Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

On Allegory, Metaphor, And Allegorical Interpretation, Longxi Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the 4th and 5th centuries B.C., the rise of philosophy challenged the authority of Homer and many philosophers, notably Plato, dismissed Homer and poetry in the quarrel between poetry and philosophy. Some other philosophers, however, particularly the Stoics, came to the defence of Homer by proposing the idea of allegory and arguing that the Homeric epics contained a spiritual meaning beyond the literal sense of the text. Similarly, the Song of Songs in the Bible was also questioned by both Jewish rabbis and Christian interpreters because of its sensual language and eroticism. It was again allegorical interpretation that came …

Le Poème | La Danseuse, Karen Fleming

Arts & Sciences Student Symposium

le poème | La Danseuse is a piece that explores the relationship between historical, often male-created representations of the female dancer and the possibilities that exist for female dancers to claim their own identities in the twenty-first century. Drawing on modernist poetry and early modern dance, the film component of the piece emphasizes the ways in which the poetic image of the female dancer as an ideal, ethereal figure is a mere projection, or something unreal. Once the dancer on stage emerges, she begins to push back against the trappings of the historic gaze and ultimately breaks out of its …

Improvisation As A Teaching Tool For Improving Oral Communication Skills In Premedical And Pre-Biomedical Graduate Students, Marianne Phelps, Catrina White, Lin Xiang, Hollie I. Swanson

Theatre and Dance Faculty Publications

Objective:

To evaluate the relationship between training in theatre improvisation and empathy, communication, and other professional skills.

Methods:

Undergraduate and graduate students who were participants of a 10-week summer undergraduate research program engaged in theatre improvisation techniques during a 3-hour workshop. In Study #1, a de-identified, self-report questionnaire (known as the Empathy Quotient) was administered prior to and following the workshop. Paired sample 2-tailed t-tests were performed to evaluate pre- and post-test scores. To identify additional benefits of engaging in theatre improvisation techniques, Study #2 was performed. Here, a survey was administered to the participants following their completion of …

Center For Art & Theater News, Georgia Southern University

Center for Art & Theater (Archived)

• Ceramicist Donté K. Hayes shares work through a virtual artist talk

The Cuban Diaspora: Stories Of Defection, Brain Drain, And Brain Gain, Lester Tomé

Dance: Faculty Publications

Since the 1990s, many dancers from Cuba have found work in North American and Western European ballet ensembles. This chapter describes how their international dance careers reflect high-skilled labor migration in the global economy, as well as the decentralizing expansion of ballet’s labor market. Migrant Cuban dancers cite a depressed local economy and the artistic stagnation of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba as fundamental reasons for looking for work in international ensembles. Their exodus is also political—extending into the present practices and discourses associated with the Cold War concept of defection. The numerous departures constitute a detrimental form of brain …

Lighting Visualization Software: Digital Exploration, Carson Cook

Undergraduate Research Conference

This project provided opportunities for students in the THR 480 Advanced Lighting Technology Class to develop experience in programming and designing complex lighting rigs on both the ETC EOS and GrandMA lighting consoles. The project consisted of designing on both consoles a lighting rig with over 60 advanced lighting fixtures, programming to music, and syncing the music to the cues via time code. Throughout the project in the Advanced Lighting Technology class, Carson gained knowledge in patching, effect creation, 3D rendering, time coding, time management, and pixel mapping.

The Theory Of Relativity

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

Téacsúil Fionnachtain, Alan Delozier

Critical Inquiries Into Irish Studies

No abstract provided.

Notes From A ‘World That Had Forgotten How To Give’: Edna O’Brien’S Stories Of Resilience, Mine Özyurt Kılıç

Critical Inquiries Into Irish Studies

No abstract provided.

“Say It With Flowers”: Exile, Ecology, And Edna O’Brien, Annie Williams

Critical Inquiries Into Irish Studies

No abstract provided.

“Edna O’Brien: An Interview With Maureen O’Connor”, Maureen O'Connor, Martha Carpentier, Elizabeth Brewer Redwine

Critical Inquiries Into Irish Studies

No abstract provided.

