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Public Projection | Intervention, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

A Post Apocalyptic Romp: Designing Costumes For Phoebe In Winter, Emmalee Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis will document the process of costume designing for Phoebe in Winter by Jen Silverman. It will examine the process from first read of the script through initial and final design meetings and to execution and production of the design. This will report on challenges specific to this production, such as nudity and violence on an academic stage, and the subsequent solutions. Phoebe in Winter was produced by West Virginia University School of Theatre and Dance in October of 2024. The design process began in February of the same year.

Are You Smarter Than A Dancer?: An Investigation Of Physical Agility And Cognitive Ability Between Dancers And Non-Dancers., Renee Clippinger, Philip Allen Phd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of learning and memory in dancers in comparison to non-dancers. I plan to search further into the way formally trained dancers perform on certain tests in comparison to people with no dance training. This will be measured through a series of five tests completed in the following order: the sit to stand test, hop and stop test, the single leg stance test, the digit symbol substitution test, and a tower of Hanoi task. These tests will be conducted on 20 dance majors, and 20 non-dance students. This data will …

Theatre For The People: Exploring The Need For A New National Theatre, Kai Yamanishi

Theatre and Dance Honors Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through the theater industry that have seen dozens of venues across the country laying off workers, shortening seasons, and even closing altogether. Costs have risen, audiences have been slow to return, and traditional sources of funding have dried up. What then, are theaters to do? By conducting an economic analysis and examining published and original interviews with theater practitioners, this essay explores this crisis as it has affected the regional nonprofit theater sector, specifically the members of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT). It concludes that LORT’s model is no longer sustainable because of its …

The Medea Effect: The Binary Terror Of Women Existing In The Liminal Space, M. Nance

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze the Medea character as a liminal figure. Taking a metaphorical approach to Victor Turner’s ideas on liminality, this study will deconstruct different binary oppositions—villain/victim, agent/object, Dionysian/Apollonian. The Medea character does not fall neatly to one side of these binary oppositions; therefore, this thesis argues that Medea instead inhabits the space between the binary oppositions in the realm of the liminal. The thesis then analyzes the same binary oppositions within a survey of theatrical and non-theatrical texts that feature characters that embody archetypes that originated within the Medea character—the she-devil, the murderous mother, …

Designing Into The Woods: An In-Depth Analysis, Jackson Berhow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis is intended to provide insight into the costume design process for West Virginia University’s production of Into the Woods. This thesis will document the entire process, starting with a close reading of the musical exploring its symbols, themes, and characters with some theory crafting thrown in for good measure. This will be followed by the early stages of the show’s production, as well as a full explanation of the development of each character’s design throughout the show’s conceptual evolution. The show’s production process will also be explored, highlighting notable instances and how this impacted the costume design.

Scenic Design For Jen Silverman’S Phoebe In Winter, Jess A. Ford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document is a narrative of the Scenic Design process for Jen Silverman’s Phoebe in Winter, designed by Jess Ford. The process includes a detailed summary and analysis of the script, the stages in the creation of the design, the final design, build, technical rehearsals, and the final product. This production was produced by West Virginia University’s School of Theatre & Dance during the Fall 2024 semester, presented in the Gladys G. Davis Theater at the Canady Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, WV.

Essence Of Esther: Finding And Understanding Power Of Voice Through Exploration Of The Archive, Ashley C T Cesiro

Dance (MFA) Theses

Language is how we communicate, but language does not always show up in the literal sense of spoken words. This thesis examines how the human body archives experiences to fuel the voice, enabling it to show up and fulfill a purpose and passion that life has led to. In this thesis, the book of Esther is used as an example of how one can draw on the roots of their past and the challenges of life to discover and understand the source of their inner voice and how to utilize it effectively. This research highlights many artists who lean into …

One Man Show/ Who Am I, Devin Baker

Dance (MFA) Theses

Historically, stereotypes of ideal masculine physiques and attributed qualities have led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices that adversely affect black queer men and how they show up in various performance and social spaces. As a result, black male bodies in these spaces have employed the alter ego as a tool to imagine themselves inside/outside these constructed masculinities. How can the alter ego aid in transcending dated notions of race and gender, beholden to black male bodies within concert dance? Through the intertwining of personal narrative and research rooted in psychology and gender studies, this work examines the alter ego as …

Theatre As Sanctuary: Queer Identity, Religious Trauma, And The Path To Healing, Casey Worley

Theses and Dissertations

Growing up as a queer individual in a deeply religious Southern Baptist community, I learned early that faith and identity could feel like irreconcilable forces. I sat in the pews, surrounded by voices that preached love but often excluded people like me. For years, I struggled with the question: Can I be both queer and faithful? This tension—between belief and belonging, between the church I was raised in and the identity I could no longer deny—became the foundation of my journey, my artistic practice, and this thesis.

