Theatrical and Non-Theatrical Thinking in Actual Choreographic Practice

The article attempts to concretize the essence of the two aesthetically polar staging approaches — theatrical and non-theatrical (performative) — in the context of the choreographic art development. The author suggests that the basis for separating these approaches can be some peculiarities in the ways they interpret such fundamental concepts as “actor”, “role”, “spectator”, “drama”, “action”, “conflict”, which, in a choreographic performance, are in certain relationships determined by cultural traditions, and in a non-theatrical production, they are transformed up to their disappearance. A similar experience of separating a theater and a non-theater on the basis of the presence of an actor, a role, a spectator and an hierarchy between them is proposed in theater studies. However, in choreographic (including ballet) performances, the content of the role is closely linked with the music and is often determined by the emotional background and musical dramaturgy. In the case of a radical departure from the composer’s intention, turning to a different starting point for the composition, the specificity of the choreographic (ballet) performance is destroyed. Borrowings from non-theatrical art are showed in the construction of meanings when working with intrinsic body movement, as well as in the reliance on interdisciplinarity. Within a single line of choreographic art, there is a whole spectrum of ideas that interpret the concepts of “theatricality”, “non-theatricality”, “drama”, and “performativity” in different ways. On what basis to classify them in order to reduce them to a consistent system is a difficult question. The article attempts to outline the foundation for future classification. The relevance of this topic is caused by the insufficient elaboration of the conceptual base in the specialized literature on choreographic art.

Scenographic Charac-ters of Tetiana Medvid. Figural, Architectural and Textural Attributes

The article for the first time examines the scenographic projects of Tetiana Medvid, which were created during the 70–90s of the XX century, in the theaters of Ukraine, with different directors, but united by one artistic technique — the creation of scenographic characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of the stage scenery, which act as separate material characters and reveal the idea of the play. The purpose of the article is to find out the function of scenographic characters — created by figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery in the creative works of Tetiana Medvid within the system of effective scenography in terms of creating a visual image of the play. The subject of research — scenographic projects of Tetiana Medvid: “Threepenny Opera” by B. Brecht (1975), “Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy (1975), “Do not shoot at white swans” by B. Vasilyev (1977), “Interrogation” by S. Rodionov, D. Liburkin (1979), G. Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” (1993), “In the Labyrinth” by V. Vynnychenko’s play “Nailed” (1996), “Christian’s Dreams” by H. Ch. Andersen, “Ole Lukoje” (1995), “Tartuffe” by Moliere (1999) on the stage of the Taras Shevchenko Kharkiv Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre; and “Caligula” by Albert Camus (1998) at the Donetsk National Academic Ukrainian Musical and Drama Theatre named after Artem. Research methodology — use of the method of primary sources, conceptual analysis, the method of theoretical generalization. Results. It is determined that the main expressive element of most scenographic projects of T. Medvid were scenographic characters of different typological series, in particular characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery, and the basis of Tetiana Dmytrivna’s work were the principles of visual directing: idea, thought. Novelty. For the first time in Ukrainian art history, one of the typological series of the main means of expression of the outstanding scenographer — T. Medvid — was analyzed and systematized, namely — scenographic characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery. The practical significance lies in the possibility of using the presented information in scientific researches of art and theater studies, as well as collected and meaningful factual and illustrative material has the opportunity to become an integral part in further study of the work of scenographers of Ukraine.

The uniqueness of theatrical memoiristics of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik

The subject of this research is the memoir heritage of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik. The novelty is defined by the absence of works dedicated specifically to the theatrical memoirs of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik. This article examines her memoiristics as part of the history of Russian theater, which allows the researchers to determine the author's contribution to the Russian theater studies. The goal of this consists in drawing attention of the audience and researchers to the memoiristics of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik, as well as in describing the role of her theatrical memoirs within the Russian literary studies and the history of Russian theater. Analysis is conducted on the key peculiarities of the memoir heritage of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik: stylistic uniqueness, attention to details of the theatrical culture, mastery of sculptural portraits. The author also reveals fascinating rare facts about the prominent figures of art and theatrical events of the late XIX – early XX centuries. The conclusion is made that the memoirs of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik represent a rich source on the history of Russian theatre. The details of theatrical culture, in-depth analysis of acting, portraits of the outstanding figures of Russian and foreign culture – all these facts makes her memoir heritage an invaluable material that contributes to the study of the Russian theatrical art.

