RSS 1.0Performing Arts
The department is housed in the Kingsway Buildings a few minutes away from the main Chester site. We have four large multi-purpose performance spaces, music rehearsal rooms, computer suites and seminar/lecture facilities. Performing Arts has a team of committed staff - teachers who believe in creating the best possible atmosphere of support and encouragement for all their students. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, this department was declared to be of international standing, so you belong to a department where cutting edge scholarship in the disciplines will inform all your learning.
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Drama as a transformational capability of sustainability scienceEducation for sustainable development (ESD) is a foundational aspect of the transformatory capability of sustainability science at the individual and group levels. Despite international frameworks to promote and monitor the development of sustainability competences, evidence of the efficacy of ESD remains limited and even challenging. This article proposes drama-based educational approaches, as part of an increasing body of arts-based methods used in sustainability science, which materially impact a wide range of sustainability competences. Drama is a practice-based approach that intentionally uses carefully designed educational activities involving body, story, interaction, and collaboration to generate sustainability awareness, knowledge, mindsets, and action taking for individuals and groups within higher education. Examples of applied drama practices can include various forms of role play, forum play (playing out roles and pausing/fast-forwarding/reversing to explore possible solutions), and legislative theatre (where participants collaborate with lawmakers to address local issues). This article draws on an international project applying drama methods across disciplinary areas, and outlines how drama methods may contribute to sustainability competences applied in practice. As a result of this, we propose further research to inform future high-impact practices of applied drama for the field of ESD.
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Beyond text: Learning through arts-based researchThis original new book represents a variety of art forms across different professional contexts. Its focus is on the ways that educational practitioners and leaders from a range of cultures, disciplines, professions and organizations practice arts-based research, and it explores how these can enable innovative means of learning and enhance professional and organizational development. This vibrant project allowed for long term systematic conversations between a large and unusually diverse group of twenty-nine people from eight organisations in six countries. It was unusually diverse in many senses: for some the word 'data' meant little, for others it was central to their daily work; for some artistic practice was core, while for others the arts were a means to an end; while some were social entrepreneurs running their own companies others were researching in universities and a number were doing both; some were working within the STEM disciplines of business, management, engineering, science, technology, sustainability and the built environment, others were in the social sciences of social and health care, education and youth work while others were engaged in rapid or long term social and cultural action as a means of resisting state violence and military occupation; some worked in one of the safest countries on the planet, others in one of the most tear-gassed refugee camps in the world. Within these professional groups there were also ranges of experience, for example senior researchers, early career researchers, PhD students, seasoned professional artists and newcomers to arts forms. Whilst the main communication of this group was English, six other major languages were spoken, Estonian, Finish, Catalan, Spanish, Arabic and key stakeholders bought Swedish and Japanese into the space. This meant that while the conversations in and about arts-based practice were transnational, interdisciplinary and systematic, they had all the messy, troubled-ness that the intercultural on all of the above levels brings with it. This unique and exciting collection discusses how creative arts practices can have a significant impact on research across a range of international contexts, drawing on their own field of research and educational experience. For instance, drama, music, dance and visual arts can be used to understand how learners internalise concepts, reflect on how decisions are made in the midst of action in leadership education, or investigate the use of the intuitive alongside the rational and analytical in their educational experience. Non-textual arts-based forms of research can also provide modes of investigation into pedagogical and professional practices when applied to fields that normally lie outside of the arts. Its greatest strengths are its focus on arts-based research as a way of learning in a variety of contexts, and often in collaboration. Its consistent theoretical, artistic and professional engagements make it a very readable and engaging read. The representation of a variety of art forms across different professional contexts means that this book will have appeal to several readerships in higher education, including the following groups. Academics and practitioners using arts-based methods in organisation and business settings. Researchers in the arts and researchers generically in the social sciences, humanities and arts. University students of the arts, education and professional studies, especially those interested in the wider international and intercultural diversity of research methodologies. Those working in international research teams using any form of qualitative research will also find this collection very interesting. It also has potential interest for groups outside higher education with an interest in arts-based research - for example community groups looking to explore collaborative projects.
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Roberto Gerhard, Symphony No 5 reconstructed by Darren SprostonThis is a reconstruction of Roberto Gerhard's Fifth Symphony which was left incomplete and unpublished on his death. Archival material from the University of Cambridge has been used to recreate the work
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If X then Y, Z, ?: Using Twinery.org to teach interactive narrative developmentA discussion of digital pedagogy in the classroom, reflecting on the use of twinery.org as a tool in a class on interactive narrative.
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Drama workshop: PapperssnöThis book is for higher and further education tutors who wish to build on their experience, and deliver exciting and accessible classroom techniques and practices that are highly interactive, creative, and engaging to help further the teaching of sustainability.
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Drama icebreaker: Improvisation for beginnersThis book is for higher and further education tutors who wish to build on their experience, and deliver exciting and accessible classroom techniques and practices that are highly interactive, creative, and engaging to help further the teaching of sustainability.
