Dance Troupes Research Articles

The Extent of Performance Loss of the Adelante Dance Troupe during the Modification of Cultural Implementation

This study aims to investigate the factors that contribute to the decline in performance of the Adelante Dance Troupe of the University of San Jose-Recoletos during cultural modification, focusing on (1) human motivation, (2) human personality, and (3) psychological needs: Relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Through the firsthand experiences of 30 members affected by COVID-19-induced changes, the research identifies essential factors. The study reveals the impact of collecting limitations, travel restrictions, and safety procedures on cultural performance organizations. Modifications, such as social distancing and virtual platforms, contribute to the observed performance decrease. This study assesses ADT performance; there is a corresponding 89.8% improvement in personality. When dancers lose performance, their level of competence declines during cultural implementation adjustments, too. This ties in with personal issues and personality-driven decision-making, highlighting that dancers' difficulties adjusting to changing cultural implementation are more closely related to their situations and decisions than to dance group policies or programs. The prevalent factors influencing performance can be enhanced through various initiatives, programs, and skims. The study highlights the importance of addressing motivation in dance troupes undergoing cultural adaptations to minimize performance issues. This suggests that the psychological aspects of individuals play a more critical role in influencing performance outcomes than the technical skills and proficiency in dance.

Constitution of the "Kolo" Ensemble and Choreography of Traditional Dance – Anthropological Interpretation and Socio-Political Context

The Ensemble of Folk Dances and Songs of Serbia "Kolo" was founded in 1948 in Belgrade, on the initiative of the Committee for Culture and Art of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The task of the Ensemble was to artistically interpret and present the so-called folk artistic creativity, which predominantly encompassed various folklore creations of the rural population, on stage, in the country and abroad. Although seemingly simple and folk-oriented, the art of traditional dance choreography has clear ideological and politically important messages of the then state leadership embedded in it foundations, intended to be spread among the Yugoslavs, but also beyond the state borders. The ensemble was supposed to present a desirable and appropriate image of Yugoslavia in its performances. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the formation of the “Kolo” Ensemble and the process of constituting the art of traditional dance choreography, taking into account the socio-political and historical context of the Second Yugoslavia. In addition, the paper approaches the deconstruction of the intention of choreographers and artistic directors, in order to reveal the ideological messages embedded in the artistic expression. The basic assumption in this paper is that dance troupes and traditional dance choreographies are strongly connected to the ideology and cultural policy of the nation-state. In this regard, even when choreographers and artistic directors create programs without direct political-ideological objectives, their decisions always rely on the socio-political context and the dominant ideologies within the state. The theoretical framework of the work is based on contemporary anthropological discussions about the concepts crucial for the interpretation of the material, primarily referring to the concept of ideology, understood in the Althusserian sense, but also to the ideas of the combination of state ideology, cultural policy, and dance with the aim of presenting the dance troupe with a desirable image of the nation-state. The methodology of the work consists of a combination of two approaches: classical anthropological, qualitative and archival research. Qualitative research includes conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 dancers who worked in "Kolo" in different time contexts, while archival research included reviewing the documentation of the "Kolo" Ensemble, the Archives of Yugoslavia and the personal and family archives of the dancers.

Composing Music for Choreographic Projects: Cases and Trends

All over the world the studies on the collaboration between music composers and dance creators are highly sought after. This is driven by the rapid evolution of musical and choreographic art fields in today’s creative industries. Organizing and promoting such cultural practices is crucial to complement the creative aspect. That’s why the present study examines the tendencies of compositional creativity in Kazakhstan in terms of its integration into choreographic projects. It can also be considered as a projection on cultural management. The article aims to the analytical review of the recent years’ implemented cases, that demonstrate the ways and formats of interaction between music and dance. The article considers the following questions: the interaction of music and choreography in a historical context; the creation of music and compilation of music for ballet; the design of music for dance and dance video, as well as the ways to support compositional creativity.This study of temporal and spatial art forms is built at the interface of several sciences. For the conceptual analysis the authors of the article required a wide range of historical and socio-cultural sources in the specified areas of art. The work was divided into several stages and used analytical, comparative and historical methods projected onto the Kazakh musical theater and other institutions related to the dance art. Also, an interviewing method was applied for the survey of practicing composers and directors, music editors and performers.The design of music and choreography has a wide range of relationships and demands that are necessary for the execution of audiovisual projects.This article with its understanding of cases in the field of ballet theater, dance troupes or video clips may be interesting both theoretically and practically not only for the scholars, but also for composers and choreographers who are only at the beginning of their creative paths. In addition, the article raises the problem of promoting and supporting compositional creativity. A thorough understanding of the music creation process for dance can foster more effective collaborations among creators, as well as the development of cultural management and clusters of creative industries.