Generation Z as a theater audience (on the problem of social partnership between school and theater)

The article is devoted to the current problem of partnership between the school and the theater. The article examines the key concepts that characterize the worldview of modern high school students-generation Z. The author notes the importance of the theater's influence on the process of personal development of adolescents – the development of their empathy and criteria for value judgment. The purpose of the research is to reveal the importance of strengthening contacts between school and theater in the context of the transformation of modern education. The scientific novelty of the work consists in an interdisciplinary approach to the issue with the involvement of materials from the field of pedagogy, cultural studies, psychology and theater studies. As a result, the author substantiates the need for innovative transformations in the field of social partnership between the school and the theater, and suggests the development and implementation of the project of an educational theater festival in an online format.

Speculative Futures

Chapter 6 expands upon fundamental arguments put forth in the preceding chapters to further assert the importance of centering choreography within the discourse that surrounds the field of immersive theater studies. In addition, this chapter looks forward, speculating on the potential contributions of dance to the changing landscape of immersive performance, as strategies used to create participatory performance and experiential entertainment are increasingly adopted within commercial business sectors. The book concludes with a defense of dance as a broad field of study, and a call to properly acknowledge its contributions to the development of new cultural forms, including the innovation of immersive performance.

Latin American Theater and Performance

Theatrical practice in Latin America predates the European conquest, and since the conquest has been a site for the expression of new cultural formations, often enacting or contesting prevailing systems of power. As in the field of theater studies generally, the term “theater” encompasses a range of performance practices, and overlaps in key periods with religious rites, political spectacle, festival, social and modern dance, performance art, and popular culture forms. Major concerns of the field include asking how European-based dramatic forms have been reinvented through their continuous interaction with indigenous and African cultural forms, and vice versa; what are the meanings of modernist and post-modernist dramatic forms in societies where modernity is an unstable context; how theater practitioners have transformed traditional forms of theater into an activist “Theatre of the Oppressed”; and what role theater plays in the contemporary neoliberal moment. While scholarship on theater in Latin America dates to the early 20th century, the field of Latin American theater studies—which defines its object of study as theater from the entire region—emerged alongside Popular Theater practice of the 1960s and 1970s, which similarly understood itself as a continental project. Both practice and scholarship, forged in the context of the Cold War, embraced a socially critical stance in favor of the working classes (the “popular” classes), understood theater as a vehicle for social change, and believed that shared Latin American aesthetics and methods were emerging. The field has retained this fundamental interest in the social and political dimensions of theater and has responded to the changing geopolitics of the region. A significant development in the field was the shift in the 1990s from a continental to a hemispheric frame. The hemispheric orientation sought, on one hand, to reshape disciplinary boundaries that rendered the formative, and often repressive, relation between the United States and its southern neighbors invisible; on the other, it affirms shared histories, culture, and aesthetics between US Latinx and Latin American communities and artists. This bibliography addresses the history, theories, and practices of Latin American theater studies and maps its changing disciplinary boundaries and thematic concerns over time. The periodization is intentionally loose. For example, works related to revolutionary aesthetics and the politics of the body are concentrated in the 1960s and 1990s respectively, but these represent threads in both practice and scholarship that continue well past those dates.

PETA TEORITIK PENGKAJIAN TEATER: DARI TEORI STRUKTURALIS SAMPAI POSTRUKTURALIS

This article tries to map out the structuralist and poststructuralist theories as the basis of theater studies. So far, the studies of theater performed by theater academics have always been based on structuralist views; examining aspects of form, meaning, style and exclude the human aspects as forming agents of the structure. Structuralist view is antihumanist. It says that the sign has meaning when it is associated with other signs in a systematic unity of structure and not from its relation to the individu (artists). According to poststructuralist view, it is very possible to do a cultural study of theatrical text by looking at the interrelationship between one text and another outside, including social, cultural, literary, political, and other texts that are present randomly and overlapping (juxtaposition). Therefore, this theoretical mapping needs to be done in order to enrich the theater academics to conduct theater performances studies.Keywords: studies, theoretical map, structuralist, poststructuralist