Performance Studies Commons^™

3rd Place Contest Entry: Aesthetic Activism: Protest Art In The Delano Grape Strike, Felicia Viano

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Felicia Viano's submission for the 2019 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. It contains her essay on using library resources, a three-page sample of her research project on the use of art as a social movement tactic by the United Farm Workers during the Delano Grape Strike, and her works cited list.

Felicia is a senior at Chapman University, majoring in History and Peace Studies. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Robert Slayton.

Sea Squad, Liam Geary Baulch

The Goose

The Sea Squad is a band of cheerleaders against climate change. Taking action as a team in formation, they gather momentum, inviting all people to cheer with them, mimicking the infinitely expandable nature of the seas' molecular structure. The work was developed and performed as a bilingual project at Est-Nord-Est in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Canada, and has since been performed and exhibited internationally. The following poems are some of the chants that Sea Squad use to get a crowd cheering together against climate change.

Theater As A Civic Practice, Charlie Santos

Senior Honors Projects

Contemporary artists are working within a cultural moment saturated with political fervor. The ideologies of social and political movements such as Black Lives Matter, Queer Rights, and Gun Control weigh heavily on the minds of young artists. More and more, I see actors, writers, and creators struggling to reconcile their identities as artists and identities as political beings. How do artists resolve the internal dissonance between their artistic and political spheres? Is activist art an opportunity to synthesize these two spheres? Or might creating art for political ends pose ethical and/or aesthetic hazards? On the one hand, creating political art …

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

Re-Imagining The Theatre: Existence And Change, Andres Aguilar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With acknowledgement of Nicaraguan Theatre and its different dynamics, this research works to expose and create visibility of current Nicaraguan Theatre with relation to social change in Managua, Nicaragua. The microcosm of theatre is revolutionary in creating the necessary change to reach a state of consciousness that allows others to accept and understand society and others for what they are and what they can be. The theater is simply a tool. Intrinsically, all acts are political, therefore the theater is a political declaration. The theater is, and always will be, a political arena, when the aesthetics of the theater are …

A Danza De Las Tijeras Continuidad Dinámica Y Reivindicación De La Identidad Indígena Andina / Dance Of The Scissors Dynamic Continuity And Reclamation Of Andean Indigenous Identity, Cinthia Durán

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project aims to analyze the contemporary ways in which the Dance of Scissors is practiced and reproduced to determine if its continuity outside the place of origin, with all the modifications that it has experienced, can be considered a form of cultural resistance. Resistance in this context is addressed in two specific ways: as a dynamic continuity of Andean indigenous identity and as a tool of cultural vindication. To achieve this goal, during the work period the research methodology consisted of interviewing dancers and scissors musicians; be a participant as observer of skills and essays of Tijeras dancers …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Fantastical Body Narratives : Cosplay, Performance, And Gender Diversity., Tiffany M. Hutabarat-Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to explore how the phenomenon of cosplay has been able to produce and sustain a diversity of gender expression due to its emergence from an activity-based community that emphasizes creative play. This creative energy is manifested through cosplay as an active, ritualized practice in which gender diversity is invited to be realized as a distinct possibility, resulting in a display of a full range of masculinities and femininities as well as crossplays and genderbend cosplays. I argue that cosplay can therefore be understood as a phenomenon that destabilizes the gender binary—its active practice promotes the production and …

La Resistencia Cultural A Través Del Teatro De Las Oprimidas Para La Cultivación De La Subjetividad De La Mujer En Un Contexto De Violencia De Género: Un Estudio De Caso Del Colectivo De Mujeres Osadía / Cultural Resistance And The Cultivation Of The Subjective Through Theatre Of The Oppressed For The Woman In A Context Of Gender Violence: A Case Study With Colectivo De Mujeres Osadía In Jose Leon Suarez, Province Of Buenos Aires, Lela Biggus

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hay en este momento en la historia una ola de movimientos feministas barriendo la vida política de Buenos Aires. Movimientos como Ni Una Menos busca, en una variedad de métodos, para interrumpir el discurso destructivo de la cultura machista que produce la violencia de género y hace que el acto de femicidio, el asesinato de una mujer por su género, sea común.