Through this research, I explore the intersections of queer identity, religious trauma, and …

Post Opera, Suzy Lykins

Theses and Dissertations

Post Opera is a spell and work of embodied research which explores medicalization, desire, labor, and belief. Through methods of performance, sound, text and installation, I facilitate encounters of trans-femininity, spiritual power and connectivity. An opening wound, a set of psychic scalpels, sutures and bandages prepare this text for your consumption, take care to digest her well.

Queer-Keying: Performing Video Processes As [Trans]Gressive Resistance, Wren Tiffany

Theses and Dissertations

As part of the 2025 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), I transformed the 'Sponge' gallery on the top floor of The Anderson, VCU’s historic thesis exhibition home, into The Green Room, a neon green, immersive video and performance space featuring mirrors, disco lights, a foam tile dance floor, makeup stations, and a functioning green-screen editing suite. This hybrid drag rehearsal and ‘Chroma-key’ green video production room deepened both my understandings of Queer performance art and process-based art making during the Spring of 2025, through two public performance activation …

Show Them, Teach Them, Let Them: Empowering Undergraduate Voices Through Student-Centered Theatre, Abigail G. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the urgent need for theatrical works that resonate with undergraduate students, arguing that student-centered playwriting and production can foster deeper engagement with theatre, reflect contemporary issues, and empower the next generation of theatre-makers. Grounded in a hybrid methodology of creative practice and qualitative research, the study proposes a comprehensive, student-driven model for university theatre programs. Drawing from the author's experiences at both the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Virginia Commonwealth University, the thesis examines institutional season selection processes, inclusive pedagogical strategies in playwriting, and the development of new works through student festivals. Central to the …

The Page And The Stage: How Comics Perform, Elizabeth Buccella

Theses and Dissertations

Comics and theatre share several, often overlooked similarities, like their unique concept of the gaze, interpretation and execution of a script, and the curation of a distinct visual language. This makes comics a viable candidate for analysis using the field of performance studies and other theatrical forms of analysis. The process of comics and how they are read is discussed before a brief literature review of performance and comics studies scholarship. Two comics, one nonfiction and one fiction, are analyzed using the key concepts from the literature review.

Transformation Of Buddhist Musical Practices From The 7th-13th Centuries As A Response To Political And Social Disorder In Medieval India, Stephan I. Duran

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article gives an account of the development of Buddhist musical practices on the Indian subcontinent from their earliest, datable instances, to the disappearance of Buddhist institutions from India proper, demonstrating the persistence of descendant traditions of Sanskrit Buddhist chant and song in contemporary Japanese, Tibetan, and Newar esoteric Buddhist communities. It is argued that the Buddhist musical theory and praxis of these three cultural spheres both preserve features of ancient and medieval Indian Buddhist music and sonically illustrate the transition from political and social order to de-centralized social organization, a shift that took place between the 7^th and …

Lend Me Your Hands: Engaging Waldorf Teachers In Pedagogical Puppetry For Student Growth, Corinna Rezzelle-Pennypacker

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Although puppetry has a long history as a holistic teaching tool, it remains an underutilized arts integration technique in elementary and secondary schools. To better understand Waldorf teachers’ perspectives on pedagogical puppetry and the necessary training to effectively implement the work, this explanatory mixed-methods dissertation sought to fill the gap in research on teachers’ views of puppetry and what training they believe is important to feel comfortable doing the work. Committed to using an action research approach, a professional development workshop and lesson plans were created for 1st-8th grade Waldorf teachers based on the feedback from this dissertation’s explanatory interviews …

The Survival Of An American Theater: An Intrinsic And Historical Case Study Of The Success Of Arena Stage, Kay Oliver

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Arena Stage was founded in 1950 in Washington, DC, by Zelda Fichandler, Tom Fichandler, and Edward Mangum. Today, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000 people. It is the largest theater company dedicated to American plays and playwrights in the country. This study presents a single intrinsic historical case study of Arena Stage to examine the internal organizational structure and leadership dynamics that guided the theater through seven decades of turbulent American history. Arena Stage has provided world-class programming while the nation was grappling with the Vietnam War (1950–1975), Brown v. Board of Education (1954), political …

