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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Other public performances & spectacles
This unique book is about a special group of alloys (safe &
non-toxic) that can be used to create numerous magical effects,
from vanishing (or bending or penetrating) a spoon, to mentally
melting coins in the hands of spectators - even card peeks and
locations using gallium. All of the listed effects are constructed
in the psychology and techniques of Max Malini (the greatest
impromptu magician of all time), designed for thoughtful magicians,
playful pranksters and curious minded individuals. Each novel
application is presented in easy-to-understand details and
do-it-yourself projects.
Book XIV of Martial's epigrams, the Apophoreta, derives its name
from the presents hosts gave 'to be carried away' by their guests
at the Roman Saturnalia. The book comprises poetic couplets
designed to accompany such presents and arranged so as to describe,
alternately, the gifts of rich and poor. It is a unique source of
information about one of the principal Roman festivals and about
many of the everyday objects of first-century Roman life; yet until
now it has attracted scant attention. This edition, while dealing
comprehensively with matters of literary, linguistic and textual
note, concerns itself also with the social context of the
Apophoreta and the gifts it describes. It is a rich source of
information not only for specialists in Latin epigram and the
literature of the Flavian period, but also for historians and
archaeologists, and indeed anyone with an interest in the life and
customs of Imperial Rome.
Wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, connects a mythic past to the
present through public ritual performance and is one of most
important performance traditions in Bali. The dalang, or puppeteer,
is revered in Balinese society as a teacher and spiritual leader.
Recently, women have begun to study and perform in this
traditionally male role, an innovation that has triggered
resistance and controversy. In Women in the Shadows, Jennifer
Goodlander draws on her own experience training as a dalang as well
as interviews with early women dealing and leading artists to upend
the usual assessments of such gender role shifts. She argues that
rather than assuming that women performers are necessarily mounting
a challenge to tradition, "tradition" in Bali must be understood as
a system of power that is inextricably linked to gender hierarchy.
She examines the very idea of "tradition" and how it forms both an
ideological and social foundation in Balinese culture, and
ultimately, Goodlander offers a richer, more complicated
understanding of both tradition and gender in Balinese society.
Following in the footsteps of other eminent reflexive
ethnographers, Women in the Shadows will be of value to anyone
interested in performance studies, Southeast Asian culture, or
ethnographic methods.
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