1. This book is a crucial conversation about how racialized bodies and power intersect within actor training spaces. 2. this book specifically examines race from various and diverse points of view. 3. the book looks at acting training and race from a voice and movement perspective.

A seminal text on what live performance is, what it means, and how it can be theorised. Its second edition is required reading on many theatre and performance studies courses. Uniquely controversial on a subject which continues to be topical. Thoroughly updated to take into account changes in media, scholarship and digital technologies.

* This collection builds a broad basis for a possible and necessary paradigmatic shift in the field of theater and performance historiography. * Would be recommended reading in for any undergraduate or master's level students studying theatre history, drama and dance. * The closest competitors do not explore the term 'entangled histories'. Therefore this collection breaks new ground by looking at this concept as a new paradigm in the field.

* The book will include high quality contributions from practitioners and researchers that consider the ethics and aesthetics of the work, investigating the role of sound in community building, wellbeing, education, and social or environmental justice. * Would be recommended reading in leading applied and socially engaged theatre courses, in sound studies and sonic art courses and in media and communication courses. * The closest competitors are more a broad survey of sound art while this book looks to the future, building possibilities, and imagining what might be through the creative acts of inquiry and sound. Contribution from Brandon LaBelle (key theorist in sound studies) First book to address community engaged arts through a sound studies lens An area of community engaged arts that has exploded recently since the COVID-19 pandemic

This book considers arousal as a mode of theoretical and artistic inquiry to encourage new ways of staging and examining bodies in performance across artistic disciplines, modern history, and cultural contexts. Looking at traditional drama and theatre, but also visual arts, performance activism, and arts-based community engagement, this collection draws on the complicated relationship between arousing images and the frames of their representability to address what constitutes arousal in a variety of connotations. It examines arousal as a project of social, scientific, cultural, and artistic experimentation, and discusses how our perception of arousal has transformed over the last century. Probing "what arouses" in relation to the ethics of representation, the book investigates the connections between arousal and pleasures of voyeurism, underscores the political impact of aroused bodies, and explores how arousal can turn the body into a mediated object.

* The book demonstrates how a vernacular British performance form emerged as a hybrid of forms from Afro-American and minstrel, as well as French mime and Italian commedia dell'arte roots. * Theatre history is an essential part of theatre and drama courses across the UK and would be recommended reading. * There is no comparable book which makes critical analysis of British pierrot troupes and concert parties in existence - the only ones that do exist on the specific topic are written as reminiscence and anecdote.

Unparalleled insights from some of the world's foremost practitioners of clowning. The Origins/Influences/Technique/Philosophy structure allows direct comparisons between varied figures. An opening history of clowning puts the interviews and their findings into context.

This book examines the enactment of gendered in/equalities across diverse Cultural forms, turning to the insights produced through the specific modes of onto-epistemological enquiry of embodied performance. It builds on work from the GRACE (Gender and Cultures of Equality in Europe) project and offers both theoretical and methodological analyses of an array of activities and artworks. The performative manifestations discussed include theatre, installations, social movements, mega-events, documentaries, and literary texts from multiple geopolitical locales. Engaging with the key concepts of re-enactment and relationality, the contributions explore the ways in which in/equalities are relationally re-produced in and through individual and collective bodies. This multi- and trans-disciplinary collection of essays creates fruitful dialogues within and beyond Performance Studies, sitting at the crossroads of ethnography, event studies, social movements, visual studies, critical discourse analysis, and contemporary approaches to textualities emerging from post-colonial and feminist studies.

This collection provides an in-depth exploration of surtitling for theatre and its potential in enhancing accessibility and creativity in both the production and reception of theatrical performances. The volume collects the latest research on surtitling, which encompasses translating lyrics or sections of dialogue and projecting them on a screen. While most work has focused on opera, this book showcases how it has increasingly played a role in theatre by examining examples from well-known festivals and performances. The 11 chapters underscore how the hybrid nature and complex semiotic modes of theatrical texts, coupled with technological advancements, offer a plurality of possibilities for applying surtitling effectively across different contexts. The book calls attention to the ways in which agents in theatrical spaces need to carefully reflect on the role of surtitling in order to best serve the needs of diverse audiences and produce inclusive productions, from translators considering appropriate strategies to directors working on how to creatively employ it in performance to companies looking into all means available for successful implementation. Offering a space for interdisciplinary dialogues on surtitling in theatre, this book will be of interest to scholars in audiovisual translation, media accessibility, and theatre and performance studies.

This volume in the Routledge Key Guides series provides a round-up of the fifty musicals whose creations were seminal in altering the landscape of musical theater discourse in the English-speaking world. Each entry summarises a show, including a full synopsis, discussion of the creators' process, show's critical reception, and its impact on the landscape of musical theater. This is the ideal primer for students of musical theater - its performance, history, and place in the modern theatrical world - as well as fans and lovers of musicals.

