Performance Perspectives: A Critical Introduction

(Hardback)

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What is 'performance' What are the boundaries of Performance Studies How do we talk about contemporary performance practices today in simple but probing terms What kinds of practices represent the field and how can we interpret them

Combining the voices of academics, artists, cultural critics and teachers, Performance Perspectives answers these questions and provides a critical introduction to Performance Studies. Presenting an accessible way into key terminology and context, it offers a new model for analyzing contemporary performance based on six frames or perspectives:

- Body
- Space
- Time
- Technology
- Interactivity
- Organization

Drawing on examples from a wide range of practices across site specific performance, virtual reality, dance, applied theatre and everyday performance, Performance Perspectives addresses the binary of theory and practice and highlights the many meeting points between studio and seminar room. Each chapter takes the innovative form of a three-way conversation, bringing together theoretical introductions with artist interviews and practitioner statements. The book is supported by activities for discussion and practical devising work, as well as clear guidance for further reading and an extensive reference list across media

Performance Perspectives is essential reading for anyone studying, interpreting or making performance.

Reviews

'As a tool to facilitate the orientation, critical grounding, analysis, and evaluation of performance work, this should be a set text for every theatre and performance course.' - New Theatre Quarterly 'This book is a guide and a map to key concepts that inspire the making and theorizing of performance. Re-imagining the borders that separate academics and practitioners, Performance Perspectives gives voice to multiple ways of thinking, observing, interconnecting, bridling, and creating.' - Lin Hixson, Professor and Chair, Performance Department, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA 'Pitches and Popat have constructed an invaluable resource for students and scholars of contemporary performance anywhere. Performance Perspectives provides new angles on the field and is ideally suited for use in the tertiary classroom.' Edward Scheer, Associate Professor of Theatre Studies, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Author Bio

JONATHAN PITCHESis Professor of Theatre and Performance in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds,UK.He is the author of Vsevolod Meyerhold and Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting, and founding co-editor of Theatre Dance and Performance Training.

SITA POPAT is Head of the School of Performance and Cultural Industries and Senior Lecturer in Dance at the University of Leeds, UK.She is the author of Invisible Connections: Dance, Choreography and Internet Communities, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media.