A New Normal: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Gender Complexities In Los Angeles Social Justice Theatre Storytelling, Sue Hamilton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study uses autoethnography to examine the role gender plays in Los Angeles social justice theatre storytelling. Chronicling my autoethnography as a queer, nonbinary artist and social justice theatre practitioner, I will examine gender through the context of my social justice theatre company, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles (ARULA), by analyzing selections of its original, politically focused, professional stage plays performed from 2017 to 2019, utilizing ARULA’s emerging themes of gender expression and inclusion. ARULA was born out of a determination to create original social justice theatre storytelling to understand and transform reality by bringing theatrical expression to the environment …

Voices Of Identity: Exploring Devised Theatre As Social Resistance And Catalyst For Change, Elizabeth Danielle Belvin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Devised theatre offers a unique artistic and pedagogical approach that challenges conventional hierarchies of storytelling by centering collaboration, personal narratives, and collective authorship. This dissertation explores the role of devised theatre in identity formation and social resistance, particularly for students from historically and currently marginalized backgrounds. Through a qualitative inquiry rooted in interviews and a podcast-based research methodology, this study investigates how devised theatre creates spaces for self-exploration, fosters community-building, and serves as a means of resisting dominant cultural narratives. This study finds that devised theatre functions as both an artistic and political practice, allowing participants to reclaim agency over …

You’Ll Be Back: Sensory Cognition’S Influence On Audience Retention, Tia Dimicelli

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study explores the impact of sensory elements – specifically ambient scent and music – in theatrical lobbies on audience satisfaction and likelihood of returning. Two general surveys were distributed to gauge what audiences expect from lobby spaces, and what they describe as memorable experiences. Then, two experiments were conducted using a test/control group design during live performances in New Hampshire. Participants completed surveys assessing their perception of the lobby environment, satisfaction with the performance, and likelihood to return to or recommend the venue. While the initial general surveys indicated that participants believed sensory elements would enhance their experience, no …

Sharing The Stage With The Future: Humans And Robots Together At Last, Donna L. Clevinger

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay presents a co-curricular collaboration bringing ancient comedy to a modern audience. Students and faculty at a large, public R1 university combine art and engineering to create a STEAM-based approach to theatrical production. The author describes how integrating classical text, creative expression, and transformational technologies demonstrates that collaboration between disciplines can produce gains for each, fostering advancements and human understanding that would be unattainable independently. Script writing, casting, stage production, and outcomes are presented.

The Intersectionality Of Dance And Poetry, Isabelle Howerton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Often times, a creative work utilizes multiple creative mediums. For example, many poetry books feature visual art to enhance the original work. Dance performance is, arguably, always multidisciplinary This leaves room for many questions regarding unique ways that creative work can be developed and what sources of inspiration can be used as contributors. The final project comprises a collection of five choreographic works and five poems that correlate with each other in various ways. These five creative works were created using multiple prompts that dictated the correlation level between the two mediums. These works were then filmed to transform the …

