This is a course outline for the first semester of movement training for beginning performers in theatre, part of a two-year course of study based on the Becque-Todd method of movement development. Emphasis is on a psychophysiological approach to developing new motor habits. The introduction presents the history, background, basic premises on which the course is based, and the techniques and tools used. Each subsequent chapter represents a unit of work on a specific problem, each taking one or more class periods.

This thesis is a personal journey. My work on VCU’s production of SWEENEY TODD began in the Spring of 2012 when I came on board the production as dramaturg. Part of what is contained within is both an explanation of my dramaturgical research method as well as samples of the research I have compiled. However, my role was drastically changed in the Fall of 2012 when I was cast as the primary antagonist in the production. The thesis chronicles the rehearsal process as my role as dramaturg increasingly gave way to my role as actor. It attempts to answer the question, “Is it possible to be both dramaturg and actor on a single production?” Finally, the thesis is a reflection of the overall process of working on a challenging theatrical production in an academic setting.

Whereas educational policy is mainly concerned with the content of Human Rights Education (HRE), philosophers of education have widely explored the subject and her social condition in terms of social justice education. This thesis draws on philosophers of education in exploring the subject rather than the content of HRE, focusing the study on ontological rather than epistemological aspects of learning. In this thesis learning is explored through narratives, as a relational process of becoming. The turn to narrative is taken against the dominant historical narrative of human rights as a Western project. This turn concerns how claims toward universalism of human rights exclude difference and equally concerns how notions of particularity overshadows the uniqueness in life stories. The concept of uniqueness serves to elucidate the complexity of the subject, not easily reduced into social categorizations, a concept drawn from Adriana Cavarero and Hannah Arendt. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In Press; Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This dissertation demonstrates a procedure to view any quasitoric manifold as a “minimal” sub-manifold of an ambient quasitoric manifold of codimension two via the wedge construction applied to the quotient polytope. These we term wedge quasitoric manifolds. We prove existence utilizing a construction on the quotient polytope and characteristic matrix and demonstrate conditions allowing the base manifold to be viewed as dual to the first Chern class of the wedge manifold. Such dualization allows calculations of KO characteristic classes as in the work of Ochanine and Fast. We also examine the Todd genus as it relates to two types of wedge quasitoric manifolds. Background matter on polytopes and toric topology, as well as spin and complex cobordism are provided.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 304 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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In the spring of 2023, Kungliga Operan in Stockholm, Sweden premiered their production of Stephen Sondheim's famous musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This study aims to analyze this production in regards to Mattias Fhyr's definition of the Gothic. It analyzes what gothic signs and themes are recognizable in the Kungliga Operan production of the musical and how they manifest on stage. The study applies the qualitative method of performance analysis, which uses a combination of semiotics and hermeneutics to analyze live performances. Semiotics is also used as the theoretical foundation of this essay. Fhyr's definition specifies that a gothic text depicts subjective worlds, that lack higher order and is characterized by an atmosphere of decay, destruction, and irresolvability, and that it contains labyrinthine qualities. Earlier research also shows that the Gothic can be found in almost all media, including theater. This study illustrates how this performance of Sweeney Todd contains and expresses the above mentioned themes. It also discusses the gothic genre's relationship with opera and comedy and how they are relevant in the performance. It explores the characters monstrous depictions, and examines different familial relations and themes in the musical, characteristic of the gothic genre. The study concludes that the Gothic can be found in the musical's set design and fictional locations, in the mood and atmosphere mostly created by the score, in the characters and their actions, as well as in the story itself.

The increasing use of health information technology (HIT) is due to a rising interest in improving the quality of health care. HIT has the potential to reduce cost and transform services. Proper clinical support systems will contribute to the meaningful use of HIT systems by providing a wide array of data to clinicians for the diagnosis and treatments. Clinical guidelines, created by a consensus of experts, can be put in place to assist physicians in making clinical decisions. Delphi methods are commonly used to create consensus from surveys completed by a team of experts. Image-based studies could create guidelines that standardize severity, deformity or other clinical classifications. As these studies were traditionally conducted using paper-based media, the cost and time requirement often make the process impractical. Using state of the art Web 2.0 technologies, a web-based system can aid medical researchers in conducting image-based Delphi studies for improved clinical guidelines and decision support.

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This dissertation analyzes the South African musical, King Kong, and its resounding impact on South African society throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. A “jazz opera” based on the life of a local African boxer (and not the overgrown gorilla from American cinema), King Kong featured an African composer and all-black cast, including many of the most prominent local musicians and singers of the era. The rest of the play’s management, including director, music director, lyricist, writer and choreographer, were overwhelmingly white South Africans. This inter-racial collaboration was truly groundbreaking in a nation where apartheid was officially enacted a little over a decade prior to King Kong’s 1959 debut. Relatively apolitical in its message, King Kong proved accessible to South African audiences regardless of race or background, and became overwhelmingly lauded as an endeavor that all of the country could enjoy and cherish. The musical successfully toured South Africa’s major metropolises, often to sold-out crowds. Its domestic success later spurred a tour of Britain in 1961, making it the first major South African theatrical production to be staged abroad. Due to the multi-racial efforts behind King Kong, its success and the high quality of its performers, the musical initiated a new era in South African music and theatre for decades to come. Despite being based around King Kong, this dissertation contextualizes the production, as it uses King Kong’s creation, development and legacies to further analyze larger themes within South African and global histories. Each chapter, as a result, examines the evolution of the musical from the life story of the boxer from which the play is based, the musical’s making and tour of South Africa, the play’s 1961 tour of the United Kingdom, the experiences of the black casts in exile, and the failure of the play’s 1979 remake. By examining the play, its cast, and their collective legacies both in South Africa and further afield, this project complicates our understanding of the Black Atlantic framework by infusing Africans as active participants in these transnational discussions. / text