En mis investigaciones exploro cómo el Teatro del oprimido, una práctica teatral de Augusto Boal, puede transformarse en una experiencia de resistencia cultural y subjetivación de la mujer en un contexto de violencia de género. Yo pasé tiempo …

Tapez Le Tam-Tam And The People Will Come: A Study Of Theater For Social Justice In Kaolack, Senegal, Emily Schwerdtfeger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of theater to create social change and raise awareness of social issues as used by the troupe Bamtaare in Kaolack, Senegal. Further study was done to determine why theater was successful and whether this type of theater can be implemented in the United States. I spent four weeks in Kaolack working with the troupe to understand their methods. While in Kaolack, I observed rehearsals and performances, conducted interview with actors and audience members, and reviewed relevant literature. My research showed that Bamtaare’s performances in urban neighborhoods and rural villages did …

Choral Theatre, Albert Joseph Wolfe Jr.

Dissertations

Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, after some 300 years of colonization. Prior to Independence, the standard arts education curriculum was decidedly British and Western European. That which was labeled Caribbean or Jamaican “folk” by the British was deemed inferior and was not taught, demonstrated, or performed in formal settings. Thus, generations of Jamaicans never observed or imagined a Caribbean aesthetic in the visual and performing arts. Instead, pre-Independence Jamaicans were taught British and Western European music and performed it the “British” way.

Today, Jamaicans boast a number of artistic developments that are instantly recognized across the …

Love On - The Life Of A Suicide Survivor: A Performance Autoethnographic Study, Patricia R. Wheeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide touches the lives of millions of people each year in this country alone, yet conversations about suicide loss and survival after a loss remain taboo and often do not happen. The story I performed for this performance autoethnographic study centers on my life as a survivor of suicide. It provides a starting point for dialog regarding trauma, grief, and suicide loss. The narrative was constructed directly following the sudden death of my father, which had a direct effect on my ability to produce artistic work. The development, staging and performance of the story were altered to account for the …

Ua68/17 Wku Dance: Creating Thinking Artists, Wku Theatre & Dance

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about WKU Dance program.

• Welcoming New Professors - Meghen McKinley, Kylene Stephens
• 2015-2016 Performance Season
• Guest Artists - Banning Bouldin, Andrea Shelley, Jon Lehrer, Denise Vale, Brian Grant
• National Dance Education Organization Student Chapter
• National Honors Society for Dance Arts Student Chapter
• Dance Showcase
• Sumer Studies
• WKU Dance Intensive

Ua68/17 Wku Dance Program: Creating Thinking Artists, Issue 3, Wku Theatre & Dance

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about the dance program.

• New Beginnings
• Summer Intensives
• A Holiday Extravaganza
• Evening of Dance 2015
• Dance Project 2015
• Guest Artists - Cornelius Carter, Karen Williams, Victor Alexander
• Inaside Choreographic Sponsorship Event
• Dance in Italy
• National Dance Education Organization - WKU Student Chapter
• Summer 2015
• Save the Date!

When Actors Don’T Walk The Talk: Parasocial Relationships Moderate The Effect Of Actor-Character Incongruence, Riva Tukachinsky

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

The study examines the effect of a narrative that featured an actor playing a counterattitudinal role. Participants read an online magazine interview with a popular comedian and then watched a sitcom in which this actor played a role that was either consistent or inconsistent with his personal views. Parasocial relationships with the actor moderated the effect of actor-character incongruence. Specifically, incongruence was associated with lower support for narrative-related attitudes, but only among viewers with weak parasocial relationships. These results provide evidence of the existence of vicarious cognitive dissonance, wherein witnessing another person’s hypocritical behavior produces attitude change in the observer.

