Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Little Women Dramaturgical Research Packet, Elanah Bruce

Student Scholar Symposium

This will be an oral presentation reviewing a student's dramaturgical research for Lipscomb University Theatre's production of Little Women, including research collected, personal connection to the research, and production photos from the performances.

Swan Lake: Tchaikovsky's Lasting Influence On Ballet, Keely Hudspeth

Student Scholar Symposium

Russian ballet has had a significant influence on this dance form since at least the nineteenth century. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had an especially pivotal role, writing works that placed increasing emphasis on the artistic importance of music in addition to the choreography. A study of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake exemplifies his new emphasis on music and the evolution of ballet in the late nineteenth century. My research surveys the early history of ballet and provides a brief biography of Tchaikovsky. Most of my work, however, is an analysis of the music (score) and choreography of Swan Lake—demonstrating Tchaikovsky’s emphasis on music …

From Concept To Stage: The Creation Of Costumes For Cats, Joylin Lescalleet, Phoebe Countryman

Student Scholar Symposium

This presentation will explore the creative and technical processes behind the creation of the costumes for the musical CATS, which was performed by Lipscomb’s Department of Theater in November 2024. It will entail the journey from conceptual renderings to stage-ready costumes.

"Let Your Body Do The Talkin'": An Investigation Of Aesthetic Experience Through Phenomenological Psychology, Tone Roald, Anders Essom-Stenz

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

How does the experience of one’s own body contribute to aesthetic experience? This article answers the question from the point of view of phenomenological psychology by portraying how the body is lived from within in intense experiences with works of visual art. Based on descriptions of aesthetic experiences juxtaposed with phenomenological insights about the body and, in particular, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s thoughts on concrete and abstract movement, it is shown how the lived body gives form to the experience. The experience of one’s own body reflects the expressions of the works of art and comprises not only movement, and with it …

Emotions As Work Material: On Dancers' Refined Use Of Affectivity, Camille S. Buttingsrud

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

As part of their professional practice, dancers allow their affectivity to enhance their kinesthetic work. Their intentional and disciplined use of personal, emotional resources ensures both creativity, interpretation, absorption, and connections in ways that extend beyond the traditional phenomenological understanding of affectivity as pre-reflectively based. The affective regulations dancers employ can be seen as an “artistic epoché,” and their layered performance awareness corresponds with Edmund Husserl’s descriptions of “image-consciousness.” Through qualitative interviews with three professional dancers, phenomenological theory, and additional supportive literature, this article shows how affectivity can be experienced through high-order levels of Leib, constituting states of “bodily …

Participatory Presence In Aesthetic Experiences Of Performance, Sophie Morrissey, Shaun Gallagher

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

In the context of the performing arts, presence can generally be thought of as an experienced connection between performer and audience that heightens the affective impact of the performance. Explorations of how presence is experienced during live performance contribute to our understanding of the relation of presence to participants’ overall aesthetic experience and participation in the performance. However, they also reveal the complex phenomenology of presence and the challenge of offering a unified framework that can account for its various phenomenal manifestations. In this article, we conceive of presence as a recursive dynamical feedback loop that emerges through and modulates …

Rapture "At A Distance": Searching For Pathic-Atmospheric Aesthetics, Tonino Griffero

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

The paper proposes a rethinking of the role of aesthetics as a theory of sensory experience as it is encountered in the lifeworld (and only secondarily in relation to art). Accordingly, pathic and atmospheric (bottom-up) aesthetics, which centers on the ability to expose oneself to intense experiences without attempting to control them and conceives feelings as atmospheric powers that permeate a particular space without being reduced to projections of the perceiver’s moods, should replace the idealistic (top-down) approach.

Introduction: Duquesne Studies In Phenomenology Volume 5, Jeffrey Mccurry

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

No abstract provided.

Star Wars: Andor – An Abolitionist Study Guide, Marcelo Garzo Montalvo, Isaac Ginsberg Miller

Feminist Pedagogy

This study guide provides a set of activities for teaching abolition through Season 1 of the speculative fiction TV series Star Wars: Andor (2022). Through the practice of critical literacy (viewing, reading, and analysis), we offer various ideas on how to engage Andor as a relevant pedagogical tool for studying and teaching abolitionist movement histories and methodologies. By guiding students through a critical analysis of this widely-circulated, mainstream cultural text, we seek to activate an abolitionist pedagogical lens that can be applied across various genres and media – making tangible connections between popular culture and political struggles writ large. These …

Comparative Study Of Vocal Pedagogy Systems In South Korea And The United States: Developmental Strategies For Classical Voice Education In South Korea, Dongmin Byeon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation presents a comparative study of vocal pedagogy systems in South Korea and the United States, with the aim of identifying deficiencies in Korean higher education and proposing strategies for reform. While South Korean university voice programs are deeply rooted in the traditional master–apprentice model and rely heavily on anecdotal teaching methods, U.S. institutions have developed structured, evidence-based pedagogical frameworks informed by anatomy, physiology, acoustics, and voice science. This research explores the historical evolution of vocal pedagogy in both countries, highlighting how traditional practices in Korea, though culturally significant, have not sufficiently adapted to contemporary scientific standards.

