Performance Analysis of Rituals by Using Schechners Ideas on Performance - Coursework Example

Performance Analysis Introduction Performance analysis refers to the evaluation of various events in the society based onthe concepts ascribed to performance theory. The theory of performance was developed by Richard Schechner to expound on different aspects of performance. According to the theory, the concept of performance is wide and broad. In this case, performance comprises additional contexts to theatre such as art and rituals. Schechner’s approach to performance is based on two models which include the fan and the web. The fan highlights performance as a spectrum of classes that is organised while the web presents the dynamic interconnections and influences of the concept of performance. The ideas presented by Schechner are essential for the analysis of performance in various contexts such as rituals and theatre. According to the fan framework, when an individual moves up the fan, the orderliness of the performance function increases while the freedom of the fan and orderliness reduces when a person moves towards the lower end of the fan (Allain and Harvie, 2006). The contradicting ends of the fan meet when the new ritual’s establishment becomes a new part of the performance structure. It is essential to utilise Schechner’s concepts for ritual performance analysis. The paper analyses the performance of rituals by using the Schechner’s ideas on performance. The essay uses both the web and fan concepts to evaluate various aspects of ritual performance. Performance Analysis The behaviour of ritual performance has various characteristics. First, the concept of ritual performance is a repetitive, stereotyped behavioural pattern. Second, the aspect of ritual performance is associated with different beliefs and practices in a particular religion such as that it is perceived as sacred. Third, rituals have a temporal element such that they occur at specific times and in a liturgical order. Lastly, the concept of ritual performance has a spatial element because it occurs in a specific location with a spatial coordination of the actors. However, the second and third aspects of ritual are interpreted loosely so that certain events such as installation officers, graduations, pilgrimages and visit of foreign dignitaries can be classified as ritual performances. According to the expanded interpretation of performance by Schechner, concepts that are sacred encompass different aspects that are beyond the perspective of religion to what is important in the secular life (Richard, 2006). The ideas presented in theatre performance according to Turner can be interpreted into the context of secular and religious rituals in different communities worldwide. In this case, practices such as ritual and social drama are symbolically relevant in expressing the indications and meanings of culture for how the lives of individuals are structured by the society (Schechner, 2006). According to classical approaches, rituals are associated with the aspects of rites of passage that illustrate the transition from a particular status to another in the society. The analysis of ritual performance in the art context provides adequate information regarding various aspects of ritual in the society. Performance analysis is among the best approaches for highlighting various aspects of ritual performance in the art industry (Schechner, 2006). The extension of the performance ritual to the modern life is expressed extensively in the performance theory especially the ideas Richard Schechner and Turner. The concepts represented in various writings by Turner and Richard provides the best source for information regarding the ritual performance analysis into the contemporary practice. According to Schechner, various performance events that are subject to the analysis can be organised into event-time-space chart that comprises of executions, sporting events and hostage crisis. These cultural analysis models are useful in describing the concepts of performances that occur in various rituals in the modern society. The classification of performance by researchers to encompass a broader perspective provides modern artists with a reliable avenue for analysing performances. Turner’s framework for cultural performance in different societies highlight that the event of performance can be parsed into various ritual stages that copy that happenings of the rite of passage (Allain and Harvie, 2006). The events that occur during a particular rite of passage include a laminal stage, separation stage and the reaggregation stage. This partitioning of the events is essential because it provides a mechanism for arranging symbolic data because they cause emotions. The analysis of ritual performance enhances awareness of the factors that promote the performance passion. According to research, there is a particular level of deference for the stage of lamina regardless of the similarities in the reintegration and separation stages in the social dramas ritual process. The main characteristic of being in the lamina phase is the aspect of the ambiguity of being between and betwixt (Allain and Harvie, 2006). According to Turner, the lamina stage in the technologically simple societies is associated with different