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Before you start with drama and performanceThis book is for higher and further education tutors who wish to build on their experience, and deliver exciting and accessible classroom techniques and practices that are highly interactive, creative, and engaging to help further the teaching of sustainability.
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Interculturality: the metaesthetic experience of performance and cultureAbstract available in hard copy
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Devising theatre: a critical enquiry into the performer as scenographerAbstract available in hard copy
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Fathers on Film: Paternity and Masculinity in 1990s HollywoodInterpreting such films through the lens of feminist and queer theory, along with masculinity studies and psychoanalysis, Katie Barnett offers an insightful and interdisciplinary discussion of cinematic fathers.
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Lost, Found, Reimagined - Roberto Gerhard’s Viola/Cello Sonata(s)The Viola Sonata (1948) sits at a pivotal time in Gerhard’s output. Through the 1940s he had composed his Symphony: Homenaje a Pedrell (1940-41), Don Quixote (1940), Alegrías Suite (1942), Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1942-43), Pandora Suite (1944-45) culminating in the tour de force which is The Duenna (1945-47). The Sonata marks the point at which Gerhard starts to seriously style his method of adopting serial technique leading to the exploration of its use beyond mere pitch manipulation. The Viola Sonata had been lost for a number of years until deposited at the Cambridge University Library as part of the Roberto Gerhard archive in 2016. There are two manuscripts, the full score and the solo viola part. It consists of 33 pages on 12 stave landscape manuscript paper. The dedication is to the viola player Anatole Mines (1915-1993) who performed the premiere of the work in 1950 accompanied by Gerhard. Until 2016, the only available legacy of this work was its revision in the form of the Cello Sonata (1956). This paper investigates the differences between the Viola and the Cello Sonata to discover the extent to which the later work arranges or reimagines the former.
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In touch and between: a tactile toolkit for creative practitioners to navigate touch within their creative practiceTouch in performance and movement practice is not a new concept, although it tends to inhabit movement therapy, partnering techniques, alignment studies, and ethics. However, this article addresses the importance of touch in creative practice with reference to holistic embodied movement, sense of self, one’s agency and situatedness. Employing a somatic methodology and phenomenological lens, this article presents tactile practice as research carried out from 2019 to 2022 with master’s students and professionals delivered in the space and online as a lecture-workshop at People Dancing UK’s Perspectives on Practice. This overarching framework highlights methods of touch prior to the pandemic demonstrating how one perceives and responds to contact from another body whilst retaining authenticity; shifts in tactile engagement during the pandemic and how it aids solo practice; and opens up conversations on reintroducing touch post pandemic with possible cross-disciplinary practice. The research investigates/investigated tactile stimulations within passive, active and intra-active touch as a listening tool in the solo body and between bodies. Through various case studies, these are examined in relation to creative inquiry and artistic identity. The article aims to challenge power relations and conventional connotations around touch and practice as well as offer new tactile engagements within solo creative practice. It also proposes touch as a collaborative mesh for cohesion and keep us in touch through a practical tactile toolkit. This will resonate with somatic movement practitioners in particular, however its inclusive nature means specific approaches may resonate with practitioners in other creative disciplines.
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A New Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Doing Brand Placement: Applicable to Televised Drama on a Cross Cultural ApproachProduct placement, which can also be referred to as “brand integration” or “brand placement”, is perceived as an “alternative” method to traditional advertising among practitioners and scholars due to its significant advantages over traditional advertising e.g., the hidden nature of it. This multifaceted practice of product placement, which can be found in various platforms and forms, is an under-researched phenomenon outside the United States. Although it attracts considerable attention from academics, further research is needed, as the majority of studies in existence tend to focus on the United States and take an audience-centred approach to the practice. Furthermore, the research area of existing research tends to revolve around the practice within movies. In contrast, this cross-cultural research analyses product placement practices from the perspective of form on the screen to gain a more in-depth understanding of brand placement in televised drama / soap operas. It employs a hybrid quantitative and qualitative content analysis and case studies to draw a comparison between contrasting national contexts, Turkish and British, to reveal the international differences in the forms of brand placement and map out all observed forms of product placement. Furthermore, this thesis assesses which forms of product placement are used in well-known successful examples of product placement from the USA. Based on the analysis of product placement practices in the UK, Turkey and the USA, this thesis proposes a conceptual framework that demonstrates successful forms of brand placement, and the differences in practices in the UK, Turkey and the USA. This framework also highlights the forms which are common across all three nations, and thus hypothesises the forms which should be used when developing a placement which can be effective internationally. The data, collected during the content analysis, was from four soap operas: Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Cesur ve Güzel, and İçerde. Twenty-five episodes from each were examined. The findings reveal that there are distinct differences between the placement practices used in the United Kingdom and those used in Turkey. Notably, placements in the Turkish soap operas are much more prominent, appearing more frequently in the foreground of scenes and often feature high levels of plot connection and character interaction, whereas placements in the British soap operas tend to be featured in the background of scenes, typically featuring low levels of plot connection or character interaction. Eight well-known successful examples of product placement within eight different television series from the USA were analysed. All featured high levels of character interaction, plot connection, and prominence. Most also featured verbal cues including characters expressing their opinions about a brand / product. Whilst it could be argued that British culture is more akin to American culture, the practices observed in the Turkish soap operas are closer to those observed in the well-known successful examples, which are all from American television content. Key Words: Advertising, Product Placement, Brand Placement, Turkish Television, British Television, Comparative Content Analysis, Case Studies, and Soap Operas.
