Marking Your Territory

2018 ◽  
pp. 110-136
Author(s):  
Kathy Milazzo
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Cultural Industry ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Local Companies

This chapter explores the coping strategies and struggles of five European and American flamenco dancers seeking employment opportunities in a competitive marketplace profoundly affected by the economic downturn in 2005. Shifts in the performing arts system indicate that the need to fill theaters with dancers direct from Spain takes precedence over supporting local companies, a marketing strategy compounded by the limitations of what audiences frequently expect in flamenco performances. As a cultural industry, the link between Carmen and flamenco creates anachronistic ideations that limit innovative interpretations. Another recent development is that rehearsal and performance spaces are rapidly dwindling due to rampant gentrification, especially in large cities. Through a series of interviews, these five dancers reveal how they negotiate obstacles and detours as they strive to convey the essence of Spanish culture in flamenco and to present well-crafted work that reflects them as individual, spirited artists.

A Conversation on Directing Opera

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-255
Author(s):  
Katie Mitchell ◽  
Mario Frendo
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Musical Score ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Don Giovanni ◽  
National Opera ◽  
Dramatic Text ◽  
Theatre Studies ◽  
And Performance

Katie Mitchell has been directing opera since 1996, when she debuted on the operatic stage with Mozart and Da Ponte’s Don Giovanni at the Welsh National Opera. Since then, she has directed more than twenty-nine operas in major opera houses around the world. Mitchell here speaks of her directorial approach when working with the genre, addressing various aspects of interest for those who want a better grasp of the dynamics of opera-making in the twenty-first century. Ranging from the director’s imprint, or signature on the work they put on the stage, to the relationships forged with people running opera institutions, Mitchell reflects on her experiences when staging opera productions. She sheds light on some fundamental differences between theatre-making and opera production, including the issue of text – the libretto, the dramatic text, and the musical score – and the very basic fact that in opera a director is working with singers, that is, with musicians whose attitude and behaviour on stage is necessarily different from that of actors in the theatre. Running throughout the conversation is Mitchell’s commitment to ensure that young and contemporary audiences do not see opera as a museum artefact but as a living performative experience that resonates with the aesthetics and political imperatives of our contemporary world. She speaks of the uncompromising political imperatives that remain central to her work ethic, even if this means deserting a project before it starts, and reflects on her long-term working relations with opera institutions that are open to new and alternative approaches to opera-making strategies. Mitchell underlines her respect for the specific rules of an art form that, because of its collaborative nature, must allow more space for theatre-makers to venture within its complex performative paths if it wants to secure a place in the future. Mario Frendo is Senior Lecturer of Theatre and Performance and Head of the Department of Theatre Studies at the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta, where he is the director of CaP, a research group focusing on the links between culture and performance.

Distance and Reflexivity: Creating the Stage World of Pantoland

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-339
Author(s):  
Millie Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Extended Version ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Forthcoming Book ◽  
The World ◽  
Commercial Theatre ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University

In pantomime the Dame and comics, and to a lesser extent the immortals, are positioned between the world of the audience and the world of the story, interacting with both, forming a link between the two, and constantly altering the distance thus created between audience and performance. This position allows these characters to exist both within and without the story, to comment on the story, and reflexively to draw attention to the theatricality of the pantomime event. In this article, Millie Taylor concludes that reflexivity and framing allow the pantomime to represent itself as unique, original, anarchic, and fun, and that these devices are significant in the identification of British pantomime as distinct from other types of performance. Millie Taylor worked for many years as a freelance musical director in repertory and commercial theatre and in pantomime. She is now Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts and Music Theatre at the University of Winchester. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Conference on Arts and Humanities in Hawaii (2005), and an extended version will appear in her forthcoming book on British pantomime. Her research has received financial support from the British Academy.

Perceiving Humor in Traditional Chinese Peking Opera

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-391
Author(s):  
Zhiyi Zhang ◽  
Xiaobing Jin
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Comprehension Difficulty ◽  
Inverse Proportion ◽  
Peking Opera ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Interview Analysis

Abstract Peking opera epitomizes the traditional Chinese performing arts, and all six factors concerning the story and performance of Peking opera, namely plot, role type, song, speech, acting, and combat, can produce humorous effects among the audience. The present paper is a tentative study on humor and sensing humor in Peking opera. The scale study testified that all six factors were able to produce humorous effects and that they had different degrees of comprehension difficulty and humor for different contributing factors. The degree of comprehension difficulty can assert negative influence upon the degree of humor. Different from the traditionally held nonmonotonic (inverted-U) correlation between the two, a monotonic inverse proportion between the two has been detected. The interview analyses revealed that the humorous effects had something to do with incongruity but that resolution might not necessarily be involved. The scale study and the interview analysis both support this finding.

