Following my journey from stage manager to academic I wanted to discover whether my experiences were unique. Although there has been investigation in other fields into transition experiences, there was no existing research in this area. In this article I investigate the values and identity of stage managers in academia and how these are affected…

Commercial dance forms, specifically musical theater dance, remain highly marginalized within higher education research. This article presents the need to establish more scholarly research in musical theater dance and points out the ethnographic identity of the genre in our global society. Ethnographic study can be useful in validating musical…

This article brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from three artist-scholars. More specifically, we examine the impact of performances of listening and care in works addressing connections to personal identity, trauma, and violence and the anxieties that these can provoke in our roles as artists, researchers, and pedagogues. We ask: how…

This essay analyzes student experiences of studying all-female and non-binary cast Shakespeare productions in the Seattle area, including upstart crow collective's "Richard III" and The Fern Shakespeare Company's "Much Ado About Nothing." I draw on my teaching of the experimental work of these regional companies in an…

The field of performing arts presents an often unpredictable area for career development. Yet many people are drawn to this field as their chosen career trajectory. This study examines the life-career experiences that shape performing artists' trajectories within the framework of career construction theory. Using a qualitative multiple case study…

Contemplative education courses and academic programs emerging in universities across the United States and internationally have a unique opportunity to help students gain both self-awareness and an awareness of how the self is situated in a larger context. Research utilizing meditation in higher education shows promise in strengthening stress…

As a lifelong theater artist and educator, as well as practitioner of a variety of meditative techniques, this author has been keenly interested in the potential impact of sitting meditation and other contemplative practices on acting, vocal, and movement training in college and university performing arts departments. For many years, she wondered…

This paper presents an overview of UKUSA, a non-governmental community arts/music programme in Durban, South Africa. At the heart of this project is a desire to enable people who have been historically disadvantaged to develop a more positive sense of self. To this end, UKUSA offers the best possible tuition in music, dance and drama, developing…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 16 titles deal with the following topics: an examination of inexperienced actors performing the plays of William Shakespeare; an investigation of the philosophies and practices of a summer theatre producer and manager; the…

Contends that parody is the direct result of an attempt to make room for oneself within an airtight, closed, or exclusive social, cultural, or theatrical construct. Provides examples from the author's work, such as an all-women production of "Hamlet" as well as a parody of "The Glass Menagerie." (PM)

Examines five versions of the Cinderella story. Argues that children's fairy tale drama presents female beauty as a moral absolute, not merely as a physical characteristic. Cites feminist theories of the female body to demonstrate ways in which fairy tale drama establishes female beauty as an unchanging, "universal" concept. Considers…

The two papers presented here reflect on experiences involved in founding and participating in La Compania de Teatro Bilingue, a bilingual theater group at a Texas university that recognizes the commonality of the Mexican-American and Anglo heritages in South Texas. The first paper discusses the need for such a group, explains its goal of…

Makes sense of the performance of Steve Taylor's play, "Ties That Bind," from the perspective of the actors, 14 faculty members, and doctoral students from various universities in the United States by using the interpretive lens of Erving Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. (SG)