Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Poetically Embodied Out-Of-Body Experience, Natalie Sunseri

Honors Theses

The choreographic project Euphoric Dysphoria emerged as a response to the choreographer’s gender dysphoria and personal observations about the way that feminine-presenting people are perceived and approached in dance spaces, particularly in comparison to masculine-presenting people. The dance originated as a choreographic exploration of extreme femininity and masculinity, and it evolved into a manifestation of performative gender and experiential gender. The choreographer was guided by her poem “Uneven Envy” when developing movement and building relationships among the dancers. She considered the contributions of Judith Butler, a scholar who writes about gender manifesting in the body due to socialization, and Laura …

The Examination Of A Magic Show In Its Past, Current, And Future Forms Based Around A Recorded Performance Before A Live Audience, Armory Hermetz

Honors Theses

This project is an analysis and reflection on a magic show performed by myself before a live audience and recorded for documentation. It is a snapshot in time of my progress as a performer at a particular point in my career as a magician. In this paper, I detail my current philosophies on the performance of magic and the reasons why I made certain decisions regarding the structure of the show and the routines I performed. In addition to this, I also discuss adaptations that I have made to these routines since the performance. The analysis is based entirely on …

Compositional Craft And Theory Across Tonal Languages, Liam Butchart

Honors Theses

This paper accompanies Liam Butchart's senior honors voice recital and his composition for the Colby Symphony Orchestra, Genevan Overture. The essay examines how form and cadence, two integral components of compositional craft, have been utilized by composers who either were included in the voice recital or were major influences on the composition. Specifically, the paper analyzes how different composers end their musical sentences similarly and differently through the lens of structurally-relevant cadences.

Culture Of Conflict: Watching The End Of The 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg

Honors Theses

The 1960’s was a complicated time in American History. The decade started with Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” and concluded on “The End” by The Doors. The explosion of a youth counterculture is captured and preserved on film; a medium that was rapidly becoming more mobile, personal, and artistic. The expansion of the documentary field coincided with a unique cultural blossoming centered around rock music and the results of these films leave us with an audiovisual history of extraordinary moments in time. This thesis closely examines the development and issues of performance or rock documentaries to better understand the violent demise …

Founding Clown Town: Applying Classical Methods To Devise New Works, Leslie Miller

Honors Theses

As a senior in high school, I only had one thing I knew I wanted to do with my life. Theatre was my passion and had been for many years. I had elected to attend art-focused schools since middle school and truly felt at home in artistic communities. At the time, I just needed an in-state school; I assumed that I would have to go to graduate school to really pursue my specific passion of physical theatre. Yet I am now in Tuscany, Italy, experiencing the epitome of my scholastic career by creating a piece of physical theatre for myself …

The Aesthetic Of Failure: Authenticity, Effort, And Imperfection In American Contemporary Dance, Delaney Mcdonough

Honors Theses

This research examines a slice of American contemporary dance artists and their audiences. American postmodern choreographers such as David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Sara Hook, and Paul Matteson use what I am calling the aesthetic of failure as a method to punctuate their work, momentarily blur clarity, steer the viewer’s gaze, make space for live choice making, and in some cases draw laughter. Almost any emotion can be associated with failure: anger, grief, hilarity, absurdity, etc. The underpinning of failure in live performance is the medium of the craft, human bodies. Consider the phrase “humanly possible:” jump as high as humanly …

Preparation And Performance Of William Bolcom’S Cabaret Songs, Sara Linger

Honors Theses

The Cabaret Songs Complete by William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein are true gems amongst the vast genre of twentieth century American art song. These songs are particularly unique because they meld the world of classical singing with modern styles, such as jazz, pop, and blues, as only William Bolcom can do. The songs are musically and dramatically challenging, making them less common in the traditional college student repertoire. Studying and performing these pieces has been a challenging and rewarding experience for me.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a resource for the preparation of a cabaret show, specifically …

A Performance Perspective: Un'aura Amorosa From Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Laney Benson

Honors Theses

There are common themes that performers investigate in evaluating a character. They include: the history surrounding the opera, especially of the composer and librettist; devices employed in the opera; the relationship between its characters and, of course, examples of past performances. Each of these will be equally applicable to a performance of the aria "Un 'aura amorosa" from Mozart's opera Cosi fan tutte. All of these elements form a cohesive template for observation of how to give a performance of the piece.

Labeling Abigail, Annora E. Brennan

Honors Theses

Three Plays I Like and Why- first research paper that explored my own personal interests in plays and what made them entertaining to me The Demands of Playwriting- second research paper that outlined the requirements of a play and how I would incorporate these demands in my own writing process Final Performance Script- Labeling Abigail: my final script with performance stage notes included Director’s Concept- third paper that detailed my intentions for the performance and my rehearsal process Director’s Calendar- created to present my intent for each rehearsal and when my tech and dress would be for the show; this …