2. The Essay
In what ways can your chosen practitioners work be
considered postmodern. You should discuss the
chosen work by paying particular attention to:
The significant signs and key stylistic features of
the work
The key postmodern concepts applied to the
performance
Week 9
Analysing Performance
3. Analysis
…[W]here semiotics is helpful is to remind us that sense making cannot
simply be reduced to the level of the individual spectator’s reception of
what s/he experiences from the stage. In place of the unique individual
constructing their own personal edifice of meaning from the business in
front of them, semiotics argues that we can only exist in the world – and
make sense of it – through a shared understanding of a complex matrix of
codes and conventions.
(Murray and Keefe, 2007, p. 24)
Week 9
Analysing Performance
6. How do I go
about it?
Analysing Performance Week 9
Watch your work, multiple times
Choose a particular section or sections which highlight
your interpretation
Note down the key elements of the performance in
terms of performer, movement, sound and space
Consider any key connections between strands
Articulate how this is a clear example of your previous
interpretation
Write up your paragraph!
12. Week 9
Analysing Performance
Models of Spectatorship
Intention meets interpretation
Integrated: choreographers may choose to make all elements work
together to support and underpin each other.
Co-existing: each strand co-exist in the choreography.They occupy the
same space and time but they do not integrate, nor deliberately
contrast.
Juxtaposed: putting one element beside another each of which
conjures an image with it’s own context and creates a question mark; a
tension.
13. Week 9
Analysing Performance
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”
Everything on the
stage is a sign
1. Describe the signifiers.
What do you perceive
(performer, movement
sound space)
2. What is the signified
concept/ (denotive)
meaning?
3. How do the signs produce
their meaning?What is the
relationship between the
signifier and signified?
Indexical, iconic, symbolic?
“This dream has got me all shook up, treat me nice and tell me
what it means”
14. Everything on the
stage is a sign
4. What are the
associated/connotational
meanings?
5. Do the signs work in
conjunction or disjunction
6. Do the sign systems work
in an integrated, co-
existing, or juxtaposed
way?
7. Does the work challenge or
support dominant myths/
cultural codes?
Week 9
Analysing Performance
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”
“This dream has got me all shook up, treat me nice and tell me
what it means”
15. Analysis 1
Analysing Performance Week 9
• One of the key moments of the work…
• This particular theme is highlighted when…
Point –What is key moment in the work
that highlights your argument?
• The performers are…
• A key action is… which is performed with… dynamics
Evidence – Can you describe the key
elements?
• This particular section suggests…
• As an example of … this could be interpreted as..
Explanation – How does this link to your
interpretation?
16. Analysis 2
Analysing Performance Week 9
• The use of… is a key symbol for…
• The movement is iconic of…
Point –What are the key signs, and how
does the signifier relate to the signified?
• For example, through the use of juxtaposition…
• The combination of cultural references work in
disjunction…
Evidence – How do the sign systems work
together to support this?
• Pastiche is a key element of postmodern performance
because…
• The non-linear narrative is evident through…
Explanation – How is this a key stylistic
feature of postmodern performance
17. Bibliography
Bannerman, H. (2010) ‘Movement and meaning: an enquiry into the signifying
properties of Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels (1948) and Merce Cunningham’s
Points in Space (1986)’, Research in Dance Education, 11 (1), pp. 19-33.
Carlson, M. (2008) ‘Mixed media and mixed messages: BigArt Group’s exploration of
the sign’, Journal of DramaticTheory and Criticism, 22 (2), pp. 119-132.
Prieto-Arranz, J. I. (2012) ‘The semiotics of performance and success in Madonna,’ The
Journal of Popular Culture, 45 (1), pp. 173-196.
Week 9
Analysing Performance