Change or not: inheritance and development of the “three bends” in the teaching of traditional dances of the Dai people in China and Thailand: based on the grounded theory of four teaching units

ABSTRACT There are disparities in awareness, concept, and practice of inheritance and development in the teaching of traditional Dai dance between China and Thailand. The performance is particularly evident in the instructional activities of the trademark movement ‘three bends,’ which may be separated out: There are three connections: the distinction between heredity and development concepts, the distinction between behaviour in teaching practice, and the strengthening of concepts and behaviours. The coding, interpretation, and comparison were established by a quantitative questionnaire survey and a qualitative half-section structured interview using grounded theory to explore four teaching units in China and Thailand, including universities and song and dance troupes. The study discovered that rules and teaching practices focused at diverse awareness concepts are causing the Dai nationality, a cross-border country, to form a separate development in teaching and creating. This concept and behaviour are also impeding conventional dance instruction. The original goal of traditional culture was to conserve the Dai people’s culture and norms in China and Thailand. As a result, critical thinking and reflection on concepts and behaviours must be incorporated into the teaching of Dai traditional dance in China and Thailand.

Impact of Covid-19 Social Distancing Protocol on the Private Sector Dance Troupes in Lagos State, Nigeria

The conrmed case of Covid-19 in Lagos State made it the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria. To this end, the federal government adopted public health protocols to curb its spread which included social distancing at the end of March 2020. The response measure of social distancing had grave consequences on the services of the private sector dance troupes in the state. This study adopted the exploratory research design. The population comprised private dance troupes based on a random selection of troupes that could be reached through mobile phones and other social media platforms. The objective of the study was to provide data on the impact of the social distancing measure on dance service providers in Lagos State and to establish the place of dance in the state’s political economy. The findings showed that the Covid-19 social distancing measure impacted negatively on 100% of dance service providers in the private sector during the period under review and that this sector was neglected as a matter of the socio-economic policy of the state. It was recommended that the policy of the government should not be discriminatory against dance operators in the private sector; a policy that addressed the plight of such operators should be formulated; alternatives that leveraged digital technology should be explored to scale up modes of dance presentations that guaranteed job and social security for all times in the sector. The study concluded that the deleterious impact of the measure of social distancing on the dance economy of the private dance troupes of Lagos State could have been mitigated if there was a policy framework that guaranteed culture security which would have benetted both the private dance troupes and Lagos State economy during the first four months of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Балет в театрах князей Радзивиллов в XVIII столетии

