In this book, Erika Fischer-Lichte traces the emergence of performance as 'an art event' in its own right. In setting performance art on an equal footing with the traditional art object, she heralds a new aesthetics. The peculiar mode of experience that a performance provokes - blurring distinctions between artist and audience, body and mind, art and life - is here framed as the breeding ground for a new way of understanding performing arts, and through them even wider social and cultural processes. With an introduction by Marvin Carlson, this translation of the original sthetik des Performativen addresses key issues in performance art, experimental theatre and cultural performances to lay the ground for a new appreciation of the artistic event.

The first full-length study of the theatrical jazz aesthetic, that draws on the jazz principles of ensemble--the break, the bridge, and the blue note.

This book provides a timely intervention in the fields of performance studies and theatre history, and to larger issues of global cultural exchange. The authors offer a provocative argument for rethinking the scholarly assessment of how diverse performative cultures interact, how they are interwoven, and how they are dependent upon each other. While the term ‘intercultural theatre’ as a concept points back to postcolonialism and its contradictions, The Politics of Interweaving Performance Cultures explores global developments in the performing arts that cannot adequately be explained and understood using postcolonial theory. The authors challenge the dichotomy ‘the West and the rest’ – where Western cultures are ‘universal’ and non-Western cultures are ‘particular’ – as well as ideas of national culture and cultural ownership. This volume uses international case studies to explore the politics of globalization, looking at new paternalistic forms of exchange and the new inequalities emerging from it. These case studies are guided by the principle that processes of interweaving performance cultures are, in fact, political processes. The authors explore the inextricability of the aesthetic and the political, whereby aesthetics cannot be perceived as opposite to the political; rather, the aesthetic is the political. Helen Gilbert’s essay ‘Let the Games Begin: Pageants, Protests, Indigeneity (1968–2010)’won the 2015 Marlis Thiersch Prize for best essay from the Australasian Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies Association.

Ferguson - Michael Brown - Greek Tragedy - Transformative Music - Dynamic Conversations Antigone in Ferguson shares the truth about justice as experienced on stage with spirit-felt, soulful, & captivating music composed and directed by Dr. Philip A. Woodmore in a unique adaptation written by Bryan Doerries of Theater of War Productions. In this book, you will discover the transformative power of music (when interwoven with the drama of Greek tragedy) to change people's thinking and actions regarding injustice on the macro and micro level in our modern society. This transformation in thinking leads to healing discussions that produce effective, pervasive and long-lasting actions. Dr. Philip A. Woodmore will be your guide as we investigate and interrogate the journey to this thrilling transformation. Dr. Woodmore is a nationally recognized music educator who specializes in composition, vocal coaching, choral curriculum and programming, and collaborative rehearsing. Using his expertise, he has composed an original score and lyrics to Sophocles's tragedy, Antigone, which has become an Off-Broadway smash-hit known as Antigone in Ferguson.

Aesthetic theory in the West has, until now, been dominated by ideas of effect, autonomy, and reception. Transformative Aesthetics uncovers these theories’ mutual concern with the transformation of those involved. From artists to spectators, readers, listeners, or audiences, the idea of transformation is one familiar to cultures across the globe. Transformation of the individual is only one part of this aesthetic phenomenon, as contemporary artists are increasingly called upon to have a transformative, sustainable impact on society at large. To this end, Erika Fischer Lichte and Benjamin Wihstutz present a series of fresh perspectives on the discussion of aesthetics, uniting Western theory with that of India, China, Australia, and beyond. Each chapter of Transformative Aesthetics focuses on a different approach to transformation, from the foundations of aesthetics to contemporary theories, breaking new ground to establish a network of thought that spans theatre, performance, art history, cultural studies, and philosophy.

"When twenty-eight-year-old Gustavo Dudamel ascended the podium at the Hollywood Bowl for his inaugural concert as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he immediately captivated the hearts of his audience and the minds of critics, who designated him a modern-day Leonard Bernstein. In this beautifully woven narrative, the young maestro's story becomes the entry point to an equally captivating subject: El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education program that took Dudamel from child violinist to conductor extraordinaire."--Jacket.

Superhero Grief uses modern superhero narratives to teach the principles of grief theories and concepts and provide practical ideas for promoting healing. Chapters offer clinical strategies, approaches, and interventions, including strategies based in expressive arts and complementary therapies. Leading researchers, clinicians, and professionals address major topics in death, dying, and bereavement, using superhero narratives to explore loss in the context of bereavement and to promote a contextual view of issues and relationship types that can improve coping skills. This volume provides support and psychoeducation to students, clinicians, educators, researchers, and the bereaved while contributing significantly to the literature on the intersection of death, grief, and trauma.