STAFF POSTING FROM BAZ ABOUT HEADINGS

The keywords analysis is developing already in intriguing ways, so many thanks indeed for all your inputs so far. But please note that it is important to identify in your posting Title/Heading which group you are a member of, especially if you are making an individual posting. Otherwise it will become very difficult to track back through the threads of various keywords as more postings are added as the Project evolves. Please check back to the Using the Blog guidelines document for suggestions about how to do this.

Key word - Flow

Flow in the Merriam Webster online dictionary:

1 a (1): to issue or move in a stream (2): circulate
b: to move with a continual change of place among the constituent particles
2: rise
3: abound
4 a: to proceed smoothly and readily
b: to have a smooth continuity
5: to hang loose and billowing
6: to derive from a source : come
7: to deform under stress without cracking or rupturing —used especially of minerals and rocks

Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English flōwan; akin to Old High German flouwen to rinse, wash, Latin pluere to rain, Greek plein to sail, float

I am interested in the psychological notion of flow and what this can mean in relation to performance (performing and reception):
‘[...] flow, or optimal experience, [is] related to many similar experiences that share the same structural attributes - deep concentration, a sense of control and freedom made possible by a balancing of challenges and skills, and a continuous development of meaningful complexity - experiences that follow immersion in religious rituals, in athletic competition, or in the performance of music or playing chess, in fact, any of a great number of structured interactions with the environment that result in deep enjoyment.’
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, The art of seeing. An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter. 1990, Getty Publications, p.182

AMS Group 1 Challenges Cosmopolitanism (Ty, Helen, Catherine, Jenna)

COSMOPOLITAN: adj. 1) having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing 2) having wide international sophistication: worldly 3) composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world

Challenge:

We think that it is very fashionable and almost prestigious now to be cosmopolitan, for example in European cultural funds.

It is probably directly connected with the EU and all the efforts which are made politically to keep this new conglomerate together.

And naturally artists/performing artists are on the for front of the cosmopolitan fashion. Not that it is a negative thing to be fashionable, but a lot of times fashionable tendencies and in this case cosmopolitanism start to be commercialized or shall I say become a capitalistic pursuit. And in art this tendency makes you question if there is still space for artistic values left then.
Image :

Enterprener, nomadic artist, theater maker from Singapore Ong Keng Sen
and his recent project where he chose artists, representing different countries with either cultural or political issues, and organised the presentation of their work in Europe . We saw it in Rotterdam.

He invited Belarus theater, performance artists from Riga, Turkish film maker, Tunisian musicians to name few. The cosmopolitanism of this enterprise is obvious, but what we felt at the presentation of this project was that the unsettling issues (either political,cultural or financial) which each of the participants have in their local context were somewhat exploited and represented in almost commercial way, usually used to sell the new hip gadget for example. It was done probably to fit into the new fashion of being cosmopolitan and thus popular with cultural funding of EU.

Key Word "OBRAZ" (образ)

1. Appearance, shape, exterior; aspect; character
2. Live, evident representation about someone or about something. That sees, dreamt, seems in imagination. A copy, a mould, a print in consciousness of the phenomena of the objective validity.
3. The generalised art perception of the validity given the shape of the concrete individual phenomenon. Character, the type created by the artist, the writer, the actor. Art reflexion of ideas and feelings in a sound, a word, paints, etc. the Evident image of any phenomenon through another, more concrete; comparison, likening.


The most equal word in english language is:
Image
1) a representation or likeness of a person or thing, especially in sculpture
2) an optically formed reproduction of an object, such as one formed by a lens or mirror
3) a person or thing that resembles another closely; double or copy
4) a mental representation or picture; idea produced by the imagination
5) the personality presented to the public by a person, organization, etc.
(Collins Dictionary)

1) a picture or statue of somene or something
2) a picture seen on a television or computer screen, through a lens, or reflected in a mirror
3)a picture in the mind
4)a word or phrase describing something in an imaginative way; a simile or metaphor
(Oxford English Dictionary)

This notion correlates also with such english words as:

Conception

1) something conceived; notion, idea, design, or plan
2) the description under which someone considers something her conception of freedom is wrong
3) the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm in the Fallopian tube followed by implantation in the womb

4) origin or beginning from its conception the plan was a failure

5) the act or power of forming notions; invention

Character
1) the combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing 2) one such distinguishing quality; characteristic

3) moral force; integrity

4) capacity, position, or status he spoke in the character of a friend rather than a father

5) a person represented in a play, film, story, etc.; role

Icon
The picturesque image - usually on a board - Jesus Christ, the Mother of god, sacred, scenes from the Scriptus, etc.