The appearance of the first ballet productions and the emergence of professional education for dancers on the territory of Belarus in the 18th century is associated with the activities of the theaters of the magnates — the wealthiest representatives of the highest nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhmud, which included present-day Belarusian lands. The theater stages, equipped with complex mechanisms and decorations for creating a variety of sound and visual effects, were where the leading choreographers and dancers of their time worked. The most durable and large-scale activities were those of private theaters created and functioning at the expense of the ‘uncrowned kings’ of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the princes Radziwiłłs. The representatives of this family demonstrated sincere interest in art and made their courtyards the center of cultural life and artistic education of their time. To teach the art of the ballet to their own children, people close to the court and cadets of the ‘Knight’s Academy’ created by the Radziwiłłs based on the model of the Saxon educational institution for the military, the princes invited famous professional dancers from France and the Italian kingdoms to work. In order to form permanent dance troupes at their theaters in Slutsk and Niasviž, the Radziwiłłs established ballet schools. The heyday of the art of ballet on the theater stages belonging to the Radziwiłłs dates back to 1777–1790. During this period, along with choreographers from European countries, Belarusian dancer Antony Loiko began engaging himself in productions of ballet divertissements and interludes. Student of ballet reformer Jean-Georges Noverre, Francesco Caselli staged several ballet performances with detailed dramatic plots, one of which was Orfeusz w piekle (Orpheus in Hell) to the music of the German composer and leader of the Niasviž Chapel, Jan Dawid Holland. The activities of the theaters belonging to the Radziwiłłs in the 18th century were of great significance for the development of the art of dance, as well as education for people of different social strata. Because of the latter’s personal participation in performances, not only representatives of the nobility, but also peasants, bourgeois and soldiers were introduced to classical European music and ballet. Children who successfully completed their studies at schools with leading European choreographers acquired a profession that allowed them to later work in different theaters and provide themselves with a comfortable existence.

Research on Folk Ecology Status of Northeast Yangko in Heilongjiang Province

Julian Steward believes that environment and culture cannot be separated. Traditional folk dance is the reproduction of life, the expression of thoughts and emotions of ethnic groups, and has the attribute of national identity. In the process of urbanization evolution of Northeast Yangko Dance, it contains ethnic migration and cultural belonging. The participation and emphasis of Northeast Yangko Dance in folk affects the development of sub-ecological folk dance and stage art folk dance. This study uses the research methods of survey and interview, combined with the theory of dance ecology, to study the folk ecological status quo of Northeast Yangko Dance in Heilongjiang Province, and analyzes the status quo of urban square dance, middle-aged and elderly dance troupes, university dance clubs and activities. Through research, the main reasons that restrict the development of the Northeast Yangko Dance include: the traditional Northeast Yangko Dance costumes are rustic, the music is not fashionable, the dance movements are difficult to learn, there are few plays that can be learned, the lack of director, the lack of watching ways, the outdated style, and the lack of attention from schools and students. The study shows that the dance ecology of Northeast Yangko is not optimistic.

Performing the Nation and Staging Ethnic Diversity in Ghanaian National-Day Celebrations

<h3>ABSTRACT:</h3> National-day celebrations provide a unique window into more general questions of nation-building. As in many African nation-states, Ghana’s national unity was, and is still, potentially challenged by competing ethnic and regional loyalties. Nation-building, which strives to integrate the population, must therefore refer back in some way to these identifications. An important occasion to do so is on any of the annually recurring national holidays that seek to evoke experiences of community. The national-day ceremonies stage images of the nation and provide an arena to visibly incorporate and subordinate ethnic and regional loyalties to the nation. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in 2014 and 2017 (and further years), I will analyze how cultural traditions were presented during Independence Day parades. The article analyzes one “ordinary” celebration, where schoolchildren offer a brief display of different “ethnic” dances before the actual march-past begins. This will be compared with an elaborate dance choreography produced for Ghana’s sixtieth independence anniversary celebration in 2017, which featured adult dance troupes from all the country’s (then) ten regions and incorporated their performance into a story centered on “Mother Ghana.” Taken together, the two events reveal different artistic strategies of staging and, at the same time, containing ethnic and regional diversity on the national stage.

INTERPRETATION OF MEANINGS EMBEDDED IN NON-DISCURSIVE SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATION OF KAMABEKA CULTURAL DANCE OF BABUKUSU COMMUNITY OF BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA

In most cultures of the world, indigenous cultural dances do communicate non-discursively. The meanings thereof are usually culture bound hence need an individual with the cultural background knowledge of the dance in question to be able to understand the communication behind the dance. With a focus on kamabeka dance, the main objective of this study was to interpret the meanings embedded in the non-discursive communication of kamabeka cultural dance of Babukusu community of Bungoma County, Kenya. This is a step towards dissemination of African knowledge to the global village since currently is saturated with western knowledge. The study was guided by the theory of semiotics and communication by Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz(1993). The target population comprised 25 kamabeka dance troupes and 25 kamabeka dance troupe leaders who were purposively selected pursuant to the data obtained from the register in the ministry of culture and sports in Bungoma County. However only 8 out of 25 dance troupes which accounts for 30% were selected for logistical convenience. Only 11 out of 25 leaders were sampled owing to a point of saturation which was reached by the 11th respondent. This accounted for 44% of the total population. Data collection methods comprised interviews, participant and non-participant observation. Data collection instruments and tools comprised interview schedules for dance troupe leaders and observation schedules for dance live performances, field notebook and a tape/video recorder and still photographs. Recorded videos of kamabeka dances were also obtained for analysis. Qualitative data obtained was organized in topics of discussions analyzed descriptively and presented in prose and photographs. It is hoped that the findings of this study shall, provide resource material for reference and beef up theexisting pool of knowledge as well as stimulate further research in the area of ethnomusicology and related disciplines.

Tourism as a Pathway to Rural Livelihood Diversification: A Study of Mognori Ecovillage in the Savannah Region of Ghana

As a means of mitigating the effects of restrictions arising from the creation of the Mole National Park, a tourism intervention was introduced in Mognori, a village on one of the fringes of the famed park.This study assesses the Mognori Ecovillage Project especially in terms of its anticipated role in diversifying livelihoods. Qualitative research approaches were employed. Instruments such as In-depthInterview schedules were used to elicit information from household heads while focus group discussions (FGD) were used to elicit data from homestay operators and cultural dance troupes. Tourism was found to play an important diversification role in the sense that it provided both full-time and alternative means of income for some residents especially in the dry season. Tourism has become the “life wire” of some locales and the community needs to take steps to attract more tourists and provide a richer but engaging itinerary through improving cultural tourism resources such as the introduction of products like farm tourism and angling in the Mognori River. It is recommended that the homestay providers be trained in visitor reception skills including basic communication in Enghish language to enhance the experience of visitors.&#x0D; Keywords: Mognori Ecovillage, homestay, livelihood diversification, stipends, canoe safari

무용수의 자기관리와 회복탄력성 및 열정 간의 관계

The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural relationship between dancers’ self-management, resilience and passion. The purpose of this study is to provide a positive effect to dancers and to provide basic data to dance leaders and educators. The subjects of this study were dancers working at 4 universities in Seoul with dance departments and dancers working in dance troupes. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed and 280 copies were collected. A total of 257 questionnaires were analyzed except those that were answered twice or were found to be difficult to use in the study. Data processing was analyzed by frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 18.0 for Windows. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis were performed using AMOS 18.0. The results of this study are as follows. First, self-management had a partially significant effect on resilience. Second, self-management had a significant effect on passion in part. Third, resilience has a significant effect on passion in partly influenced.

무용수의 완벽주의성향, 직무몰입, 직무소진 및 직무만족간의 구조적 관계

This study aims to establish the structural relationship among dancers’ perfectionism tendency, job engagement, burnout, and job satisfaction. To do this, we conducted the survey on 250 dancers who are playing in dance troupes in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, and we also encoded and analyzed the results of the survey by using s tatistical programs such as SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 18.0. The analysis has shown that, first, the effort towards perfectionism has a positive effect on job flow. Second, perfectionism concerns have turned out to have not effect on job flow. Third, perfectionism of endeavor turns out to have a negative effect on job burnout. Fourth, perfectionism of concern turns out to have a positive effect on job burnout. Fourth, perfectionism of endeavor turns out to have a positive effect on job satisfaction. Fifth, perfectionism of concern turns out to have a negative effect on job satisfaction. Sixth, job flow turns out to not effect on job burnout. Seventh, job flow turns out to have a positive effect on job satisfaction. Eighth, job burnout turns out to have a negative effect on job satisfaction.

Normative justification for public arts funding: what can we learn from linking arts consumption and arts policy in Israel?