This revised third edition of The Male Dancer updates and enlarges a seminal book that has established itself as the definitive study of the performance of masculinities in twentieth century modernist and contemporary choreography. In this authoritative and lively study, Ramsay Burt presents close readings of dance works from key moments of social and political change in the norms around gender and sexuality. The book's argument that prejudices against male dancers are rooted in our ideas about the male body and behaviour has been extended to take into account recent interdisciplinary discussions about whiteness, intersectionality, disability studies, and female masculinities. As well as analysing works by canonical figures like Nijinsky, Graham, Cunningham, and Bausch, it also examines the work of lesser-known figures like Michio Ito and Eleo Pomare, as well as choreographers who have recently emerged internationally like Germaine Acogny and Trajal Harrell. The Male Dancer has proven to be essential reading for anyone interested in dance and the cultural representation of gender. By reflecting on the latest studies in theory, performance, and practice, Burt has thoroughly updated this important book to include dance works from the last ten years and has renewed its timeliness for the 2020s.

Milestones in Musical Theatre tracks ten of the most significant moments in musical theatre history, from some of its earliest incarnations, especially those crafted by Black creators, to its rise as a global phenomenon. Designed for weekly use in musical theatre courses, these ten chosen snapshots chart the development of this unique art form and move through its history chronologically, tracking the earliest operettas through the mid-century Golden Age classics, as well as the creative explosion in directing talent which reshaped the form, and moves toward inclusivity which have recast its creators. Each chapter explores how the musical and its history have been deeply influenced by a variety of factors, including race, gender and nationality, and examines how each milestone represents a significant turning point for this beloved art form. Milestones are a range of accessible textbooks, breaking down the need-to-know moments in the social, cultural, political and artistic development of foundational subject areas. This book is ideal for diverse and inclusive undergraduate musical theatre history courses.

This book examines Commedia dell'Arte as a performative genre, and one that should be analysed through the framework of dramaturgy and dramaturgical practice. This volume examines the way Commedia has been explored in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and details its reinventors' dramaturgic approaches, both focusing in on specific examples such as Jacques Lecoq, Dario Fo and Antonio Fava, and also suggesting how modern discoveries may aid the study of historical performance practice. It also discusses how audiences read and receive masks; the relationship between the different masked and unmasked roles; the range of performance activities that come under the umbrella term 'improvisation'; the performative construction of a role performed 'live' from a scenario; the role of language and embodied locality in performance; and the performative relationship between performative commedia and literary tragicomedy. Its focus is dramaturgy, and so it may be read both as a text describing various theatrical practices from 1946 onwards and as a way of creating one's own contemporary Commedia practice. It is an important read for any student or scholar of Commedia dell'Arte and theatre historians grappling with the status of this unique and influential performance form.

"What is it that we're doing, when we're acting well? What is it that great actors are actually doing when they're practicing their craft at the highest level?" This is the question famously posed by Earle Gister, the legendary head of the acting department at Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1999. In Acting Action, actor, director, and teaching artist Hugh O'Gorman invites readers to explore the question in detail. Focusing on playing action-one of the essential components of acting passed on to Earle Gister and Lloyd Richards by Paul Mann-Acting Action is divided into two parts: Context and Practice. The Context section provides a thorough examination of the theory behind the core elements of playing action. The Practice section provides a step-by-step rehearsal guide for actors to integrate playing action into their preparation process. Acting Action is a place to begin for actors: a foundation, a ground plan for how to get started and how to build the core of a performance. More precisely, it provides a practical guide for actors, directors, and teachers in the technique of playing action, addressing a void in the world of actor training by illuminating what exactly to do in the moment-to-moment act of acting. It also serves as an artistic instructional manual for either the stage or camera.

Contents:
List of illustrations Contributors Preface Acknowledgements 1. General Introduction: Between theory and practice Phillip B. Zarrilli Part I Theories and Meditations on Acting 2. Introduction Phillip B. Zarrilli 3. The Actor's Presence: Three phenomenal modes Bert O. States 4. On Acting and Not-Acting Michael Kirby 5. "Just Be Your Self": Logocentrism and difference in performance theory Philip Auslander 6. The Actor's Emotions Reconsidered: A psychological task-based perspective Elly Konijn Part II (Re)Considering the Body and Training 7. Introduction Phillip B. Zarrilli 8. An Amulet Made of Memory: The significance of exercises in the actor's dramaturgy Eugenio Barba 9. Meyerhold's Biomechanics Mel Gordon 10. Etienne Decroux's Promethean Mime Deidre Sklar 11. Actor Training in the Neutral Mask Sears A. Eldredge and Hollis W. Huston 12. Bali and Grotowski: Some parallels in the training process I. Wayan Lendra 13. Culture is the Body Tadashi Suzuki 14. My Bodies: The performer in West Java Kathy Foley 15. "On the edge of a breath, looking": Cultivating the actor's bodymind through Asian martial/meditation arts Phillip B. Zarrilli 16. The Gardzenice Theatre Association of Poland Paul Allain 17. Effector Patterns of Basic Emotions: A psychophysiological method for training actors Susana Bloch, Pedro Orthous and Guy Santibañez-H Part III (Re)Considering the Actor in Performance 18. Introduction Phillip B. Zarrilli 19. Brecht and the Contradictory Actor John Rouse 20. Dario Fo: The roar of the clown Ron Jenkins 21. Forum Theatre Augusto Boal 22. Resisting the "Organic": A feminist actor's approach Lauren Love 23. Rachel Rosenthal Creating Her Selves Eelka Lampe 24. Task and Vision: Willem Dafoe in LSD Philip Auslander 25. David Warrilow: Creating symbol and cipher Laurie Lassiter 26. Robert Wilson and the Actor: Performing in Danton's Death Ellen Halperin-Royer 27. Anna Deavere Smith: Part I: the World Becomes You: and interview with Carol Martin; Part II: Acting as Incorporation . Richard Schechner Notes Bibliography and References Cited Bibliographical Note: Actors speaking on acting Index