Manner
a way of doing or being

Type
the general form, plan, or design distinguishing a particular group

Pattern
1) an arrangement of repeated or corresponding parts, decorative motifs, etc
2) a plan or diagram used as a guide in making something
3) a standard way of moving, acting, etc
4) a decorative design; style



Mode
1) a manner or way of doing, acting, or existing
2) the current fashion or style.


Sources: Collins Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary

AMS Group 1 Challenges Cosmopolitanism (Ty, Helen, Catherine, Jenna)

A Challenge to Cosmopolitanism: Amsterdam vs. Europe

It is not difficult to imagine Europe, or at least the "Europe" (European Union) that is circumscribed by the bureaucrats in Brussels-- who, we should not forget, granted us the permission and funding for this MAIPR programme-- as one huge and growing cosmopolitan region. This cosmopolitanism is perhaps one of the more visible results of the EU project. The opening of national borders and adoption of the Euro in most nations, among many other developments, may have allowed most of its constituents to develop a "worldwide, rather than limited or provincial scope", imbuing them with a sense of worldliness, of a "wide international sophistication" (Merriam-Webster Online. 18 September 2008). Being European, can therefore be considered being cosmopolitan.

In the effort to realize a cosmopolitan Europe, the EU project may have also stifled habits and practices that characterize the particular cosmopolitanism(s) of the member states. The Netherlands was one of the original members of the EU, and it's capital, Amsterdam, has always been well known for it's liberal thinking attitudes; however, now there is a slow but concerted attempt to eradicate legalized prostitution. The EU does not subscribe to decriminalization of marijuana or the legalization of prostitution, and therefore Amsterdam continues to receive funding in support of campaigning against these two things which make the city unique. Owners of the famous windows in the Red-Light district are being bought out by the city, and slowly but surely more and more windows are branded "I amsterdam" and filled with mannequins that stare blankly at passers-by and wear the latest fashion trends. Even the landmark penis fountain (photo above), considered to be the symbol of the red-light district, has been removed. This is in line with the new policies from Brussels that aim to homogenize--er, harmonize-- practices all over Europe.

While we are not going to make a stand on the ethics and politics of prostitution in this space, we find it odd and contradictory that an increasingly "cosmopolitan" Europe would stamp out what, in our minds, makes Amsterdam, well, cosmopolitan. It seems that in this instance cosmopolitanism is becoming more analogous to homogenization and conformity than to broadening our views about the world. 

Keyword – falhanço

FALHANÇO, the act or effect of failing; being unsuccessful; mistake; defeat; fiasco

failure, lack of success, act of failing
a person attempt that fails
«As a writer he was a complete failure»
the non-performance or non-production of something
«She died of heart failure»

fiasco, a complete failure of something planned

mistake, something done wrongly or that should not have been done; to think wrongly that

Sources: Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa, Temas e Debates
Dictionary of English and Culture, Longman

Ta-Da!

Keyword: Ta-Da!

Defined in the Oxford American Dictionary as:

ta-da (also ta-dah): exclamation; an imitation of a fanfare, used typically to call attention to an impressive entrance or a dramatic announcement. 

ORIGIN late 20th cent.: imitative

I chose this word because it is a word that is often used within the subculture of the University of Alberta (in Canada), my previous institution. It originates from a teacher, Jan Henderson, who works primarily in the area concerning the healing power of humor. She teaches clown and our introductory performance classes.

The meaning behind ta-da, is to embrace or celebrate your mistakes and failures, and then move on. The idea is that we all make mistakes, especially during the creative process, but there is no use dwelling on them. She gives us 5 seconds to dwell on them, and celebrate them by exclaiming "ta-da!", and then we are expected to move on and continue to be productive. 

AMS Group 1:Multiculturalism (Ty, Helen, Catherine, Jenna)

We took a look at multiculturalism, the definition of which was presented as, "of multicultural". Using the definition of multicultural, provided by Kati, as a lens through which to challenge the concept of multiculturalism.

