Thesis (MDram)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed January 21, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Arts, Dept. of Performing Studies. Degree awarded 2008; thesis submitted 2007. Includes bibliography. Also available in print format.

The research investigates stillness as movement in time and space explored and exploited through an interdisciplinary study of ceramics and dance. Exercises consistent with Butoh, a Japanese dance form, are employed as an exploratory tool to facilitate a broader interpretation of stillness as motion through a corporeal processing of concepts such as time and space. Laban's 'principles of movement' are observed, explored and employed as a method used in choreography to analytically study movement as still components of a flux within space to inform dance composition. This study maps a path to practice that involves the constructing of a material bridge that links two disciplines, ceramics and dance, through similarities and varying approaches to a shared area of concern: movement in time and space. The constructing of this path to practice and its effect on the composing and installing of ceramic composition is the focus of the study. The study begins with the contextualising of 'stillness' as a state of 'movement in time' through Bergson's concepts in philosophy. The experience of real time is located internally by the philosopher Heidegger, who references real time as lived time felt in and through the body. At this point in the research the path transitions to a physical and performative engagement with 'stillness in time and space' in search of its qualities and textures, which shifts studio practice for a period of time from ceramics to dance practice. Two three-part case studies are constructed from participation in a Butoh dance workshop and through the observation of a choreography workshop. Studio experimentation follows which maps a ceramic path to practice through the perspective of dance, exploring the potential to share learning across a disciplinary divide. The final part of the case studies involves the composing and constructing of ceramic installations through the shared perspective of ceramics and dance. This thesis contributes to the discourse on interdisciplinary practice, specifically relating to ceramics and dance. It provides a transferable model of research that merges two fields of practice, broadening and intensifying the experience of learning through a combined kinesthetic, visual and cognitive approach. This model has been tested as an extension of this research within the field of dance and within a therapeutic environment to effect learning.

<p> Acting students enrolled in theatre training programs often receive excellent instruction in voice, movement, and acting techniques respectively; however, there are few opportunities, in most of these programs, to incorporate these skills into <i>one</i> integrated class prior to graduation. This Project Report proposes the creation, development, and implementation of such a Capstone Integration Course. The curriculum of this proposed course relies on the author&rsquo;s cumulative experience of several decades in the acting profession, primarily the following four pillars: (1) early training at the Juilliard School of Drama, (2) experiences teaching undergraduates in the California State University system, (3) a lifetime of study in the art of acting in professional conservatories and under master teachers, and (4) private coaching of professional actors in the field of theatre and film. This report claims that the proposed course fulfills a vital need in the education of student-actors, by preparing them for sustained and successful careers as professional actors.</p><p>

<p> This paper will help musicians understand the positive effects of incorporating deep breathing and alternate nostril breathing meditation techniques into their daily practice sessions by corroborating how these techniques enhance both mental focus and physical calm. I will give examples of how I use these techniques in warm-ups, practice sessions, and in the performance of <i>Sonatine pour Trombone et Piano</i> by Jacques Cast&eacute;r&egrave;de. Additionally, I will provide a brief introductory background to meditation as well as scientific evidence to validate its many benefits for musicians. The ultimate goal of this paper is to equip musicians with specific meditative breathing techniques that when used during daily practice sessions, enhance focus in a way that can be applied to performance situations leading to more intentional performances.</p><p>

<p> The focus of this study was to better understand the population known as cosplayers, people that dress up as characters from various media sources, including film, television, comics, and animation, who also attend social gatherings such as conventions (Gn, 2011). This study sought to exhaustively identify all motivations for people to cosplay. Two qualitative instruments were utilized, the first being an online questionnaire, and the second being a semi-structured interview script. Recruitment for participants took place online, with the subsequent data being coded and transcribed by the researcher. </p><p>

<p> Discursive frameworks of dance grounded in Western patriarchal modernist aesthetics and phallocentric theoretical lineages have consistently privileged the role of choreographers such that the labor, knowledge production, and perspectives of dancers have received little attention in dance scholarship. This dissertation considers the modes of being, thought, and critique that become articulable when the labor of dancers is acknowledged. Chapter One examines connections between the feminization of the role of the dancer and the devaluation of her labor and knowledge production and considers theoretical methodologies which might facilitate the inclusion of dancer&rsquo;s knowledge, labor, and voice in dance and performance scholarship. Chapter Two considers how the labor of the dancer in U.S. Western dance practices since the 1930s has continually transformed alongside shifts in economic modes of production in order to trace this entwinement within the scope of dancers&rsquo; research, knowledge production and critical capacities. Chapter Three relies on interviews with nine dancers to explore the entanglement of contemporary freelance dancers&rsquo; labor with post-Fordist labor values as well as their experiences of agency, freedom, representation and labor within neoliberal capitalism&rsquo;s modes of production. Chapter Four employs personal testimony of the dancer-scholar in order to consider the politics of the dancer within the site of Deborah Hay's Blues (2012). Through an exploration of these sites, I argue that dance and performance scholarship would benefit from the rich knowledge and insight afforded through the voices and praxis of dancers.</p><p>

