Dancing While Pregnant by Teagen Boyle is about a very important question any female athlete may find themselves asking. How can I continue my sport while pregnant? Pregnancy is very strenuous and takes a toll on the human body; however, it is very important to stay healthy and continue exercising. Dance is a safe, no-contact sport that is really on the terms of the dancer. Therefore, dance is most likely a fun, safe form of exercise for pregnant women. Diving into research and looking up articles one may find little to no research. That is because there is barely any research done on safe forms of exercise for pregnant women. Through deduction and reasoning and others research a conclusion was found. By assessing the few women who do embrace dance during their pregnancy it was found to have numerous benefits. While there are always restrictions, especially when carrying a baby, the benefits were plentiful while the cons were minute. The benefits of exercise during pregnancy has been research and many pros are shown. For example, mothers who exercise show less complications during labor and delivery, healthier mom and baby, and improved mood in mom. Not only are the physical aspects important but so are the emotional ones. Emotionally pregnancy is a rollercoaster and there is nothing anyone can do for it. Although, exercise and specifically dance has been shown to improve mood and improve mood especially in pregnant women. Overall, dancing as a safe form of exercise during pregnancy is recommended with a doctor's approval.

I designed the lighting for William Shakespeare's complex piece, The Merchant of Venice, which was produced by the UMass Amherst Theater Department. In this thesis paper, I will discuss the creative process from start to finish, including relevant lighting paperwork and production photographs.

The main objective before us is to determine how the drama, in its several forms, may be so utilized as to bring about and further Americanization. In attempting to make this theory clear to those who may be more or less unfamiliar with the idea, it will be necessary to consider the definition of Americanization, and to make some decision as to who may be Americanized. It will also be necessary to review, rather briefly, the origin and development of the drama, that it may be seen why drama has been elected as our medium. There have been several difficulties encountered in the search for material to aid in reaching the stated objective. It has been found that definitions and opinions vary as to the meaning of Americanization, and agree very little concerning who may be Americanized. While the value of the drama as an educational factor is easily recognized, its specific application to Americanization, as herein attempted, has been extremely limited. To choose a medium which would include all of those who come within the scope of Americanization, one that entailed a simple method of procedure and would appeal to all, was not so easy as it might appear. A large proportion of our population is unreached by the school; a relatively large number is not influenced by the press because of lack of educational advantage. According to President Coolidge: “It is not alone the youth of the land which needs and seeks education, but we have a large adult population requiring assistance in this direction.” This made it very evident that no medium that required an extended basic education could be used. Some means of transference of values which could be understood by all people, not dependent entirely upon education or upon language was sought. After a somewhat extended search, it was found that drama may be made a most effective means for Americanization. Some forms of the drama speak a universal language and because of this they appeal both to the native and to the foreign born in America. As a medium for showing the contributions of cultural values to America by the foreign born, the drama has no equal, and it is quite as effective when used to show to the foreign born the American values which they should accept. Drama can be used to influence the native-born, adults and children, to accept cultural values from foreign lands, and it can be a most effective means of disseminating American values to the native-born. It is sincerely hoped that the conclusion arrived at here may influence communities to do more work along dramatic lines. It is also hoped that the material gathered here may help teachers to formulate definite plans for the use of drama in schools; that it may assist committees in placing dramatic programs in Americanization departments, as a regular part of the work, and that it may help them in planning such programs.