AbstractThis article studies the socioeconomics of government public expenditure for the arts and the normative foundations of state intervention in the arts. I pose two interrelated research questions: (a) what is the relationship between the public funding of the arts and their consumption? and (b) what mode of justification and what perception of the place of art in society is reflected in this relationship? Based on the philosophical work of Alan Badiou, I develop a novel conceptual framework to delineate three types of normative justifications for the public funding of arts organizations: romantic, didactic and classical. Using data from the public funding of 92 orchestras, theaters and dance troupes in Israel between 1999 and 2011, I estimate a cross-lagged panel data model to study how arts funding both affects and is affected by the levels of consumption of the organizations’ productions. The results of the study show a complex pattern of different relationships between funding and consumption that accord with the three types of normative justifications for public arts funding.

Dance performances in post-genocide Rwanda: remaking identity, reconnecting present and past

ABSTRACTSince it took power by putting an end to the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front has initiated the project of building a new Rwanda. The latter is conceived as a de-ethnicised nation-state which, while being “modern” and open to socioeconomic development and the processes of globalisation, remains rooted in its ancestral past. Hence, Rwandan cultural heritage is integrated in this undertaking to create a unified and developed Rwanda. This article examines the current revitalisation of so-called traditional dances in Kigali as part of the endeavour to build a new national identity. It explores the changes in dance repertoire and dynamics that are brought about in current Rwandan dance performances in order to materialise the utopia of the new Rwanda. Special attention is given to the alliances between old and new, used as a way to establish continuity with an idealised precolonial past: classical pieces alternate with novel creations; long-standing dance forms are the basis for experimenting with new figures; Western-style dresses coexist with purportedly traditional costumes; and songs, performed without the need for innovation by Twa singers and considered tokens of tradition, are joined with constantly changing choreographies staged mainly by university students. While recognising the success of youth dance troupes in embodying the image of the new Rwanda, the article also critically addresses the unacknowledged effects of the imposition of the post-genocide state ideology: the growing uniformisation, spectacularisation and instrumentalisation of dances; persistent ethnic tensions within the troupes and Rwandan youth as well as an increasing divide between rich and poor, centre and periphery; and the marginalisation and exclusion of large parts of the population who cannot access the envisaged ideal.

Contemporary Dynamics in Rwandan Dances: Identity, Changing Creativity and the Globalisation of Affect

In contemporary Rwandan society, a revitalisation of ‘traditional’ dances can be observed which manifests in the proliferation of youth dance troupes, especially in urban areas. This revival is part of the drive, which has characterised Rwanda, to reconstruct itself after the traumatic 1994 genocide and to create a new, unified nation that strives to be ‘modern’ and integrated into the global market economy. This article explores the repertoire and dynamics of current Rwandan dance performances as they embody the new national identity, pointing to differences between the practices and views of dancers trained in the pre-genocide period and dancers from contemporary youth troupes. In this respect, two divergent views of creativity, found among these two categories of dancers, are distinguished: a perspective that privileges improvisation as a key creative process, on the one hand, and a view of creativity as innovation and the realisation of novel, pre-designed forms, on the other. With regard to the affective power of these performances, the article advances that contemporary dance shows generate affect, as bodily intensity, among the onlookers captured by the flow of spectacular, homogeneously performed dance forms. While evocative of Rwanda's new national identity, the latter neutralise connections with the dancers' subjective history and erase the dances' sociocultural background. In a final note, the changing dynamics in Rwandan dances are linked beyond this specific case study to the flow-closure dialectic of globalisation. It is suggested that dance's dual nature of both rhythmic flow and visual form is what makes it such a privileged marker of identity in our uncertain and violence-generating global times.

Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India by Davesh Soneji (review)

