The Body Speaks Summary

In a post-performance discussion, the three groups were given the opportunity compare and contrast their own performance in an engaging discussion detailing the reasons for their choice in the production, ideas and intended messages given through the performance that had been created and presented. After a second viewing of the performances through a video recording, group one was first to be asked about the creative process that was undertaken including the difference between the week 7 proposal and actual week 12 performance. A common link between each performance was viewed in the expression of everyday performance through the identification of social and cultural issues such as gender, femininity, masculinity and ethnicity. The assessment

After examining Goffman and Schechner's theories of reception and performance a performance is unique and interactive. The uniqueness of a performance is on the interactivity of the creation or production from the audience. Goffman defines performance by the influence it has on participants. If it doesn't influence the participants or audience it’s not a performance. While Schencher defines a performance by what is placed into the performance. Performances are bits of restored behavior that include living behaviors recombined, rearranged, and reconstructed. In other words performances exist as actions, interactions, and relationships. There are many kinds of performance in the arts, in sports , and in ritual. For example, War Horse Film was a

Intro Paragraph: The story “The Body,” written by Stephen King, shows how 4 boys slowly start to forget about their childhood, but at the same time, it shows how the realities of adulthood comes down and crashes their imagination. In the story, there are parts that show that they are just kids being kids and not knowing any better, but there are also parts where they are just immature and are being ignorant to the consequences. Chris and Gordie soon learn to accept the realities of adulthood and the idea that they can’t go back now that they have reached so far. Later on in the story, it shows how they shift from that kid inside them to a wise and reliable adult. From reading the book, it is clear that the ignorant and immature side of Chris and Gordie has vanished into a more mature nature that gives those two a better opportunity.

My life would be incomplete without performing music. I’ve spent time, in concert bands, in bell choirs, in school and church choirs, and singing, playing in music festivals, and in pit bands trying not to laugh my head off at the actors’ improvisations. But the art that truly speaks to my soul does not lie in creating music, it lies in dancing to it.

Live performance can make one feel so many emotions that are not easily transmitted through mechanical

The idea of performance suggests a nature of “playing up” to the locals. It suggests

Who defines what play is? Reed and Brown suggest that play is something that is felt (2000, as cited in Jarvis et al, 2009), whereas Piaget

The first art piece that I’m going to be discussing is a theatrical production that has a special place in my heart, and it is the Jakarta Performing Arts Community’s rendition of the hit Broadway play, ‘Fame.’ The reason why this piece is so important to me is because it was the first ‘real deal’ production that I’ve meddled in, and was the first production that I was appointed stage manager of. The play itself has a great message and great tunes, to be honest. I really like this play because it’s so naturally high school, the problems are so realistic that it almost didn’t feel like it was some sort of a make believe, and it also addressed things that are so simple yet are so scarcely discussed.

Perspectives of Performance The idea of performance has existed in human culture throughout history. It has been viewed as a form of expression to oppression and an outlet to social conflicts. When one performs, they are expressing and giving some part of themselves to the whole of what they are trying to convey. This can be seen in the rituals of a church as priests confirm fellow Christians to the church.

“…Then you realise that theatre is a more personal experience.” (Stephen Atkins, Dante’s Inferno Director) After viewing Zen Zen Zo’s physical theatre reincarnation of the

This view gives us a deeper understanding of behaviours as performances. A personal example of looking at a performativity culture and analyzing it, is the roles people play in everyday life. The role of a

Performance. The interactions are viewed as a performance, constantly being shaped by the environment and audience, with the objective of providing others with impressions that are consonant with the desired goals of the actor. Specifically Goffman states as “all the activity of an individual which occurs during a period marked by his continuous presence before a particular set of observers and which has some influence on the observers” (1959, 32). Goffman (1959) uses the

Richard Schechner defines performance as an act that can be reheard and reacted, however in the world of affinity based SNSs like YouTube, performance entails a much broader definition and impact. Bernie Hogan in The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media analyzes Goffman’s 1959 dramaturgical approach on performance in terms of how it can be applied to social media today. By referencing Erving Goffman’s early work, he states the following in regards to performance:

I’ve adored theatre for as long as I can remember. From writing plays throughout elementary school, to being involved in Drama Club in middle school, to performing in community theatre in high school, and to visiting the theatre as often as I could from the very beginning, theatre has always been a part of my life. Every aspect of it engages me: the directors working to bring their vision of the show’s scenes, choreography, or music to life, the actors transforming into different characters through their expression of dialogue, song, or dance, the costumers and set-builders transporting the audience into the setting and time period with their artistry, the backstage tech and crew working quickly and precisely to keep the show flowing to curtain call, and the orchestra bringing the show to life through music. There is nothing like the experience of live theatre, both as a member of the audience and as a member of the cast and crew.

Ever since I took drama classes in high school I felt that we always put on an act. A show almost, that we put out for the people we interact with daily. Erving Goffman, “Canadian-American Sociologist” (Encyclopedia In., 2017) also believed this, he compared social interactions to the theater, where individuals take a particular role. According to Goffman this “theatrical metaphor consists of a stage, actors, and an audience” (Crossman, 2014). It also consists of the onstage, backstage and offstage. These three stages show different behavior on a person.