaning and significance of performance elements
• Intertextuality refers to the relationship between texts and how they influence and inform each other in performance
• Ethnography is a research method that involves immersive observation and participation in a particular cultural or social group
  • Performance ethnography specifically focuses on the study of performance practices within a cultural context

Historical Context and Evolution

• Performance studies emerged as an interdisciplinary field in the 1960s and 1970s, drawing from anthropology, sociology, and theater studies
• Early influential figures include Richard Schechner, who explored the relationship between performance and ritual, and Erving Goffman, who examined everyday life as a form of performance
• The field has expanded to encompass a wide range of performance practices, from traditional theater and dance to popular entertainment and digital media
• Postcolonial and feminist perspectives have challenged Western-centric notions of performance and highlighted the experiences of marginalized communities
• The rise of globalization and technology has led to new forms of performance and cultural exchange, such as social media and virtual reality
• Performance studies has increasingly engaged with social and political issues, using performance as a means of activism and resistance

Major Theories and Approaches

• Ritual theory examines the role of performance in creating and maintaining social order and cohesion
  • Victor Turner's concept of social drama describes the process of conflict and resolution in ritual and performance
• Performance as a means of cultural transmission and identity formation, as explored by scholars such as Diana Taylor and Joseph Roach
• The performative turn in the social sciences and humanities, which emphasizes the constructed and enacted nature of social reality
• Affect theory examines the emotional and embodied dimensions of performance and how they shape audience experience and meaning-making
• Postdramatic theater challenges traditional dramatic structures and emphasizes the experiential and sensory aspects of performance
• Intercultural performance explores the dynamics of cultural exchange and appropriation in performance practices across different contexts
• Queer theory and performance, which examines the subversive potential of performance to challenge normative gender and sexual identities

Performance Techniques and Styles

• Physical theater emphasizes the expressive capacity of the body and movement in performance
  • Examples include Viewpoints, a technique developed by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau, and Suzuki method, created by Tadashi Suzuki
• Devised theater involves collaborative creation and improvisation, often without a pre-existing script
• Site-specific performance engages with the unique qualities and histories of a particular location or space
• Verbatim theater uses interviews and testimonies as the basis for performance, often addressing social and political issues
• Immersive theater blurs the boundaries between performer and audience, creating a participatory and multi-sensory experience
• Postmodern dance challenges traditional dance forms and incorporates everyday movement and pedestrian gestures
• Performance art often involves durational, interactive, or multimedia elements, and may blur the lines between art and life

Analysis and Interpretation Methods

• Semiotics analyzes the signs and symbols in performance, including costumes, props, lighting, and staging
• Phenomenology examines the embodied and experiential aspects of performance from the perspective of both performers and audience members
• Ethnographic methods involve immersive observation and participation in performance practices within a cultural context
• Dramaturgical analysis examines the structure, themes, and historical context of a performance text or event
• Reception theory focuses on the audience's role in creating meaning and interpretation in performance
• Feminist and queer theory offer critical perspectives on the representation and construction of gender and sexuality in performance
• Postcolonial theory examines the power dynamics and cultural politics of performance in the context of colonialism and its legacies

Practical Applications and Exercises

• Viewpoints exercises develop awareness of time and space, and encourage spontaneity and collaboration among performers
• Laban Movement Analysis provides a vocabulary for describing and analyzing movement qualities and patterns
• Suzuki method training emphasizes physical discipline, breath control, and vocal power
• Improvisation games and exercises foster creativity, adaptability, and ensemble building
• Devising processes involve generating and shaping original material through collaborative exploration and experimentation
• Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, such as Forum Theatre and Image Theatre, use performance as a tool for social change and empowerment
• Ethnographic fieldwork exercises develop skills in observation, participation, and cultural analysis

Influential Practitioners and Works

• Bertolt Brecht's Epic Theatre challenged conventional dramatic forms and encouraged critical reflection in the audience (examples: "Mother Courage and Her Children", "The Caucasian Chalk Circle")
• Jerzy Grotowski's Poor Theatre emphasized the essential elements of performance and the actor's physical and spiritual transformation (example: "Akropolis")
• Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal pioneered a new form of dance theater that explored the complexities of human relationships and emotions (examples: "Café Müller", "The Rite of Spring")
• Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed used performance as a means of social and political activism (examples: "Forum Theatre", "Rainbow of Desire")
• Marina Abramović's performance art pushes the boundaries of physical and mental endurance (examples: "Rhythm 0", "The Artist is Present")
• Guillermo Gómez-Peña's border art explores issues of cultural identity, migration, and globalization (example: "The New World Border")
• Forced Entertainment's experimental theater deconstructs theatrical conventions and engages with contemporary social and political issues (examples: "Speak Bitterness", "The Coming Storm")

Contemporary Issues and Debates

• The role of performance in the age of digital media and technology, including questions of liveness, presence, and mediation
• Debates around cultural appropriation and representation in performance, particularly in the context of globalization and intercultural exchange
• The politics of spectatorship and the ethical implications of audience participation and interaction
• The relationship between performance and activism, and the potential for performance to effect social and political change
• Questions of authorship, ownership, and intellectual property in collaborative and devised performance practices
• The impact of neoliberalism and precarity on the working conditions and sustainability of performance practitioners and institutions
• The ongoing marginalization and underrepresentation of certain voices and communities in mainstream performance practices and discourses