Employing qualitative …

Liminal Arts And Business: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of A New Arts Venture In An Entrepreneurial Startup Accelerator Program, Jill Schinberg, Rebecca A. Ferrell, Dan Sandfelder

Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education

In this study, we explored the intersection of performing arts and entrepreneurship through an autoethnographic study of a new arts venture, theLAB*, which participated in the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship's accelerator program at the University of Kentucky. In creating theLAB*, we investigated the feasibility of establishing a dance-forward performing arts presenting organization within a profit-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem. As a multi-generational team of arts managers, we analyzed the experience utilizing scenario-planning and the DIEP (Describe, Interpret, Evaluate, Plan) model of reflection to assess the challenges and benefits of participating in this environment. Key findings reveal a significant disconnect between the …

Masters At Chapman: Dance And Fashion

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Final Project Documentation - Costume Design, Ski Sciaraffa

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

Costume design process and reflection for NIU's production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, directed by Alexander Gelman with student actors and designers.

Final Project Documentation - Lighting Design, Kev Kollmann

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

No abstract provided.

Rewriting Hell: Adaptation, Hope, And The 'American Dream' In Practice-As-Research, Karli Jean Lonnquist

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Contemporary theatrical adaptation involves deconstructing, reimagining, and rewriting historical plays for modern audiences. Adaptation appropriates theatrical conventions, changes the lens through which the audience may view the play, and offers new entry points into thinking and practice. Adaptation asks, “why this source as theatre now?” and proposes that history provides tools for engagement with contemporary issues. By employing a Practice as Research methodology, which positions creative processes such as script development, rehearsal, or play development as research methods, I investigated the art of historical adaptation. I adapted No Exit, a 1945 existentialist play by Jean-Paul Sartre, into a new play …

Diary Of A Young Actress: An Inquiry Into Failure, Resilience, And The Actor’S Journey, Keira Biala

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What is the journey? For some, it may be a road to a physical destination. For others like myself, it is a pathway containing failures such as rejection and successes such as booking roles. Sometimes, these failures can challenge our sense of self, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms. As a deep exploration of self-comparison, self-worth, and rejection in people’s artistic and non-artistic journeys, I created an album called Diary of a Young Actress consisting of self-written songs about these three topics when it comes to my acting journey. Moreover, I read books and articles about people’s perspectives on their journeys …

Animals In Entertainment: Ethical Considerations, Industry Regulations, Incidents, And The Future Of Animal Performers, Kendyll Conlisk

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Some of our favorite films, theatre productions, and live performances involve animals. A Dog's Purpose, Annie, Barnum and Bailey circus; the list is endless. But have you ever wondered, "How do they train them?" and "Is this benefiting or harming the animals?" Animals in entertainment have a long history dating back to ancient civilizations. Research done by World Animal Protection found that three out of four tourist animal attractions involve some form of animal abuse, and up to 550,000 animals around the world suffer due to these cruel attractions for human amusement. This does not imply that all animals used …

A Burlesque: The Shimmering Body Of Revealing, Lola Montgomery

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

A Burlesque: The Shimmer Manuscript is a hybrid critical–creative work that examines burlesque as an embodied methodology and a mode of knowledge production. Drawing from my two decades as a performer–scholar, the work reframes glamour, desire, and adornment as epistemological practices rather than theatrical ornamentation. The project is significant in that it expands understandings of performance studies, autotheory, and feminist aesthetics by foregrounding the performer’s body as an intelligent, sensing, world-making apparatus.

The methodology is creative practice research and archive-driven, integrating backstage documentation, AI-assisted photomontage, and theoretical reflection. The work draws from poststructuralist and feminist frameworks (Irigaray, Deleuze & Guattari, …

Between The Calm Lake Waters, Adrian Martinez

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Lend Me A Soprano, Lynn University

Drama Programs

Sponsored by: Al Zucaro

It's 1934, and the clever and combustible Lucille Wiley, manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is ready to welcome world-class soprano Elena Firenzi for her one-night-only starring role in Carmen. Alas, Elena arrives late, her impassioned husband Pasquale has a fit of jealousy, and it remains to be seen whether Mrs. Wiley's mousy but determined assistant Jo can save the day. Based on Ken Ludwig's Tony Award-winning Lend Me A Tenor, this madcap screwball comedy features ladies in the leading roles and is guaranteed to leave audiences teary-eyed with laughter.

By: Ken Ludwig …