<p> The MFA Acting and Performance Pedagogy program at CSULB has inspired me to investigate non-psychological based acting techniques. These newfound techniques, coupled with my classical singing background, led me to discover how to perform with joy and ease. Sanford Meisner acting technique exercises effectively redirected my attention away from myself and onto my scene partner in singing and acting. In performance and teaching, I am able to utilize the Meisner technique to uncover what inhibits the actor&rsquo;s attention and subsequently redirect their focus to the present moment. Declan Donnellan&rsquo;s <i> The Actor and the Target</i> and Timothy Gallwey&rsquo;s <i>The Inner Game of Tennis</i>, provide strategies to free the actor from inhibiting factors that prevent him/her from behaving naturally under imaginary circumstances. The use of all these concepts both in practice and performance allows actors to redirect their attention onto the imaginary circumstances and discover true freedom and joy in performance.</p><p>

<p> If &ldquo;we&rdquo; are not a &ldquo;We,&rdquo; then what are &lsquo;&rdquo;we&rdquo;? I posit that by encouraging diverse-population students in an introductory acting class for non-majors to examine and reveal their histories and identities in a manifesto-driven project, I can build a &ldquo;We&rdquo; in the classroom; not a dissipated notion of a Universal We, but a strong sense of community where both differences and commonalities are respected. By exploring self-identity through the Manifesto experience, students will have a closer connection to humanity and thus the task of acting. By cultivating community, students will be united and engaged in each other&rsquo;s efforts and well-being with a sense of compassion, kindness and trust that is evident, not disaffected or casual. New sensibilities will develop that can extend beyond the classroom. </p><p> The overarching pedagogical conversation in my CSULB graduate acting program has involved the imperative to &ldquo;see&rdquo; the students who are in front of us. The inspiration to develop this project based report around my work in the Theatre 113 &ndash; Introduction to Acting for Non-Majors classroom arrived following a graduate cohort Writing for the Theater Profession assembly taught by artist and scholar Dr. Jaye Austin Williams. Jaye brought my cohort&rsquo;s attention to the notion of a &ldquo;Universal We.&rdquo; We considered the idea of a utopian collective conscious where all of humanity is born with the same innate knowledge and expectation for success; however, the concept of a &ldquo;Universal We&rdquo; is easily refuted and dissipates when one contemplates the timeline of all evolution, including the rise and fall of cultures and civilizations, hierarchies, atrocities, vassalage, enslavement and colonialisms. This conversation unsettled me as I sat in front of my next Theatre 113 class with fifty students and contemplated, &ldquo;If &lsquo;we&rsquo; are not a &lsquo;We,&rsquo; then what are &lsquo;we&rsquo;?&rdquo; This inquiry inspired me to make zero assumptions regarding students and their backgrounds and to seek a path to better understand whom these learners represent as individuals and as a collective - for their knowledge and for mine. I assessed how would I connect and engage these pupils, and to what end? I decided to use a manifesto-driven project that asks students to inspect their self-identity in a presentation to the class, and also proposed that they examine their personal experience and relationship to privilege and pain. I hoped through this practice to create a profound semblance of community. I decided to use this semester to tackle this proposition head-on and invite the conversation into the classroom as we explored humanity, art and self-identity. Why is this important? Why is there an imperative to &ldquo;know&rdquo; our self and each other? </p><p> In this paper I will explore the proposal I offered to students to embark on this manifesto journey, document the process and observations of the students&rsquo; efforts, and examine the outcome through evaluation of students&rsquo; responses to a reflection questionnaire regarding the experience.</p><p>

abstract: ABSTRACT This study will have three sections: 1) outlining the imperative need to include in-depth character study in the preparation of art-song performance; 2) addressing the insufficient theatrical equipping of young collegiate singers in leading undergraduate applied voice programs and its causes, and 3) suggesting methods to advance acting training in classical voice programs. The primary goal will be to improve art song performance pedagogy and the performer’s ability to emotionally communicate with the audience. The first section will demonstrate why character study is necessary in the preparation of a sound art song performance. The musical works used in this study will be Songs of Travel (1904) by Ralph Vaughan Williams and A Young Man’s Exhortation (1929) by Gerald Finzi. These works provide examples of the cycle type in which a single character moves forward through time during the course of the song cycle. The second section will investigate the inadequate instruction received by students in undergraduate voice programs, concerning character analysis, by gathering course requirements from a variety of public and private universities. It will also examine the accrediting bodies that dictate much of the standardized curriculum across the majority of music schools in the U. S. such as the National Association of Schools of Music and the Higher Learning Commission. In the final section, a number of improvements will be suggested and examined according to their viability in training singers to convey both the musical and dramatic context found in the art song repertoire. The sources used in the course of this study include the scores (Boosey and Hawkes) of the aforementioned works, as well as published research on those works. Syllabi and curriculum checksheets from various university voice programs are also used to determine the required course requirements in contemporary applied voice degrees. The accrediting processes from bodies such as the National Association of Schools of Music and the Higher Learning Commission are used in my assessment of obstacles that those processes may inadvertently present. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2018