”Problems for the HIgh School Actor” has been prepared so that the teacher and the student have been given a certain degree of flexibility in its use. The order of presentation of the various problems, the amount of time spent on any one time, and the focusing on the major amount of emphasis may vary from class to class and from year to year as the interests, needs, and skills of the enrollee vary. The most educationally worthwhile method can be used to meet these varying situations. This study has been developed so as to make possible further study of the problems herein presented. The resources unit that has been included will be found most helpful. It should be a stimulus for a continued analysis of the great plays. It would be well to consider the objectives involved in “Problems for the High School Actor”: (1) To enable the student to realize the communicative possibilities of bodily action and facial expression; (2) To enable the student to realize the possibilities of emotional expression through the voice.; (3) To help the student acquire grace of movement.; (4) To help the student develop a pleasing, expressive voice.; (5) To make the student aware of the world and the people around him as a source of characterizations.; (6) To develop powers of observation in the student so that he may find in the world around him the inspiration and materials of characterization.; (7) To enable the student to acquire memorization techniques.; (8) To give the student practice in memorizing and characterization.; (9) To give the students practice in working with others in dramatic scenes.; (10) To develop the student’s sense of responsibility in self-organized, self-directed scenes.; (11) To develop the ability to sacrifice personal ambitions to the welfare of the group.; (12) To give the student a knowledge of stage directions and acting techniques.; (13) To develop a critical sense in the student in evaluating his own and other’s work.; (14) To give poise and confidence to the student. The over-all plan in “Problems for the High School Actor’ has been to give the student a chance to act. It has long been the belief of the investigator that the average, serious-minded high school actor can best learn how to act by working on excerpts from the World’s great dramatic literature. When the actor is told exactly what is expected of him in playing his role. He will most appreciably grow, and he soon senses the importance of a well-motivated characterization, and sometimes he will have the techniques so ingrained, he can attack the more complicated problems in acting with sincerity and understanding.

It was the purpose of this study (1) to discover the similarities and dissimilarities in three ancient Greek plays that used the legend of the house of Atreus as the basis for their plots; (2) to discover how these similarities and dissimilarities illustrate separate points of view concerning man, the universe and man’s place in that universe; and (3) to discover what relationship if any exists between the points of view expressed and the particular moment in history at which each playwright wrote. The plays considered were the Oresteia, a trilogy by Aeschylus first presented about 458 B.C.; Electra by Sophocles; probably presented first sometime before 413 B.C.; and Electra by Euripides, first presented in 413 B.C. SInce the purpose of the study was to compare ideas and points of view expressed by the three great tragic dramatists of Greece, no attempt was made to justify the plays selected as works of art nor their authors as master craftsmen. However, in cases where translators disagree or left out portions of the manuscript which seemed to be mistakes in copying or lapses in artistry on the part of the playwright, the investigator adopted the attitude expressed by H.D.F. Kitto. All the plays were read in translation, but where more than one translation was available at least two translations were read, one literal and one poetic; in some cases as many as three were read in an effort to insure accuracy.

A DESIGN CONCEPT FOR THE LIGHTING OF HELL IN HIGH WATER BY MARCUS GARDLEY MAY 2012 JESSICA GREENBERG, B.A., HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE M.F.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Penny Remsen I designed the lighting for this new play with music HELL IN HIGH WATER by Marcus Gardley, produced by the UMass Amherst Theater Department. In this thesis paper I discuss the creative process from start to finish. I include relevant lighting paperwork and images from the production.

A reflection of the lighting artist’s approach for the lighting design of The Twenty-fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. University of Massachusetts, Amherst Department of Theater’s Fall 2010 production used as a research ground for the experimentation of lighting design through the cueing process.

In this thesis, I take the reader through the process and particular challenges of directing The House of Bernarda Alba, from choosing a translation, to casting from a pool of mostly undergraduate actors, to staging a show in-the-round. More particularly, I compare my previous work with adaptation to this process of treating the script as a fixed entity. I also offer a detailed explanation of the exploratory work I did with the actors in building the physicality of the play-world and exploring the relationships of the characters. For this, I drew heavily on Anne Bogart’s composition exercises, found in The Viewpoints Book. In this thesis, I transcribe and analyze some of the material generated through these exercises. Finally, I endeavor to prove that a certain freedom can be found through structure, and that the challenge of this production - which was assigned to me rather than a personal choice - helped me develop a more subtle creative voice than I had previously possessed.

This essay describes tools for unlocking accessibility in theatre, specifically for those within the disabled community. Throughout my own research in accessible theatre, and the research reviewed within this paper, it is seen that inclusive theatre yields a multitude of positive benefits for those involved, both emotionally and socially. Throughout my experience with OpenSpot Theatre, an accessible theatre company that teaches drama classes in areas throughout the United States, I learn methods to implement accessibility in theatrical settings using devised theatre, affinity therapy, and applied theatre techniques. Within this thesis, I describe my experience with accessible theatre, OpenSpot theatre, and take a look into how the brilliant realms of theatre and psychology collide.

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