Contemporary performance culture
R Fensham
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
Objectives Students who successfully complete this subject should demonstrate a knowledge of the diversity of performance practices in contemporary Australia and have the skills to analyse and contribute to the social and political structures of performance culture.
Synopsis This subject will introduce historical and theoretical understandings of the public and private spheres of action within the performing arts. It will examine the public nature and social significance of performance events, particularly in relation to genres such as film festival, sound sculpture, contemporary opera, music theatre, street theatre, community theatre and multi-media installations. Students will be encouraged to think about the different sites and institutional locations for performance, not all of them `theatrical' or `musical', including environmental works and the performance of everyday life. The other focus of the subject will be on the private explorations of performance artists in relation to the body, personal rituals, technology and the perverseness of different identities. The boundaries between the public and private domains of spectacle, bodily rituals and community action have been dominant theoretical enquiries for performance in the late twentieth century. The subject will provide students with an understanding of these issues and practices, with an emphasis on Australian examples, within local and contemporary performance culture.
Assessment Short report (1100 words): 20%
* Research assignment
(2500 words): 40%
* Essay/Examination (2500 words): 40%
Recommended texts
A course reading book will be made available.
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