This ground-breaking anthology is the first to be dedicated to assessing critically the role of the human sensorium in performance.
Senses in Performance presents a multifaceted approach to the methodological, theoretical, practical and historical challenges facing the scholar and the artist. This volume examines the subtle actions of the human senses including taste, touch, smell and vision in all sorts of performances in Western and non-Western traditions, from ritual to theatre, from dance to interactive architecture, from performance art to historical opera.
With eighteen original essays brought together by an international ensemble of leading scholars and artists including Richard Schechner and Philip Zarrilli. This covers a variety of disciplinary fields from critical studies to performance studies, from food studies to ethnography from drama to architecture.
Written in an accessible way this volume will appeal to scholars and non-scholars interested in Performance/Theatre Studies and Cultural Studies.
Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: The Performance of the Senses André Lepecki and Sally Banes Part I: Theory and Practice 2. Rasaesthetics Richard Schechner 3. Olfactory Performances Sally Banes 4. Unearthing Kinesthesia: Groping Among Cross-Cultural Models of the Senses in Performance Deidre Sklar 5. Senses and Silence in Actor Training and Performance Phillip Zarrilli 6. Making Sense of Food in Performance: the Table and the Stage Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Part II: History 7. Edible Performance: feasting and festivity in Early Tudor Entertainment Denise E. Cole 8. Incense & Decadents: Symbolist Theatre’s Use of Scent Mary Fleischer 9. Touching Realism: Illusionism, Actuality, and the Theatrical Sensorium Stanton B. Garner, Jr. Part III: Contemporary Performance 10. Guiding Somatic Responses Within Performative Structures: Contemporary Live Art and Sensorial Perception Stephen Di Benedetto 11. Containment + Contamination: a Performance Landscape for the Senses at PQ03 Dorita Hannah 12. Seeing Nothing: Now Hear This... Martin Welton 13. A Doubly "Environmental" Sensorium: Omaha Magic Theatre’s Sea of Forms Maya E. Roth 14. Tangible Acts: Touch Performances Jennifer Fisher Part IV: Case Studies 15. Touching the Sun on the Reservation Anita Gonzalez 16. Performers, Spectators, Cannibals. Making Sense of Theatrical Consumption. Kerrie Schaefer 17. Indonesian Theatre and Its Double: Putu Wijaya Paints a Theatre of Mental Terror Cobina Gillitt 18. Artaud’s Anatomy Allen Weiss List of contributors Index
Biography
Banes, Sally; Lepecki, Andre