MULTICULTURAL: part of the notion of cultural diversity: seen through the lens of cultural diversity, cultures become epistemological objects, objects of knowledge that tend to be compared as pre-given contents and customs (H. Bhabha, The Location of Culture).

Our group discussed the challenge of multiculturalism as a cultural policy. Most countries have some sort of policy regarding multiculturalism, but these policies are all different, and all enacted differently. All countries allow immigration. The flow of people between countries is high, and major metropolises are host to people of all different cultural backgrounds.

To point out the differences between cultural policy within different countries, we used the image of a 'cultural mosaic' and a 'cultural melting pot'

 The concept behind a 'melting pot' is that many different cultures are put into a pot (which is to represent the country in which those cultures exist, for example the USA). All of these cultures are then melted down, adding their own individual flavor to the stew, but essentially creating a product that is considered American. 

A 'cultural mosaic' on the other hand operates on the same sort of principle. The country in question is the mosaic (for example Canada), and the different cultures make up each distinct piece of the mosaic. People within Canada are therefore encouraged to keep their own cultural identity, but are still considered Canadian. 

Keyword - Palabas

Palabas (Tagalog)
from tagalog-dictionary.com

a. show
v. 1. to let be seen, put in sight
2. to expose, put on display

n. 1. a showing
2. any kind of public exhibition or display
3. a moving picture

b. play
n. 1. fun, sport, action to amuse oneself
2. a story acted on the stage
3. a performance on a musical instrument
4. an action

v. 1. to act a part, to act the part of
2. to play on, to take advantage of; make use of

c. stage
v. 1 to present on the stage

d. out
adj. 1. made known, e.g. a secret
2. into the open so as to be seen

adv. 1 forth
2 aloud, plainly

AMS challenges International, Locality keywords

International(ism)

nation + nation = international?
It takes two to tango, but three to become international.
nation + nation + nation = international?

Sometimes it is just a sum. ‘International’ more often means ‘multi-national’. For instance, in ‘international’ festivals or ‘international’ co-productions you can’t always see the ‘inter’ or the ‘in between’. Then there is no exchange.
Do you call this a relationship?!

Locality

Locality is related to population, when the density of population is high, it is harder to associate with a local community. Unless locality is strengthened by overwhelming diffence. Then you mark or define your space; locality is the space of your presence.

But how different do you have to be to prevent your locality from dissolving when confronted with cosmopolitanism? Does locality not dissolve but shift? In the globalised world, the national might be the new local.

contributed by:
Joao, Lonneke, Olga

key word- transition

transition (plural transitions)

1. the process of change from one form, state, style or place to another

2. a word or phrase connecting one part of a discourse to another

3. (music) a brief modulation; a passage connecting two themes

4. (genetics) a point mutation in which one base is replaced by another of the same class (purine or pyrimidine); compare transversion

5. (some sports) a change from defense to attack, or attack to defense

6. (medicine) the onset of the final stage of childbirth

key word- beauty

Beauty-

pleasing and impressive qualities of something: the combination of qualities that make something pleasing and impressive to look at, listen to, touch, smell, or taste

2. pleasing personal appearance: personal physical attractiveness, especially with regard to the use of cosmetics and other methods of enhancing it 3. beautiful woman: a beautiful woman or girl her reputation as a great beauty 4. fine example: something very good, attractive, or impressive of its kind That long pass was a beauty. 5. excellent aspect: an attractive, useful, or satisfying feature one of the beauties of working from home Microsoft® Encarta® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

One of the aspects to look at:

When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize in 1970 he spoke of how he imagined speaking to the world when imprisoned in the gulag. In freezing darkness he composed speeches in his mind. But when he stood before the great and the good in Stockholm, where all the world would hear him, he said he could only quote his mentor, Dostoyevsky: "Beauty will save the world."

key word- beauty

Warwick Group 1 (Adam Dev Mesmeret).

Keyword: Pakarnnatam

Definition: The literal meaning of the Malayalam word 'Pakarnnatam' is the transformation/transference from one character to many characters mentally and physically. In 'Koodiyattam' it is the technique of a single actor performing the roles of multiple characters. Also a traditional method adopted by 'Kathakali', 'Pakarnnatam' is being employed as an acting technique in modern Kerela theatre.