การสร้างบทบรรยายเสียงสำหรับผู้พิการทางการเห็นในการแสดงสด : กรณีศึกษาละครเวทีเรื่อง หลง แตก สูญ ของ นิกร แซ่ตั้ง, สุประจักษ์ ไชยรัตน์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยเรื่อง การสร้างบทบรรยายเสียงสำหรับผู้พิการทางการเห็นในการแสดงสด : กรณีศึกษาละครเวทีเรื่อง หลง แตก สูญ ของ นิกร แซ่ตั้ง มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อสร้างบทบรรยายเสียงสำหรับผู้พิการทางการเห็นในการแสดงสด : กรณีศึกษาละครเวทีเรื่อง หลง แตก สูญ ของ นิกร แซ่ตั้ง ที่เพิ่มโอกาสในการสื่อสารเนื้อเรื่องได้อย่างชัดเจน และลดข้อจำกัดในการเข้าถึงศิลปการแสดงสำหรับผู้พิการทางการเห็น โดยมุ่งเน้นการศึกษาผลลัพธ์จากการใช้งานบทบรรยายเสียง (Audio Narration) จริงในสถานการณ์การแสดงสด โดยวัดผลในด้าน 1) ระดับความเข้าใจเนื้อเรื่อง 2) ความพึงพอใจต่อประสบการณ์การชม และ 3) การมีส่วนร่วมทางอารมณ์เพื่อนำไปใช้ในการพัฒนาและปรับปรุงเทคนิคการสร้างบทบรรยายเสียง การวิจัยนี้มีวิธีการดําเนินงานวิจัยจากการศึกษา และวิเคราะห์เอกสาร การสัมภาษณ์ และประสบการณ์ เป็นการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ ผลการวิจัยพบว่า จากการทดลองโดยใช้วิธีการหรือแนวคิดทฤษฎีการเข้าถึงสื่อและหลักการออกแบบสากล (Universal Design for Learning: UDL) ร่วมกับการสร้างบทบรรยายเสียงสำหรับผู้พิการทางการเห็นในการแสดงสดช่วยลดข้อจำกัดในการเข้าถึงศิลปะการแสดงโดยการถ่ายทอดองค์ประกอบบนเวทีอย่างครบถ้วน ทั้งบุคลิกลักษณะ กริยา ท่าทางของตัวละคร ภาพฉาก การเคลื่อนไหว สัญลักษณ์และเทคนิคการการแสดงในละครเวทีรวมถึงการใช้เทคโนโลยีบรรยายสด ซึ่งทำให้ผู้พิการทางการเห็นสามารถเข้าใจแก่นเรื่องและนัยยะสำคัญของการแสดงได้อย่างชัดเจน และได้รับประสบการณ์การชมที่ครบถ้วนทั้งทางศิลปะและอารมณ์ใกล้เคียงกับผู้ชมทั่วไปคำสำคัญ : บทบรรยายเสียง, ผู้พิการทางการเห็น, การแสดงสด, ละครเวที

การดัดแปลงวรรณกรรมเรื่อง ดินแดนคนตาบอด ของเอช. จี. เวลส์ สู่บทละครเพื่อนำเสนอประเด็นความขัดแย้งในสังคมไทย, มุนินทร์ สุวรรณประเสริฐ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ในงานวิจัยสร้างสรรค์เรื่อง “การดัดแปลงวรรณกรรมเรื่อง ดินแดนคนตาบอด ของเอช. จี. เวลส์ สู่บทละครเพื่อนำเสนอประเด็นความขัดแย้งในสังคมไทย” มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาประเด็นความขัดแย้งในสังคมไทย ผู้วิจัยเลือกวรรณกรรมเรื่อง ดินแดนคนตาบอด ของ เอช. จี. เวลส์ โดยผู้วิจัยได้นำวรรณกรรมสั้นเรื่องดินแดนคนตาบอดทั้งสองตอนจบฉบับแปลไทยจากสำนักพิมพ์สมมติ แปลโดย มโนราห์ มาทำการดัดแปลงข้ามสื่อเป็นบทละครเวที ซึ่งมีเนื้อหาที่กล่าวถึงความเป็นอื่นในสังคมมาดัดแปลงเป็นบทละครเวทีเพื่อเป็นสื่อสะท้อนและวิพากษ์ประเด็นความขัดแย้งในสังคมไทย และสามารถสื่อสารแก่นความคิดเรื่อง มนุษย์ควรวิเคราะห์ความแตกต่างอย่างมีเหตุผลเพื่อให้เกิดการเปลี่ยนแปลงและสามารถอยู่ร่วมกันได้ในสังคม ที่ปรากฏในวรรณกรรม ผู้วิจัยเลือกที่จะใช้การลำดับเล่าเรื่องและบริบทของตามฉบับวรรณกรรมที่ถูกตีพิมพ์ในปี ค.ศ. 1939 ที่ได้รับการแก้ไขและเพิ่มเติมตอนจบของเรื่องราวในวรรณกรรม โดยผู้วิจัยนำวรรณกรรม ดินแดนคนตาบอด ที่ถูกตีพิมพ์ทั้งสองครั้งมาวิเคราะห์ประเด็นความขัดแย้งในสังคม ทฤษฎีการเขียนบทละคร ทฤษฎีการดัดแปลงข้ามสื่อ และแนวคิดสัจนิยมมหัศจรรย์ที่ปรากฏในวรรณกรรมต้นฉบับ นำมาประยุกต์ใช้ในการวิเคราะห์และดัดแปลงบทละคร และนำเสนอบทละครผ่านการแสดงในรูปแบบการอ่าน (Stage Reading) โดยเก็บข้อมูลผ่านกลุ่มตัวอย่างจากผู้ชมทั่วไปที่สมัครใจตอบแบบสอบถามแบบไม่ระบุตัวตน และการเสวนาร่วมกับผู้ทรงคุณวุฒิด้านการเขียนและดัดแปลงบทละคร จากการวิจัยผู้วิจัยพบว่าประเด็นความขัดแย้งทางความคิดเป็นสิ่งสากลที่สามารถเกิดขึ้นและเข้าใจได้แม้จะอยู่ในบริบททางสังคมที่แตกต่างกัน และการนำเสนอแก่นความคิดผ่านการดัดแปลงบทละครเรื่องนี้จะพาให้ผู้ชมเชื่อมโยงกับปัญหาความขัดแย้งทางความคิดที่เกิดขึ้นในสังคมไทย จนทำให้เกิดการพูดคุยและถกเถียงกันภายหลังจากการรับชมการแสดงในรูปแบบของการอ่านได้ โดยผู้ชมส่วนใหญ่สามารถเชื่อมโยงเรื่องราวกับบริบทสังคมไทยได้ แม้จะมีข้อเสนอแนะให้ปรับปรุงในประเด็นการพัฒนาตัวละคร การใช้ภาษาในบทละคร และการสร้างสมดุลในการนำเสนอมุมมองของทั้งสองฝ่าย