A 'Paradox Of Expression': Bertolt Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt In Performance, Cohen L. Ambrose Mr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Through The Eyes Of The Homeless, Aisha M. Soto

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

When reviewing the entire project from start to completion, I can honestly say, Through the Eyes of the Homeless is a play about ten women and their plight. It illustrates their dealings with everyday issues of hurt, disappointment, abuse, love, and hope. I believe the true impact of this play is the undeniable prayer for help and hope within each monologue. Despite the horrors that are unveiled and released through hidden secrets, the undertone of betterment is truly resonating. My own expectation for this play is simply to strike awareness and understanding in the eyes of the people. It is …

Male Ballet Dancers And Their Performances Of Heteromasculinity, Trenton M. Haltom, Meredith G. F. Worthen

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although previous research has investigated men in feminized sports, we took a different approach in this study and examined men in ballet. Because ballet is one of the most highly gender-codified sports, male ballet dancers must negotiate their identities as men while performing a dance form that is highly stigmatized as effeminate. We investigated how five self-identified heterosexual male college dance majors perceive and perform heteromasculinity within male ballet culture using qualitative data gathered from structured interviews. Results provide three unique contributions to the literature. First, we found that these men develop and contextualize their heteromasculinity in the context of …

The Complicated ‘Colours’ Of Rhythm: A Study Of Capetonian’S Battle For Identity Through The Hip Hop Movement In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Joseph Thomas Dover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project delves into the Cape Town Hip Hop scene in an attempt to uncover how it is an inclusive and empowering space that allows individuals to deconstruct and reconstruct individual and group identities in order to subvert colonial narratives. In order to uncover the power of Hip Hop this project uses 3 interviews with individuals intimately connected to the Hip Hop scene and reviews an abundance of literature surrounding the topic. The history of ‘coloured’ as a racial classification is analysed alongside with other research and is placed within the context of contemporary Capetonian Hip Hop in order to …

Guddling About: Experiments In Vital Materialism With Particular Regard To Water, Minty Donald

The Goose

With reference to Jane Bennett’s notion of "vital materialism," this photo essay documents and reflects on Guddling About: a series of experiments or actions carried out by artists Nick Millar and Minty Donald with the Bow River and its watershed in Calgary and Southern Alberta in August-September 2013. Each experiment is described as a set of instructions — a script or score for an event — which can be enacted in any location where human settlement has evolved around a river. The experiments will be repeated, and new ones developed, with the River Clyde in Glasgow and Southern Scotland in …

Fearless: V Rosenberger And Tori Reynolds, Veronica B. Rosenberger, Victoria J. Reynolds

SURGE

“Getting Out,” the compelling prison drama by Marsha Norman, is opening tonight at 7:30pm on Kline Theater at Gettysburg, and bringing this play to life are two very fearless women. [excerpt]

Performing Que(E)Ries, Charles Busch, James Wilson

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Charles Busch, renowned New York performer, playwright, director, and drag extraordinaire, participated in the second iteration of this new CLAGS series in the Fall. He discussed his astonishing career in the theatre and on film, as well as the changes he has seen in LGBTQ performance over the last four decades in New York and beyond. The conversation was moderated by CLAGS Executive Director James Wilson.

Cape Town Performance Poetry: The Activist’S Pen Is Mighty, Kelsey Rae Brattin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Beginning with a look back to historical Xhosa oral traditions and then examining the role of performance poetry in resistance during Apartheid, this paper explores the existence of contemporary Cape Town performance poetry in a setting that has been a home to poets for centuries. Specifically, this project is a look into the space, mental and physical, that exists within Cape Town’s current performance poetry scene for themes of resistance and activism. Through the observation of public poetry performances in local bookstores and coffeehouse, and through interviews with poets and audience members, contemporary attitudes of writers and community members toward …