Reviewed by: Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India by Davesh Soneji Kristen Rudisill Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India. By Davesh Soneji. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. xiii + 313 pp. Paper, $24.00. Devadasi is a word that has long been misused to refer collectively to a variety of categories of temple and performing women, erroneously giving the impression of a sustained, pan-Indian tradition. Davesh Soneji adds precision to the term, detaching it from jogati, ta'waif, baiji, and other terms for female temple workers, performers, and courtesans. He focuses on devadasis' identities as professional artists within a sexual economy by tracing scattered and fragmentary references to temple women, court dancers, and other "public women" through two hundred years of history. The standard received narrative concerning devadasis in South India entails a story of women married to gods, dancing for their divine husbands inside their temples, then eventually being corrupted and becoming prostitutes who needed to be rescued from their degraded profession. In this book, Davesh Soneji reclaims the secular components of devadasi lifestyle and dance practices, which, though comprising the majority of their performances, had been lost due to years of denial by middle-class, upper-caste reformers. He pinpoints the consolidation of devadasi identity to the Nayaka period (sixteenth and seventeeth centuries) and characterizes it as involving nonconjugal lifestyles as well as "simultaneous investments in temple, courtly, and public cultures, complex dance and music practices, and matrifocal kinship structures" (p. 30). Many women were involved with one or more of these practices but may not technically have been considered devadasis if all the components were not present. In 1947, after decades of debate, the Madras Devadasi Act was passed in an effort to eradicate prostitution. It banned dedication of women in temples as well as any dancing associated with temples. Soneji's book concerns itself with the social, civic, and aesthetic aftereffects of this ban from the perspective of the performing women themselves. One of the most exciting things about this book is that Soneji has interviewed women from more than ten different devadasi communities in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh who lived through the implementation of the 1947 act. Additionally, he has been able to document and record some of their secular dance practices, many of which had been virtually erased from history as they did not fit the reconstituted religious history and the revived performance practices promoted by Brahmin women such as Rukmini Devi. This casual, often sexually explicit dance repertoire, however, is central to the identities of these women as well as to the ways that they remember the past. They are still performing, as Soneji puts it, "underground," in the privacy of their own homes at night. The melams, or dance troupes, have moved from public spectacle to "the realm of nostalgia and memory" (p. 210) as the women perform for themselves at private late-night parties, where they remind themselves of who they used to be and lament what they have become. Unfinished Gestures complicates received narratives by focusing not on the few devadasi performers who were sanctioned by elites and continued to [End Page 239] perform on Madras city stages, in films, or on gramophone recordings, but on the majority of the community members who were never integrated into modern Indian society and continue to face loss, stigma, and disenfranchisement. By speaking directly with women who lived through the reform period and recording their private performances, Soneji is able to consider the effects of both the 1947 act and the 1956 Andhra Pradesh amendment (which criminalized all public dancing—even at marriages or private parties—by hereditary dancing women) on both lifestyles and actual dance practices. Discourses of nationalism upheld marriage as the ideal for the modern Indian woman, and reformers worked in vain to integrate dancers into society by getting them married, while the dance was revived and cleaned up by respectable middle-class, mostly Brahmin women, who found devadasis' nonconjugal lifestyles and "unclassical" performance styles unpalatable. The memories and performances of contemporary devadasis reveal all the places where the implementation and enforcement of the act failed. The overall failure of reform, in the...

Misnomer: Reflections on a Dance Performance

African Dance troupes were integral to constructions of nationhood and pan-Africanism at the time of independence ([Acogny 1988][1]). There has been a tendency to forget their significance as part of a broader political culture in which building a repertoire of dances from a vast array of ethnic

Sprich zu mir in Seuchensprache/Speak to me in plague language (Vanadium-i-ching 1983): An analysis of Einstürzende Neubauten as Artaudian artists

ABSTRACTThis article brings into focus an aspect of Artaud's seminal influence on experimental music which, although ranging from David Tudor to Japanese noise artists, has yet to be fully explored in comparison with available literature on Artaud and theatre. Sprich zu mir in Seuchensprache contributes to this discussion by arguing that the Berlin-based music collective Einstürzende Neubauten are one of the most effective working examples of Artaudian artists. The evidence given is in the musicians' philosophy of music as apocalypse and utopia; in their risk-filled (but disciplined) physicality with their industrial playgrounds and their work with dance troupes; their investigation into, and use of, found sound and unusually constructed instrumentation; their expanded gestural vocalization and their use of the scream. Neubauten's lyrics also support Artaudian concerns in their avoidance of personal shopping and shagging for cosmic, scientific, biological and mythical themes and in the structuring from dreams, lists and chance games. Finally Neubauten pursue the desire to create an artist—recipient shared transforming ‘cruelty’ that reaches beyond the ears and eyes.