Jennifer Johnson profiles the real-life stories if more than sixty women who have no college education, are married with kids, and ears an average of $16,000 per year, giving us an important window into a large, poorly understood segment of US society. Through the words of these women, Johnson captures the essence of women's working-class experience: from job stagnation, low self-esteem, and social isolation to camaraderie among co-workers, loyalty to one's roots, and even prise in a job well done. This compassionately told book offers a captivating an emotional study of the difference class makes in women's lives, as well as the problems, restrictions, and rewards to all women.

This collection aims to map a diversity of approaches to the artform by creating a 360° view on the circus. Three sections of the book, Aesthetics, Practice, Culture, approach aesthetic developments, issues of artistic practice, and the circus’ role within society. This book consists of a collection of articles from renowned circus researchers, junior researchers, and artists. It also provides the core statements and discussions of the conference UpSideDown—Circus and Space in a graphic recording format. Hence, it allows a clear entry into the field of circus research and emphasizes the diversity of approaches that are well balanced between theoretical and artistic point of views. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of circus studies, emerging disciples of circus and performance.

Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London brings together a group of essays from across multiple fields of study that examine the socio-cultural, political, economic, and aesthetic dimensions of pageantry in sixteenth and seventeenth-century London. This collection engages with modern interest in the spectacle and historical performances of pageantry and entertainments, including royal entries, progresses, coronation ceremonies, Lord Mayor's Shows, and processions. Through a discussion of the extant texts, visual records, archival material, and emerging projects in the digital humanities, the chapters elucidate the forms in which the period itself recorded its public rituals, pageantry, and ephemeral entertainments. The diversity of approaches contained in these chapters reflects the collaborative nature of pageantry and civic entertainments, as well as the broad socio-cultural resonances of this form of drama, and in doing so offers a study that is multi-faceted and wide-ranging, much like civic performance itself. Ideal for scholars of Early Modern global politics, economics, and culture; literary and performance studies; print culture; and the digital humanities, Civic Performance casts a new lens on street pageantry and entertainments in the historically and culturally significant locus of Early Modern London.

The most comprehensive volume on performance art from the Americas to have appeared in English, Corpus Delecti is a unique collection of historical and critical studies of contemporary Latin performance. Drawing on live art from the 1960s to the present day, these fascinating essays explore the impact of Latin American politics, popular culture and syncretic religions on Latin performance.
Including contributions by artists as well as scholars, Fusco's collection bridges the theory/practice divide and discusses a wide variety of genres. Among them are:
* body art
* carpa
* vaudeville
* staged political protest
* tropicalist musical comedies
* contemporary Venezuelan performance art
* the Chicano Art movement
* queer Latino performance
The essays demonstrate how specific social and historical contexts have shaped Latin American performance. They also show how those factors have affected the choices artists make, and how their work draw upon and respond to their environment.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415194539

Since the 1960s, visual art practices - from body art to minimalism - have taken contemporary art outside the museum and gallery, by embracing theatricality and performance and exploding the boundaries set by traditional art criticism. Such practices prompt us to reassess our ways of contructing meaning from art, making us receptive to the element of performance both in the processes of art production, and in the act of interpretation itself. Performing the Body/Performing the Text explores the new performativity in art theory and practice, examining ways of rethinking interpretive processes in visual culture. This collection undertakes two parallel projects: exploring art practices which perform the subject, and examining ways in which modes of performativity in contemporary art offers new models for interpreting artworks. Demonstrating how modernist art criticism attempts to fix the work with more stable sets of aesthetic meanings, the contributors argue that interpretation needs to be recognised as much more dynamic and contingent. It does not come `naturally' at the moment of contact with the artwork, but is worked out as an ongoing, open performance between artists and spectators, with meaning circulating fluidly in the complex web of connections between artists, patrons, collectors, and between both specialised and non-specialised viewers within the arena of encounter. Offering its own performance script, and embracing both canonical `fine' artists such as Manet, De Kooning and Jasper Johns, and performance artists such as Vito Acconci, Gunter Brus and the Sacred Naked Nature Girls, Performing the Body/Performing the Text offers radical re-readings of art works and points confidently towards new models for understanding art.