Pakarnnatam is a combination of two words. 'Pakarnnu' (pouring out, exchange, transmigration, translocation, synonym, infection and change) and 'Aatam' (motion, moving, play, dance, comedy, drama, shake, and to oscillate from one point to another).

Take for example Othello and Iago. One actor would play all of the roles in the play. There is a tranformation from Othello to Iago. Another from Iago to Desdemona, and another from Desdemona back to Othello. One actor will play every role. The onus is on 'transformation' through body language, gesture, voice, movement etc. N.b. the 'pre-expressive behaviour' we focused on in this morning's lecture following Euginio Barba.

The crisis or the freedom of multiple perspectives. Discourse.

Challenge and elaboration: This idea, this 'concept', can be applied to the 'social mask', especially in the context of globalization, cosmopolitanism and many of the keywords discussed so far in the introductory session. We adopt a 'social mask' in engaging with different people. In the same vein as Pakarnnatam we undergo a process of transformation, exchange, change etc. This is a global phenomenon. It is particularly applicable to many contexts involving dislocation form one community to another.

Keyword 2: Mhlela:

It is a ritual, a set of actions, often thought to have a symbolic value.
Mhlela, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion. It is performed at regular intervals or a specific occasion.

Take for example the months of drought. Mhelela, as an artform/ritual/performance is conducted in the hope that rain will come. It works as a means of prayer. It's not directed or written, but has evolved, almost as a means of spectacle, but a spectacle rooted in religious ritual.

Challenge and elaboration: Those that take part need to suffer. They will cut themselves and bleed as a part of this ritual. But a ritual which we propose is an art form, a 'performance'. The boundaries between ritual and performance blur. N.b. Richard Schechner, 'Performance Studies: an Introduction'.

Now take into account globalization. Las Vegas also suffers serious drought. But as rich Countries/States get richer, poor Countries/States get poorer. Las Vegas can afford to build an exceptionally long pipe line to attain the necessary water from Los Angeles. Eritrea cannot. Ritual provides a means of coping with a serious problem as a community, bringing a community closer together.

Keyword 3: 'Media'. The media as a performance platform.

OED Definition: the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively.

N.b. Another definition of the word 'media' comes from anatomy. The OED defines: and intermediate layer in the wall of a blood vessel or lymphatic vessel.

Might these two distinct words be linked. In the same way that blood vessels link different areas of the body, so does television, the internet etc. link different parts of the world.

So why a performance platform? Case study: CERN (abbreviation for European Organization for Nuclear Research). Recent events regarding particle collisions in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has prompted huge controvesy. But CERN has been dependent on this controversy to work its way into the public eye, to justify its experiments, to utilise the performative platform offered by the 'media-as-stage'.

Why is this relevent for us in this keywords project? CERN's experiments will fundamentally shake the way in which physicists understand the world. But ought this to monopolise a world view? Context is everything. Relativity is key.

Warwick Group 3 - Keywords (Stu and Michelle)

COSMOPOLITAN: adj. 1): having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing 2) having wide international sophistication : worldly 3) composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world

cosmopolitan adj 1 belonging to or representative of all parts of the world. 2 free of national prejudices; international in experience and outlook. 3 sophisticated. 4 composed of people from all different parts of the world. noun someone of this type; a citizen of the world.
ETYMOLOGY: 17c: from cosmo- + Greek polites citizen.

- Chambers Online

cosmopolitan

adjective USUALLY APPROVING
containing or having experience of people and things from many different parts of the world

COSMOPOLITAN magazine – what image is this trying to portray? Exotic? Sophisticated? Stylish? Why particularly a women’s point of view?

Cosmopolitan Cocktail – Martini Glass, Pink, Sex and the City

Challenge: There is a huge logical leap between a definition such as “from all parts of the world” and one such as “sophisticated”. This leads to a confusing tension in definition between the multicultural and the hierarchical, as these two radically different meanings are often conflated into one vague general term. Similarly, there are problems with colloquial usages (eg. the magazine and cocktail above), which further distance people from any original meaning.

Demographic

Noun. A particular sector of a populace.

- OED.

demography noun, technical the scientific study of population statistics, including births, deaths, etc. demographer noun someone who studies demography or the statistics of populations. demographic adj.
ETYMOLOGY: 19c: from Greek demos people + -graphy.