Producing Urban Vitality: The Case of Dance in San Francisco

At the turn of the millennium, professionals and wealthy suburbanites moved into the inner city—a transition that led to an influx of profit-driven urban development. In the case of San Francisco, I argue that one central factor triggering this development process has been the increasing urban vitality of the inner city: diverse populations engaged in multiple economic, social, and political activities enacting lively streets of strong character. This wide range of urban actors has produced a variety of goods and services through the broadening and strengthening of their social networks, resulting in the construction of unique places. Thus it is at the intersection of these diverse activities, multiple networks, and unique places that the inner-city neighborhoods produce major urban vitality. This study focuses on the work of two dance troupes in San Francisco, Flyaway Productions and De Rompe y Raja, as producer of urban vitality and as a window of observation for a broader development process.

“Suit the Action to the Word, the Word to the Action”: An Unconventional Approach to Describing Shakespeare's Hamlet

Without access to audio description, individuals who are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision) may be at a unique social disadvantage because they are unable to participate fully in a culture that is based on and heavily saturated by the enjoyment of audiovisual entertainments (Packer & Kirchner, 1997). Audio description was introduced as an adaptive after-the-fact strategy to give individuals who are visually impaired better access to media (Fels, Udo, Ting, Diamond, & Diamond, 2006). With audio description, visually important elements of the entertainment experience are described during pauses in the dialogue (Packer & Kirchner, 1997). Conventional audio description practices, as outlined by Snyder (2005, 2007), have been adopted as an access strategy for live theater, television, and film, although little research has informed these practices (Gerber, 2007). Alternative audio description strategies are also being explored and developed, mainly by theater (for example, British Council for the Arts, 2007; Graeae Theatre Company, n.d.) or dance troupes (for example, CandoCo Dance Company, 2008; StopGap, 2008) whose mandates are focused on the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in their casts. We believe that audio description is a creative process, and from working firsthand on live audio description projects we learned how cognitively demanding live description is on a describer. We recognize that audio describers are generally volunteers and have a genuine interest in making the theater accessible to individuals with visual impairments. In this article, we present a summary of conventional and alternative audio description practices. We discuss a case account of an alternative audio description strategy that was prepared for a live production of Hamlet using the subjective, emotional style proposed by Fels, Udo, Diamond, and Diamond (2006) and Fels, Udo, Ting et al. (2006); and used by Udo and Fels (in press). CONVENTIONAL AUDIO DESCRIPTION Formal audio description is a relatively new media access technology compared with others, such as closed captioning. Audio description has existed for many years, however, as an ad hoc and access strategy in which friends and family members acted as informal describers, whispering descriptions to their friends and relatives who were visually impaired (Packer & Kirchner, 1997). In the 1970s, Gregory Frazier formalized audio description by defining formal procedures and processes for the description of media and cultural events (Snyder, 2005). In the 1990s, WGBH Radio & Television began offering a Descriptive Video Service as part of its broadcasts (WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d.). Numerous theater groups in the United States and the United Kingdom have also embraced these technologies and techniques for live theater. In 1981, Margaret Pfanstiehl and Cody Pfanstiehl were among the pioneers to develop audio description techniques for live theater. Additional guidelines for the creation of audio description for television, film, and live theater exist (Audetel Consortium, 2000; Audio Description International, 2005). However, most of these guidelines tend to rely heavily on anecdotal evidence and the historical use of a specific process, rather than one validated by published research. Pfanstiehl and Pfanstiehl (quoted in The Play's the Thing, 1985, p. 91) cautioned describers not [to] evaluate or interpret, but rather be like the faithful lens of a camera and encouraged them to describe visual elements without drawing assumptions for the listener. In doing so, the describer must interpret and translate important visual action or stimuli (costumes, setting, lighting, and so forth) as objectively as possible. Since limited time is available to describe visual stimuli, describers must use precise and highly descriptive language. There has been limited research on the effectiveness and impact of live audio description on audiences. …