Performer as perceiver: perceiver as performer

The proposition in the title of this paper is intended to draw a link between psychological processes involved in aesthetic gestural performance (e.g. music, dance) for both performers and perceivers. In the performance scenario, the player/dancer/etc., perceptually guides their actions, and acquires the skill for a performance through their previous perceptions. On the other side, the perceiver watching, listening to and experiencing another’s motor performance, simulates the actions of the performance within the range of their own motor capabilities. These phenomena are possible due to common mechanisms of action and perception, and in tandem provide the basis for the rich experience of gestural performance.
This paper reviews evidence for these claims, using examples from the domains of music and dance performance. Questions that arise from these propositions are addressed and suggested empirical explorations of these ideas are given. Further problems in incorporating these theories about gestural performance experience within Enaction are highlighted for future discussion.

"The End" for piano and computer. Performed by Shiau-uen Ding. Composer's Voice Concert Series: 15 Minutes of Fame. Jan Hus Church, NYC. General information State: Published Organisations: School of Creative Arts, Sonic Arts, UOA35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts Authors: Lyon, E.

Performed by Shiau-uen Ding. Composer's Voice Concert Series: 15 Minutes of Fame. Jan Hus Church, NYC.

Acoustic Interculturalism: Listening to Performance

Acoustic Interculturalism is a study of the soundscapes of intercultural performance through the examination of sound's performativity. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, the book examines an akoumenological reception of sound to postulate the need for an acoustic knowing – an awareness of how sound shapes the intercultural experience.

A Pilot Evaluation of the Palliative Performance Scale in Long Term Care: Tips for Success

Aims: Palliative care in long-term care (LTC) homes is an area of growing concern. Little work has been done to explore innovative ways to identify and care for residents who become palliative. The purpose of this intervention study was to evaluate the implementation of the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) in LTC. Specifically we explored staff perceptions about implementing the PPS and how it cued staff to initiate palliative care discussion with residents and family when a resident’s health declined.

Methods: This study utilized a qualitative descriptive design that included data from four separate sources: journals of three ‘champions’ who were responsible for leading the implementation of the PPS; staff evaluations of three educational training sessions; minutes from meetings; and 11 interviews from key staff who were involved in the implementation process. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

Results: Staff generally felt positively about using the PPS in LTC and stated that it increased awareness of palliative care and helped identify those residents who were nearing the end of life. There were some barriers to implementing it, such as staff resistance and lack of time to complete it. The importance of having a designated ‘champion’ and effective interdisciplinary communication in addition to widespread training, were identified as successful strategies to facilitate the implementation process.

Conclusion: These study findings support the use of the PPS in LTC and offer some perspective about ways to implement it successfully. Future work is needed to evaluate the PPS in LTC using more rigorous designs.

Post-Conflict Performance, Film and Visual Arts:Cities of Memory

This book examines how contemporary theatre, performance, film and the visual arts respond to the post-conflict condition. The contents of the volume focus on a range of post-conflict cities, encouraging interdisciplinary discussion on the role of the arts and its relation to issues of testimony, witnessing, forgetting, representation, healing, reconciliation, agency, and metaphor. Contributors include: Thomas Elsaesser, Jane Taylor, Marvin Carlson, Rob Stone, Laurel Borisenko, Katarzyna Puzon, Miriam Paeslack, Emma Grey, Paula Blair, Zoran Poposki, Marija Todorova, Elena Carduro, and Paul Devlin.

POINTS OF VIEW: Multi-Roling Performance in Ireland in the 1990s, Part 1 (Layering)

This series of posts will consider the acting techniques required for this style of performance with reference to four productions from the 1990s in which two actors took on multiple roles: Frank Pig Says Hello (1992), Co-Motion’s stage adaptation of Pat McCabe’s novel; The Butcher Boy, Corca Dorca’s production of Disco Pigs (1996) by Enda Walsh; DubbleJoint’s production of Stones in his Pockets by Marie Jones (1996) and its subsequent award-winning revival which I produced at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre in 1999; and Kabosh’s production of Mojo Mickybo by Owen McCafferty (1998). The discussion will focus primarily on my own empirical exploration of the demands multi-roling places on an actor through the direction of recent revivals of Mojo Mickybo for Belfast’s Chatterbox Theatre Company (2013) and Bedlam Productions (2015).

POINTS OF VIEW: Multi-Roling Performance in Ireland in the 1990s, Part 2 (Characterisation)

The 1990s in Ireland saw a series of highly successful theatre productions in which actors played a multiplicity of roles. This has often been attributed to the economic exigencies of the times, but it also depended on the availability of flexible actors with the physical and psychological capacity to embody a wide range of identifiable characters within the one production.

This second of two posts considers the acting techniques required for this style of performance in relation to the differentiation of one character from another. The discussion will focus primarily on my own empirical exploration of the demands multi-roling places on an actor through the direction of recent revivals of Mojo Mickybo for Belfast’s Chatterbox Theatre Company (2013) and Bedlam Productions (2015).