scholarly journals Exploring the causes of stress and coping with it amongst doctoral level students: Highlighting the importance of information collection and management

2016 ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
Sheikh Usman Yousaf ◽  
Bushra Usman ◽  
Muhammad Akram
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Information Collection ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Information Ambiguity

Stress may hinder the efficiency and performance of individuals. However, little attention has been given to academic stress especially stress experienced by doctoral level university students. Understanding and comprehending the causes of their stress and relevant coping strategies is indeed essential for their better performance. Hence, to address this gap, the purpose of the study was to explore the stressors produced by academic environment and the stress coping strategies adopted by doctoral scholars. Unit of analysis were the individuals enrolled in doctoral studies at the Business School of University Kebangsaan, Malaysia. In-depth analysis of eight doctoral level students revealed that they, in general, share the same experiences and adopt similar coping strategies as were reported to have been experienced and adopted by students of other disciplines (i.e., nursing or psychology students). However, a lack of ability to manage information, information ambiguity and ambiguity regarding quality of one's own work emerged as the major stressors in this study, which have not previously been commonly highlighted by past researches. This study, therefore, reveals that information collection, scarcity of information resources, information ambiguity and work related ambiguity are major stressors for doctoral students. Further, it is also identified that social support, problem diversion, effective information management and time management are significant stress coping techniques. The implications and future recommendation are also discussed in the paper.

scholarly journals Towards a New Pacific Theatre: Practice‐Led Enquiry into a Model of Theatre Making that Relates  to the Geography, Cultures and Spiritual Values of  Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bert Van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Devised Theatre ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Intercultural Performance ◽  
Time Space ◽  
And Performance

<p>This practice‐led research enquiry sets out to develop and test a model of theatre practice that relates to the unique geographic, cultural and spiritual dimensions of Aotearoa/New Zealand. In this practice, actors are connected with their body and the earth (they have feet), archetypal qualities inherent in nature and culture are incorporated into training and performance (return of the gods), a sense of adventure and risk‐taking is emphasized, and the practice relates to the multiple cultures and communities of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Presence, defined as the ability to be sensorially alive in the moment, and site‐specific performance, a creative response to locality, emerged as two of the key strategies to connect with self, other and the environment.  By investigating selected principles, strategies and values from the indigenous, pre‐European, Māori performing arts (whare tapere), devised theatre, the Michael Chekhov technique, and Japanese Noh theatre, an intercultural approach to site specific theatre evolved that interweaves the four pathways of collaboration, connection, exploration and transformation and their corresponding values. After considering the political and ethical issues of intercultural performance a number of principles to guide the process of intercultural exchange were formulated and tested. A vital component of this study was the creative development and performance of Ex_isle of Strangers – a site‐specific work developed in response to the tangible and intangible dimensions of Matiu/Somes Island. The research generated moments of practice that investigated the creative potential of residential devising processes and the transformative value of audience mobility in performances that involve physical and metaphorical journeying. These moments provided the participants (performers and spectators) time, space and opportunity to interact with one another and with the site they occupied, thus significantly increasing their level of physical and mental engagement with the work.</p>

Training for Sustained Performance: Moving Toward Long-Term Musician Development

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Clark ◽  
Tânia Lisboa
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Young Student ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Sustained Performance ◽  
Mental Demands ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Effective Use

Success in the performing arts, like sports, is dependent upon the acquisition and consistent use of a diverse range of skills. In sports, an understanding of safe and effective use of the body is required to facilitate long-term involvement in that activity. In order to assist athletes to attain their performance goals, and ensure healthy and sustained involvement, long-term athlete development (LTAD) models have been devised and adapted by professional sporting bodies throughout the world. LTAD models emphasize the intellectual, emotional, and social development of the athlete, encourage long-term participation in physical activities, and enable participants to improve their overall health and well-being and increase their life-long participation in physical activity. At present there is no such long-term development model for musicians. Yet musicians must cope with a multitude of career-related physical and mental demands, and performance-related injuries and career burnout are rife within the profession. Despite this, musicians’ training rarely addresses such issues and musicians are left largely to learn about them through either chance or accrued experience. This paper discusses key concepts and recommendations in LTAD models, together with music-specific research highlighting the need for the development of a comprehensive long-term approach to musicians’ training. The results of a survey of existing music training programs are compared to recommendations and the different development stages in LTAD models. Finally, implementation science is introduced as a methodological option for identifying how best to communicate the body of evidence-based knowledge concerning healthy and effective music-making to young student musicians.

