taught by Dr. Kelly S. Taylor
The purpose of this course is to instruct the student in the varied performance techniques, philosophies, and conventions that have contributed to the formation of contemporary Performance theory and practice. Performance approaches from the Greek rhapsodes and Germanic scôps to the platform readers of the late nineteenth century will be covered. The course provides the student with the opportunity to critically engage these performance traditions through discussion, analysis, and creative reconstruction.
There are three major assignments for this course:
Video Essay
To complete this project, students were asked to do the following:
- Compose a short essay (at least 100 words) answering the question, “Why study History?”
- Collect or create non-copyright-protected illustrations and audio clips that will illustrate the student's points.
- Using the techniques discussed in class, create a video essay that gives a unique answer to the question “Why Study History?”
- Properly cite any quoted material.
- This essay should contain at least 100 words of material composed by the student.
- Upload the video essay to YouTube.
The resulting video essays can be viewed by clicking this link.
Historic Reconstruction Performance
Instructions for this assignment were as follows:
- Working either as an individual or with a group of classmates, choose a specific performer or performance style mentioned in the required texts for this class. (Our text goes up to the end of the Nineteenth Century. No contemporary performers or performance techniques – including modern reconstructions such as are performed at Renaissance Faires -- are acceptable choices)
- Research known information about the specific performer or performance style and the socio-historic context in which they performed.
- Choose a specific text that this performer or performers performed or a similar text that would have been available for and appropriate to that performer or performers.
- Create a performance that as closely as possible reconstructs what a performance by that artist or artists would have been like.
Historic Style Video Essay
To complete this project, students were asked to do the following:
- Choose a specific performer or performance style mentioned in the required texts for this class.
- Research known information about the specific performer or performance style and the socio-historic context in which they performed.
- Collect or create non-copyright-protected illustrations and audio clips that will help viewers picture what a performance by that artist or artists would have been like.
- Using the techniques discussed in class, create a video essay that critically examines the socio-historic impact of the chosen performer/performers.
- Rather than focusing solely on biographical information, this essay should explicate either the impact the social/historical context his/her/their times had on this performer or performers’ work or the impact how this performer or performers helped shaped the social scene mold as well as express cultural values.
- Properly cite any quoted material.
- This essay should contain at least 100 words of material composed by the student.
- Upload the video essay to YouTube.
Click here to view completed Video Essays.
Copyright-free pictures that can be used by the students in their essay are located here.
Hosted by the Communication Studies Department of
the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
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