Exploring The Shadows: How Taylor Swift's Music Embodies Dark Sound As A Popular Music Artist, Kristyn E. Cole

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

To challenge the conceptual matter of “dark sound”, this major research paper centers around the popular music artist, Taylor Swift to demonstrate an overarching feminist wisdom in an alternative style of music to identify how Taylor Swift presents and embodies qualities of “dark sound”. Research done by D. Ferrett, Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes and Paul C. Jasen are used to examine her popular music, and its intersections and influence on our culture and society. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, this research paper discusses three of Swift’s songs; “willow” (evermore, 2020) for her sound, All Too Well: The Short …

Nightmare, Phoebe E. Bowen

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Dance-Related Fractures Occur In The Upper And Lower Extremities At Similar Rates: An Analysis Of The 2004-2023 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System Database, Senah E. Stephens, Joshua F. Edwards, Lisa K. Cannada

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction

In the United States, 21% of adolescents participate in dance. Dancers are susceptible to injuries, particularly of the lower extremity, due to extreme positioning, dynamic overload, and repetitive movements.

Objectives

(1) to report the prevalence and describe demographic characteristics of dance-related fractures and (2) to analyze variables associated with disposition status.

Methods

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database, published by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, was used to investigate dance-related fractures diagnosed in a sample of 100 emergency departments over 20 years. Descriptive statistics and demographic variables were analyzed using chi square tests. Age was analyzed …

The Quiet Gnosticism Of Samuel Beckett’S Endgame, Andrew Dean Chapman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This thesis draws on and extends previous Gnostic readings of Samuel Beckett’s fiction which has located the figure of the demiurge mostly in the background and finds through close reading that in Endgame the demiurge takes the foreground.

This thesis proposes that Endgame’s gnosticism goes further than recreating gnostic themes and tropes. Rather, Endgame’s gnosticism fuses the gnostic laughter of the gnostic Christ, Schopenhauerian tragedy, and Quietist paradoxes to create a system of progressive enlightenment which culminates in a revelation evidenced by a laugh that, in Beckett’s Watt, is called the mirthless laugh. This laugh, I propose, is the laugher’s …

Reading With Aunt Bunty: Intergenerational Feminism And Eighteenth-Century Studies, Alison Conway

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This essay asks: what might an intergenerational reading practice look like for feminist critics working in eighteenth-century studies? What could be learned from reading the political and institutional conditions that have shaped reading practices, past and present, in relation to each other? I consider, here, the case of Q.D. Leavis. Reading Leavis, as well as other women who studied at Cambridge in the early twentieth century, shows me how profoundly I have been shaped by Virginia Woolf’s characterization of the university and literary history’s marginalization of women writers. What would it mean to consider the eighteenth century through the lens …

A Review Of Kristin M. Girten's Sensitive Witnesses: Feminist Materialism In The British Enlightenment, Peter West

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

A review of Sensitive Witnesses by Kristin M. Girten by Peter West.