Theories Of Performance

Theories of Performance invites students to explore the possibilities of performance for creating, knowing, and staking claims to the world. Each chapter surveys, explains, and illustrates classic, modern, and postmodern theories that answer the questions, "What is performance?" "Why do people perform?" and "How does performance constitute our social and political worlds?" The chapters feature performance as the entry point for understanding texts, drama, culture, social roles, identity, resistance, and technologies.

Performance Theories in Education: Power, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Identity breaks new ground by presenting a range of approaches to understanding the role, function, impact, and presence of performance in education. It is a definitive contribution to a beginning dialogue on how performance, as a theoretical and pragmatic lens, can be used to view the processes, procedures, and politics of education. The conceptual framework of the volume is the editors' argument that performance and performativity help to locate and describe repetitive actions plotted within grids of power relationships and social norms that comprise the context of education and schooling. The book brings together performance studies and education researchers, teachers, and scholars to investigate such topics as: *the relationship between performance and performativity in pedagogical practice; *the nature and impact of performing identities in varying contexts; *cultural and community configurations that fall under the umbrella of teaching, education, and schooling; and *the hot button issues of educational policies and reform as performances. With the aim of developing a clearer understanding of the effect, affect, and role of performance in education, the volume provides a crucial starting point for discourse among theorists and teacher practitioners who are interested in understanding and acknowledging the politics of performance and the practices of performative social identities that always and already intervene in the educational endeavor.

First Published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Theory for Performance Studies: A Student's Guideis a clear and concise handbook to the key connections between performance studies and critical theory since the 1960s. Philip Auslander looks at the way the concept of performance has been engaged across a number of disciplines. Beginning with four foundational figures – Freud, Marz, Nietzsche and Saussure – Auslander goes on to provide guided introductions to the major theoretical thinkers of the past century, from Althusser to Zizek. Each entry offers biographical, theoretical, and bibliographical information along with a discussion of each figure's relevance to theatre and performance studies and suggestions for future research. Brisk, thoughtful, and engaging, this is an essential first volume for anyone at work in theatre and performance studies today. Adapted from Theory for Religious Studies, by William E. Deal and Timothy K. Beal.

This book brings together world-class professionals to share theoretical understanding applied to sport, exercise and performance domains. It highlights how to be more effective in developing psychological skills, context and understanding for educators, students and professionals. From both academic and practitioner perspectives, this book takes readers through contextual understanding of this field of study and into a wide variety of important areas. Specifically, the chapters focus on the mind-body relationship and performance challenges, and on core mental skills applied across different sport, exercise and performance examples (including professional athletes, normal exercise populations and military service members). The final section expands the context into the role of relationships and performance in group settings to cover a broad practice of modern day applied performance psychology.

The first English-language anthology that traces the centuries-long evolution of Chinese thought on theater and performance

What does 'performance theory' really mean and why has it become so important across such a large number of disciplines, from art history to religious studies and architecture to geography? In this introduction Simon Shepherd explains the origins of performance theory, defines the terms and practices within the field and provides new insights into performance's wide range of definitions and uses. Offering an overview of the key figures, their theories and their impact, Shepherd provides a fresh approach to figures including Erving Goffman and Richard Schechner and ideas such as radical art practice, performance studies, radical scenarism and performativity. Essential reading for students, scholars and enthusiasts, this engaging account travels from universities into the streets and back again to examine performance in the context of political activists and teachers, countercultural experiments and feminist challenges, and ceremonies and demonstrations.

In its evaluation, Enhancing Human Performance reviews the relevant materials, describes each technique, makes recommendations in some cases for further scientific research and investigation, and notes applications in military and industrial settings. The techniques address a wide range of goals, from enhancing classroom learning to improving creativity and motor skills.

n recent years, the post structuralist theories seem to have created a split in theatrological research. But, as André Helbo analyses in this book , a dialectic theory of the semiotic and the symbolic exchange bring to light a specific paradigm. From his wide experience as a semiotician and a theatrologist, the author has developed an analysis for the theory of spectacle. Focusing his study on a critical theory of the performing arts, and examining the fundamental controversies, he then offers new perspectives and new instruments of analysis: the social aspects, readability/visibility, coherence, the spectacle contract.

Using theoretical frameworks to explore the political, organizational, and cultural dynamics of performance budgeting, this book examines the adoption of performance budgeting in a variety of countries, how it has been implemented, and why it succeeded or failed. Chapters include case studies from a wide range of continents and regions including the U.S., Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Each case study pays careful attention to the unique historical, political, and cultural contexts of reform and closely examines how performance informed the budgetary process. Chapters investigate theory-driven analysis, focusing on common themes related to international policy diffusion, organizational change, stakeholder politics and gaming, communication and information management, principal–agent dynamics, and institutional constraints. Contributors include both scholars and seasoned practitioners with extensive experience in implementing or advising performance budgeting reforms. With emphases on both theories and practices, this book is written for graduate courses in public budgeting and comparative public administration, providing theoretical insights into budgeting reforms in developing countries, as well as practice-relevant and actionable recommendations for current and future policymakers and budget reformers.