- Chambers Online

demographic

Main Entry:

demographic

Function:

noun

Date:

circa 1966

1 plural : the statistical characteristics of human populations (as age or income) used especially to identify markets

2: a market or segment of the population identified by demographics

As an indicator used to define a sector of society, a demographic constitutes a particular grouping of (usually) people, segregated on grounds of age, wealth, ethnicity, profession, or many other characteristics. It is often used as a marketing tool, so companies can effectively market their products to particular target groups, but is also an issue in politics and the art world, as (for example) a theatre group decides to put on plays aimed at a particular type of theatergoer.

Challenge: There are several problems with this definition though, as the criteria used for differentiating demographics can be concrete (eg. those on salaries of £50,000 or more), or far more value-based (eg. people with liberal tendencies). This leads to indeterminacy, but also to a stereotyped view of society as a whole, as certain discrete personal tendencies can become the prime social stratification for commercial groups.

Corral de comedias (noun):

House, courtyard or theatre where plays were first performed on a permanent space in Spain, in the late 16^th century. Travelling companies of theatre began to settle and perform their plays permanently in these spaces.

Challenge: It’s a type of staging space very similar to the Elizabethan stage, so it is not exclusive to the Spanish tradition. So, to what extent it is a local concept or else a way of conceiving the theatrical space that transcended local borders.

Warwick Group 1 (Adam Dev and Meseret).

Globalization:

GLOBALIZATION the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labour markets. (Janelle Reinelt).

Our challenges and elaborations:

1) Not 'Globalization' so much as 'Westernization'.
2) Globalization as the return of 'Colonization'.
3) 'Globalization' as 'exploitation.
4) A disease of economics infecting countries outside of America and the EU.

Warwick Group 2 Keywords (Courtney & Ridzal)

internationalism

1. a policy of cooperation among nations .
2. an attitude or belief favoring such a policy.

Additional definitions and/or uses of the term:

the advocacy of cooperation and understanding between nations.
(OED)

cooperation between nations for the theoretical benefit of all.
(Wikipedia)

In linguistics, an internationalism is a "loanword that occurs in several languages with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in 'several different languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from the ultimate source' (I.V.Arnold). Pronunciation and orthography are similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages e.g. 'airport,' 'tsunami' and 'international.'"

In Marxist thought, proletarian internationalism might be summed up in the slogan, "Workers of the world, unite!"
(Wikipedia)

Challenge(s): The initial definition presupposes cooperation and does not address potentially exploitative relationships or tensions embedded in the concept and its application. As the other definitions reveal, internationalists strive to establish cooperation but there are also divergent interpretations and agendas that shape the understanding of what it means to be international or internationalist. How do we maintain the balance between supra-national bodies e.g. UN, ICJ, EU, as some kind of international authority, against the rights and autonomy of individual sovereign nations? Are the interests of both complementary to or at odds with each other? Is internationalism an all-encompassing term or does it allow for differences between groups in terms of race, gender or class? (Proletarian internationalism vs. bourgeois internationalism? Is there such a thing as bourgeois internationalism? Other types of internationalism(s)?)

syncretism



1. the combination of different forms of belief or practice.
2. the fusion of two or more originally different forms.



(Source: Merriam-Webster Online)



Challenge(s): Does the conceit of inclusiveness conceal underlying exclusions and omissions? Does it perpetuate false consciousness to conceptualize this fusion and synthesis as an all-encompassing incorporation of disparate elements?


How does syncretism account for the persistent distinctive sub-groups or sub-genres, such as Asian-American or African-American theatre(s)? Is syncretism always desirable or does it threaten the autonomy and/or distinctiveness of particular sub-cultures or groups?

polyglottal (or polyglot), adj.

1. Of a person: that speaks, writes, or understands a number of languages.
2. a. Written or uttered in a number of languages; spec. (of a book, esp. a bible) printed with the text translated into several languages.
b. Characterized by a multiplicity of (native) languages; involving the use of several languages, or elements of several languages; multilingual.

(Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Challenge(s): Is it merely a superficial pastiche of different languages i.e. throwing in words and phrases in other languages into a play, for example, for the sake of aesthetic variety? Do polyglottal theatricalizations also contribute to stereotypes or reductive characterizations of people and groups based on speech acts? How does polyglottal performance impact audience reception? (Positively? Negatively?)