transformative creatures, chimera and monsters. In this case, the use of masks during performances is a representation of ritual elements like the state of trance and drugs. Furthermore, the communication exchange and conversations between the performers in the lamina phase and the mixed up figures and creatures is common in theatres but can be extended to entail sporting events. There is no difference between the rites of passage that are obligatory in the secular industrialised and technological societies where individuals volunteer to participate. The voluntary aspect of performance is referred to as liminoid, and it is the platform in which the different types of cultural performance such as parades, festivals, theatre, sporting events and public executions are occasioned. The concept used to analyse performance entails various performance aspects as presented by Turner and Schechner (Richard, 2006). The Cambridge thesis is the foundation for performance analysis in theatre, play and drama genres. Schechner uses the concepts presented in the Cambridge thesis to expound on various concepts of performance that are crucial for analysis. According to the thesis, both tragedy and comedy as well the origin of the theatre are discerned. The thesis explains that the ritual performance was the idea behind the development of the concepts of drama and tragedy in performances (Bial, 2004). In this case, tragedy originates from dithyramb while comedy is acquired from the phallic dances that are ideologies of a "primal ritual". This assertion is questionable for various reasons, not least being the lack of any confirmation for a primal custom. Besides, rituals do not appear to have much in common with the theatre that would demonstrate the rise of one from the other (Richard, 2006). Schechner is not keen on providing another inception hypothesis and is incredulous of the utilization of beginning hypotheses toward the comprehension of theatre. Rather, he is occupied with what theatre may have in the same way as custom typically. The performance hypothesis is established on certain key standards, which incorporate such terms right now self, restored conduct and expressive culture, and joins social functions and custom. His idea of performance, which stands out strongly from past, essential pioneer, ways to deal with expressions of the human experience, affirms the significance of diverse frameworks of changes, which shift massively from society to culture, and all through recorded periods and developments (Schechner, 2006). Schechner unites a few gatherings of execution under the same heading: play, entertainment, games, theatre, and ritual. These offer four essential qualities: a unique ordering of time, an uncommon quality connected to questions, non-profitability regarding goods and principles. Time may be seen presently terms of occasions, which must be finished regardless of to what extent they take. Time may be set, which is a forced settled clock time, making an opposition between the action and the clock. Time may be typical, where the action speaks to something incident in an alternate requesting or stream of time, where time is considered in an unexpected way. While these changing points of view are appropriated among Objects inside these exhibitions take on extraordinary and new implications, and their worth in the performance context may be completely not the same as outside. In a ball game, the ball is of great and vital significance, yet outside it is valueless and has minimal real value (Richard, 2006). The non-profitability of performance is in the same way as what Turner and Schechner say regarding the performances. However, Schechner noticed a few difficulties. Theatre performance has some gainful abilities, it fills a theatre house and profits, and games recreations are to a great degree lucrative. In any case, nothing material is delivered in the execution itself. Guidelines apply because exhibitions are exercises separated from regular life. Tenets are most outstanding in the connection of diversions, additionally work in the theatre too. Notwithstanding the extent of exhibitions, standards are by and large held to be the same. The players in a noteworthy group ball game may be superior to anything in a sandlot diversion; however the principles that oversee their behaviour are the same in any case (Bial, 2004). Standards are not just intended to advise the players how to play, however how to keep the play space safe against infringement all things considered (Richard, 2006). References Allain, P. and Harvie, J. (2006). Everyday Life. In: The Routledge Companion to Theatre And Performance.. London & New York: Routledge, pp.150, 151. Allain, P. and Harvie, J. (2006). Performative/Performativity. In: The Routledge Companion to Theatre And Performance.. London & New York: Routledge, pp.185 - 186. Bial, H. (2004). The performance studies reader. London: Routledge. Richard, S. (2006). Make belief and make-believe. In: Performance Studies. 2nd ed. London & New York: Routledge, pp.42-45. Richard, S. (2006). Performativity in Performance Studies: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London & New York: Routledge, pp.123, 169. Schechner, R. (2006). Performance Studies: An Introduction. 3rd ed. London & New York: Routledge. Read More