From the Streets to the Stage: Disability and the Performing Arts

PMLA ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 620-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Sandahl
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Live Performance ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Theater Studies ◽  
Suitable Site ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University

Despite its newness, disability-theater studies is an incredibly rich area of inquiry that is exploding in artistic practice and scholarship. The university is a particularly suitable site for a meeting of disability and the theater; after all, we theater scholars think of our classrooms and productions as laboratories not only for showcasing knowledge but for producing, rehearsing, and revising it. As the theater scholar Jill Dolan points out, live performance, especially in the liberal arts setting, has the unique power to test, on bodies willing to try them, academic theories that are otherwise purely theoretical. The feedback loop that oscillates between theory and practice in theater studies is necessarily changed by the inclusion of disability perspectives in the classroom, research programs, and performance offerings. Interestingly, an underlying theme of disability perspectives is that the lived experience of disability is always already performative; indeed, many of us with disabilities understand our disabilities as performance, not exclusively in an aesthetic or theoretical sense, but as an actual mode of living in the world. Consider what the playwright and wheelchair user John Belluso told me in a recent interview: “Any time I get on a public bus, I feel like it's a moment of theater. I'm lifted, the stage is moving up, and I enter, and people are along the lines, and they're turning and looking, and I make my entrance. It's theater, and I have to perform. And I feel like we as disabled people are constantly onstage and we're constantly performing.” The perspective of disability as performance undergirds and permeates disability art and scholarship. Thus, my own development as a disability-theater scholar and artist frames my perception of how disability challenges both the practical and the theoretical aspects of theater studies and points to the role universities play in fostering further development of the field.

Masked Interaction: The Case for an Enactive View of Commedia dell’Arte (and the Italian Renaissance)

2019 ◽  
pp. 153-170
Author(s):  
Jan Söffner
Keyword(s):  
Performance Studies ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Commedia Dell'arte ◽  
Renaissance Humanism ◽  
Renaissance Studies ◽  
And Performance

This chapter presents a case study for the use of enactivist phenomenology as a paradigm for Cultural Analysis and Renaissance Studies. It begins by describing a mask used in commedia dell’arte, first as a simple object and then as embedded in an acting praxis. The focus then turns to Renaissance cultures of the performing arts, fiction, and the constitution of subjectivity. Finally, the chapter considers what the mask has to say about sixteenth-century Italy, comparing the outcomes of this analysis with those of more conventional approaches, which are mostly focused on Renaissance humanism. The line of argumentation follows a bottom-up methodology based on enactivist assumptions. By the end the chapter will render the adopted approach theoretically explicit and offer closing remarks about the use of enactivist phenomenology for cultural analysis, by comparing it with neighbouring theories and methods in Cultural Studies (especially Praxeology, Actor-Network-Theory, studies on Material Cultures, and Performance Studies).

Setting the Foundation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Paola Savvidou
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Musculoskeletal Injuries ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Performing Arts Medicine ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
And Performance

This chapter provides an overview of wellness theories, along with a profile of the challenges facing music students today, and a brief background of performing arts medicine. The multidimensional nature of wellness is introduced as the basis for the explorations that follow in this book. The top impediments to academic performance faced by college students are identified and grounded in national surveys and research. Some of these challenges include stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and depression. A discussion specific to music students points to additional challenges, such as performance-related musculoskeletal injuries, isolation, competition, and performance anxiety. The toolkit at the end of the chapter provides eight assessments for each dimension of wellness.

Mitterer, Wolfgang (1958--)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Cassidy
Keyword(s):  
Chamber Music ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Electroacoustic Music ◽  
Live Electronics ◽  
Performance Events ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Orchestra Music ◽  
And Function ◽  
Granular Layers ◽  
The University

Wolfgang Mitterer (1958--) is an Austrian composer and organist noted for his work with live electronics and improvisation. Born on 6 June, 1958 in Lienz, East Tyrol, Mitterer studied organ and composition at the University of Music and the Performing Arts Vienna, followed by a year-long residency at the studio for electroacoustic music (EMS) in Stockholm. An exceptionally prolific composer, Mitterer’s output spans a staggeringly broad range of approaches to music making, including works for tape, chamber music of various formations, experimental pop songs (Sopop), works for large orchestra, music for theatre and opera, music for film, and sprawling site-specific installations and performance events (turmbau zu babel, for example, is scored for 4,200 singers, 22 drums, 48 brass players, and 8-channel tape). His works list includes over 200 entries and demonstrates a particularly catholic, pluralistic, non-dogmatic approach to instrumentation, duration, venue, scale, and function. Despite this diversity, Mitterer’s work maintains several important central tendencies: stylistically, the music is often characterized by layers of crackles, twitches, clicks, and pops (both electronic and acoustic), with a rustling, flickering, chirping, gestural energy. These more fragmented, granular layers are quite often combined with gradual, elongated, atmospheric, and lyrical material, though generally a sense of instability and unpredictability remains.

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