Risking the real: Performance and reality on the contemporary American stage.
Item
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Title
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Risking the real: Performance and reality on the contemporary American stage.
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Identifier
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AAI3008836
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identifier
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3008836
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Creator
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Jordan, Julie Anne.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Jill Dolan
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Date
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2001
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater | Women's Studies | American Studies | Dance
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Abstract
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How have contemporary American theatre artists attempted to negotiate the boundary between reality and illusion? And how have their manipulations complicated the critical reception of their work? Using three important controversies from recent American performance, this project explores the ways in which material culled from real life experience has complicated the creation and reception of performance art, documentary drama, and postmodern dance. The case studies examined include the controversy over the defending of the NEA Four, the debate over how best to characterize the plays of Anna Deavere Smith, and the well-publicized conflict between dance critic Arlene Croce and choreographer Bill T. Jones over her designation of his full-length work Still/ Here as "victim art." All three of these incidents evoked critical discussions on a national scale. Ultimately, the controversies expose a number of deep-seated cultural anxieties about the politicized identities of the artists involved and the erosion of high cultural forms by the postmodern destabilization of categories such as art, experience, and reality itself.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