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Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott: The Anthropocene as TragedyThe fate of the tragic Greek figure Iphigenia is intrinsically connected to her environment in classical canonical source texts. Her death, depicted in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis, is the result of human failings, and yet the natural world and the climate play an integral part. In 2015, Gary Owen transposed the narrative of this classical heroine to Cardiff, Wales, to consider the ruins of contemporary Britain in an increasingly hostile environment of austerity. Owen’s play is a scathing indictment of the overpopulated and under-resourced urban environment, but it is ultimately a catastrophic climate event that leads to the tragedy within this adaptation. Classical tragedy is a predominantly anthropocentric dramatic form. However, with reference to Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott and utilising emerging ecocriticism and discourse, I argue that there is potential for an ecologically sensitive, revisionist perspective in contemporary adaptations of classical tragedy. Building upon Carl Lavery’s and Clare Finburgh’s provocation that, “the Anthropocene is a term that invariably attests to humanity’s inability to impact upon and intervene in natural processes [and] it simultaneously highlights humanity’s failure to harness or control such interventions” (34), I consider what the real tragedy is within Owen’s play. Is the tragedy of his Iphigenia a tragedy of humanity’s failure to cohabit with the natural environment without causing harm or, perhaps more broadly, a tragedy that reflects the failure of a historic and dogmatic anthropocentric view in theatre and beyond?
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In corpore sano, acta non verba: permanent performance under precariousnessPerformance art is a passionate objection to how contemporary work damages people and planet through a constant drive to perform. I examine this phenomenon using a provocative practice-as-research methodology which imbricates theory and performance autoethnography with art making and documenting. Findings are derived through artworks involving blood toxins, a discarded turkey body, 500 Financial Times newspapers, life-threatening blood pressure readings, apples, 101 Google translations, fish, governmental grand narratives, cola jus, tea cakes pressed by a person with diabetes, collective balloon popping, binary code poetry, a 7.5 hour-long performance appraisal, and hope. I argue that practice-as-research is, in itself, a compositional strategy for precariousness and that it can temporarily pause the constant drive to perform.
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The collaborative programme leader: Embedding meaningful collaboration into a programme cultureThe section serves to highlight the importance of collaboration and move the PL role away from one of the potential overwhelm and isolation to one of connection and meaningful interdependence.
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The StudioThis chapter is part of an interdisciplinary volume, drawing from sociology, geography, ethnomusicology, media, cultural, and communication studies, which covers a wide-range of topics germane to the production and consumption of place in popular music. This chapter focuses on the recording studio, primarily within a popular music context, in the following areas: as a physical place where its function relies on social interactions to encourage creativity; as a place where virtual auditory spaces are created; and as a place where music practice can ultimately ascribe unique identities.
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An Analytical Methodology for the Investigation of the Relationship of Music and Lyrics in Popular MusicThis thesis details the conception and design of a new methodology for examining pop songs holistically; considering both music and lyrics and examining the synergies between the two. Central to this methodology is the application of a data extraction framework, which has been designed to mine information about musical and lyrical phenomena. This framework operates as a common source for producing data about two very different media, avoiding individual interpretation where this is possible. The methodology has been designed to address specific questions about the relationship between music and lyrics, but the main purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the usefulness of the endeavour. In order to examine the efficacy of this approach, the framework was used to populate a dataset made up of a sample of 300 songs, which was subsequently explored and analysed through a series of case studies which investigate combinations of metrics concerned with music and lyrics for the whole sample, as well as analysis of specific subsets defined by a range of parameters. These case studies have demonstrated the various ways this approach might be used, as well as working as proof of concept. The conclusion of the thesis reviews the various case studies in the context of presenting potential uses of the framework as a tool and the broader methodology by other scholars. There is also a consideration of how the overall data might be affected by the inclusion of genres and styles that are not included in the initial sample set.
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Conflicting professional identities for artists in transprofessional contextsThis chapter investigates how the artists navigate multiple and at times conflicting identities within the challenges of working in unfamiliar transprofessional contexts. It also investigates the expanding professionalism of artists in the transprofessional realm of artistic interventions in organisations. Ariane Berthoin Antal argues that artists’ professional identities and also responsibilities are geared towards some fundamental values in the arts, and that it is vital for artists to maintain such values as they collaborate with other professions. To exemplify expanded work in transprofessional contexts, our attention now turns to the experiences of four artists—a theatre director, a performance artist, a dancer, and a dramaturg—who took part in the pilot programme at Uniarts. It is imperative in higher arts education to discuss critically the relationship between professionalism in more traditional artistic practice and the expanding professionalism of hybrid artists in new transprofessional domains.