Unfreezing The Flamenca: The Stereotype Of The Sensual Bailaora Through The Lens Of Hollywood Film Noir, Amy Schofield

Theatre & Dance ETDs

This essay accompanies my Master of Fine Arts thesis project, a dance film entitled Haunted (premiered online March 12, 2021; made in collaboration with Jenny Serrano as Director of Photography), that employs themes and aesthetics from film noir to an exploration of the stereotype of the sensual female flamenco dancer. By combining concepts from dance studies with feminist and postcolonial theories, I trace the legacy of the bailaora (female flamenco dancer) presented as sexualized, Orientalized Other from the nineteenth century to the present day. An overview of film noir and neo-noir bolsters a thorough description and analysis of select scenes …

The Second Line Parade And The Construction Of Identity Through Costume In The Group The Undefeated Divas, Gents And Kids., Suellen Da Costa Coelho

LSU Master's Theses

This research aims to investigate the role of costume in identity formation in the second line group The Undefeated Divas, Gents and Kids. The methodology used in this research was data collection through interviews with members of the group. Through these interviews, we seek to establish the importance of costume in reflecting and constructing a sense of community within the group.

While the existing literature focuses on the history of second line parades and their importance in Louisiana’s culture, this research intends to explore costume’s meaning and significance. The purpose of this work is to complement the existing literature in …

We Are Dancers, Jeanette Hiyama

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This project focuses on dance and what it means to different people. My goal was to explore this topic through a movement piece supplemented by text and human responses. I wanted to express that dance does not fall under one definition and that you don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy or be touched by this performing art. Anyone can appreciate dance and that’s one of the messages I wanted to share through my project. This work was a reminder to never take things for granted and that dance has a place in everyone’s hearts.

Bewitching The Blame: The Crucible's Legacy Of Appropriation And Sexual Shame In Popular Culture, Hope Kristine Morris

Theses and Dissertations

In The Crucible Arthur Miller uses tropes of female characters, Abigail and Tituba, to tell a story of male heroism. In the process, he dismisses and appropriates the true stories of women who suffered during the Salem witch trials for his own political and personal gain. In this thesis, I argue that Miller’s appropriation and sexualization of women continues into contemporary popular culture depictions of the Salem witch trials including the movie adaptation of The Crucible and the television shows Salem and American Horror Story: Coven. These depictions appropriate and sexualize women’s stories in order to fulfill the male gaze. …

Titanic : The Musical, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Spring 2021

The sinking of the Titanic in the early hours of April 15, 1912 remains the quintessential disaster of the twentieth century. A total of 1,517 souls- men, women, and children- lost their lives (only 711 survived). The fact that the finest, largest, strongest ship in the world- called, in fact, the unsinkable ship- should have been lost during it’s maiden voyage is so incredible that, had it not actually happened, no author would have dared to contrive it.

Using Theatre To Teach Social Skills To Students On The Autism Spectrum, Meaghan Nicole Ritchie

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Theatre-based interventions are an emerging field to improve social skills in individuals with autism. This study analyzed 10 different articles using theatre-based interventions, combined with evidence-based practices, to increase social skills deficits in students, ages 8-17, diagnosed with autism. Results indicate improvement in social skills for individuals with autism after participating in theatre-based interventions.

La Llorona, Picante Pero Sabroso: The Mexican Horror Legend As A Story Of Survival And A Reclamation Of The Monster, Camille Maria Acosta

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For centuries, the relationship between Mexico and its infatuation with scary stories has been profoundly complex, but why? Perhaps it is the easiest way to communicate a Mexican culture, although proud and resilient, riddled with haunting narratives. For myself personally, the Mexican horror narrative La Llorona has served as a lens for conversation and communication that is unique and important.

In this thesis, I explore how Mexicans and Mexican Americans alike use the legend of La Llorona as a unique form of communication through personifying what truly haunts us. From using the narrative as a tool for entertainment, cautionary tales, …

Brigadoon, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Department of Theatre and Dance Performances

Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon is the enchanting and beloved Broadway and West End musical that inspired the classic MGM film, and numerous productions all over the world. Featuring such standards as "Almost Like Being in Love," "Come to Me, Bend To Me," and "Heather on the Hill," Brigadoon is a timeless, romantic classic which vividly brings the mystery and magic of the Scottish highlands to life. New Yorker Tommy Albright unexpectedly arrives at the mysterious Scottish Highland village of Brigadoon, which only appears for one day every 100 years. When Tommy meets and falls in love with Fiona, a beautiful …

Brooklyn's Bridge, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Spring 2021