Fearless: Ratco, Center For Public Service

SURGE

If you haven’t noticed yet, we’ve had some really spectacular visitors from the south with us on Gettysburg’s campus the last few days! The Random Acts of Theater Company (RATCo) is a group that emerged from the Freedom Foundation in Denver, Colorado a few years ago. Their initiative involved using theater as a means for self-expression and communication, but RATCo spread because it was so successful and ultimately reached Selma, Alabama. Selma, although a major site for the Civil Rights movement, and also the site for the last battle of the civil war, has changed very little since the 1960s. …

Double Take Project: Using Applied Theatre For Campus Climate Change, Christina M. Cody

Honors Theses

Despite research gathered in the Campus Climate Report, I believe that it underrepresented the student experience of the social scene. The document primarily served as an identification tool for four major problems on campus: binge drinking, sexual assault, diversity, and disengagement in the classroom. Double Take Project also identifies similar issues however, this project uses theatrical techniques to gather the anecdotal reality of the student perspective. Double Take Project expands beyond the Campus Climate Report to inspire dialogue in a variety of student-to-student interactions and, more importantly, the project seeks action and solution plans.

The social scene dominates our culture …

"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

This essay analyzes the Hyers Sisters, a Reconstruction-era African American sister act, and their radical efforts to transcend social limits of gender, class, and race in their early concert careers and three major productions, Out of Bondage and Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad, two slavery-to-freedom epics, and Urlina, the African Princess, the first known African American play set in Africa. At a time when serious, realistic roles and romantic plotlines featuring black actors were nearly nonexistent due to the country’s appetite for stereotypical caricatures, the Hyers Sisters used gender passing to perform opposite one another as heterosexual lovers in …

She Wears The Masks: Bluefacing In Nilaja Sun's Black And Blue And La Nubia Latina, Patricia Herrera

Theatre and Dance Faculty Publications

This article examines how Nilaja Sun explicitly employs the minstrelsy traditions of blackface to push the conceptual limits of racial identity, and expand the nodes of intersection within diasporic identities. The act of bluing up, as opposed to blacking up, is Sun's way of provoking her audience to think more expansively about the performance of racialized identity outside of black and Latino paradigms, and toward a more complicated and not-clearly discernible Afro-Latino hybrid subjectivity. Sun uses what I call bluefacing, a performance tactic that magnifies the constrictive and monolithic perceptions of blackness and Latinidad as a means of generating …

Experiencing Samoa Through Stories: Myths And Legends Of A People And Place, Samantha Lichtenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research will explore oral tradition, indigenous beliefs prior to Christianity, and the significance of place through the study of Samoan myths and legends. The researcher will investigate the tradition of storytelling by hearing the stories from Samoan elders themselves. These stories will be supplemented with details from secondary written resources in order to compile comprehensive versions of the myths and legends. The research will consider the affect that Christianity has on the meaning of the stories and examine whether traces of indigenous belief/religion are preserved today through storytelling and the remembrance of myths. The researcher will spend a significant …

The Angel And The Imp: The Duncan Sisters’ Performances Of Race And Gender, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

From 1923 to 1959 Vivian and Rosetta Duncan performed the show Topsy and Eva in front of thousands of audiences in the United States and abroad. This essay examines how the Duncan Sisters’ appropriation of blackness through a yin and yang performance of black and white womanhood, their sexualized but ultimately infantilizing routine as young girls, and their take on anarchistic comedy resulted in a particular spin on age, gender, race, and sexuality that reinforced their privilege as white women even while it pushed the boundaries of acceptable femininity in the swiftly shifting American culture of the first half of …

Acting Virtuous: Chastity, Theatricality, And The Tragedie Of Mariam, Kent Lehnhof

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Given the interrelation of female chastity and female theatricality in early modem discourses, it comes as no surprise that both figure importantly in what is believed to be the first original English drama to be written by a woman. As Elizabeth Cary explores a Jewish queen 's sexual purity in The Tragedie of Mariam, she does so by concentrating on questions of performance. Cary's title character explicitly abjures theatricality even as she embraces chastity, creating a fissure in Renaissance discourses on women that threatens to swallow up the antifeminist idea that female chastity is always an act.