Brooklyn’s Bridge is inspired by the extraordinary life of Emily Roebling, wife of Brooklyn Bridge Chief Engineer Washington Roebling. While working in the caissons under the east river, Washington had a debilitating attack of “the bends” and became bedridden. For the next eleven years, only Emily was seen on the worksite, delivering plans, handling both engineering and political issues. The New York Times recently revised their obituary acknowledging that, SHE built the bridge. And as the Brooklyn Bridge grows stronger, foundations to towers, cables to roadway…so does their love for one another, as Emily navigates the uncharted waters; a Victorian …

'Tasha, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Spring 2021

T A S H A, inspired by Socrates' Antigone, is set in a modern republic where White Supremacy and Black Civil Disobedience, each, are at their height. The play centers on Natasha Brown, a fictional Sasha Obama. 'Tasha buries her cousin, defying the edict - 'no one shall bury a law-breaker who dies in the act of committing a crime.' The issuer is President Waters, a Trump-Clinton-like character. Will 'Tasha's death restore order or fuel injustice? Is the criminalization of Brown people irreversible?

The Names We Gave Him : Music Capture, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Spring 2021

Loosely based on a true story, this is a musical about an amnesiac veteran of the First World War, the doctor who treated him, and the many women who, in denial of their grief, claimed him as their lost beloved. The piece explores the agony of war for both the soldiers and the families they leave behind, the distorting power of loss, and the insistence of love. What is a country’s identity in the aftermath of such devastation? What is a self without memory?

Top Girls, Department Of Theatre And Dance

Spring 2021

Just as timely and provocative as when it debuted in the early ‘80s, Top Girls highlight the sacrifices made by women in their quest for success and what happens to those left behind. With her characteristically bold theatricality, Caryl Churchill examines women in the workplace in Maggie Thatcher’s Britain who choose to take on the worst traits of men. At the heart of her emotionally blistering and sharply witty play, two sisters, one an upwardly mobile businesswoman and the other passionately committed to her working-class roots, battle over personal and deeply held political views in a confrontation that will forever …

Pivot: Spring Dance Concert, April 29-May 1, 2021, School Of Theatre And Dance

Programs - Theatre, Dance, and Film

In Collaboration with Creative Technologies

April 29, 30; May 1, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

Presented online, pre-recorded via Zoom

14 Minutes In Purgatory, Jennifer Moody Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

14 Minutes in Purgatory is about the trials and tribulations of growing up female. Inspired by the Greek myth, Prometheus, and the #MeToo movement, this solo show takes a cold hard look at the social, economic, and cultural oppression of women. In the story of Prometheus, he was found guilty by giving the gift of fire to the humans. In 14 Minutes in Purgatory, the character is held in purgatory for the crime of giving wisdom to another generation of women, in a world of privileged men. Using real life stories, I was able to portray individuals that molded me …

Into A Lamplit Room, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2020-2021 Season

The life of Composer and Social Activist, Kurt Weill, is celebrated in this cabaret-style compilation of his work. The production includes more than 30 songs, ranging from his life in Berlin during the Weimar Era during which he was a voice against the Nazi regime, to his emigration to the U.S. where he was a supporter of the American war effort in the 1930’s, and finally his contributions to the American Musical Theatre canon. Audiences will particularly recognize his collaborations with Ira Gershwin, Bertolt Brecht, and Maxwell Anderson in the songs written for Broadway including Tschaikowsky, Mack the Knife, Pirate …

Barbeque, April 22-24, 2021, School Of Theatre And Dance

Programs - Theatre, Dance, and Film

Written by Robert O'Hara

April 22-24, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

Online performance, via Zoom

Roe, April 8-10, 2021, School Of Theatre And Dance

Programs - Theatre, Dance, and Film

Written by Lisa Loomer

April 8-10, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

Presented online, live stream via Zoom

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde, March 4-6, 2021, School Of Theatre And Dance

Programs - Theatre, Dance, and Film

Written by Moises Kaufman

March 4-6, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

Online presentation, live stream via Zoom

Old Maid And The Thief; Gallantry, April 8, 2021, School Of Theatre And Dance

Programs - Theatre, Dance, and Film

The School of Theatre and Dance and School of Music present:

Gallantry, written by Arnold Sundgaard; book, music, and lyrics by Douglas Moore

Old Maid and the Thief, written by Gian Carlo Menotti

April 30, 2021, 8:00 p.m.

Presented on WGLT Radio