Note to tutor: I will provide a link to the movie that you are going to watch and answer this paper, if the link does not work then let me know. The movie’s name is “Trash Dance”
Performance Analysis Guidelines
Format and Deadline
- 10 points
- 2 pages, double-spaced, Times New Romans
The paper should have 4 structures. (1) Introduction (2) Description (3) Analysis (4) Conclusion
1. Introduction: Give us a background of the performance, the artist, and the context. Any social or historical context your reader needs to know. Establish how that particular aspect of your research and analysis links to the given research questions.
1) Artist/Performer(s): Who is performing?
2) Context: What is the dance company and who is the choreographer? Do some research on it.
3) The Audience: Who is watching? Describe your own positionality, experience, and perspective informed by the class topics. How is your experience, background, or social and cultural position impact and influence your understanding of the performance? You can extend this to the analysis.
2. Description: What do you see or hear or feel? Describe performers’ bodies, movements, costumes, their use of space, time, sound, and relationship to the audience, as well as the narrative and/or lyrics of the show. Physical, verbal, visual, and sonic signs are your evidence.
You can consider those elements:
- Narrative, character, role play
- Spoken or written texts
- The body and movement
- Gender, race, age, sexuality, the body type of performers
- Speed, level, and space of moves
- Relations with other performers and the audience
- General feelings, e.g. facial expressions
- Sonic and other visual elements
- Music, sound, prop, lighting, costume, etc.
3. Analysis: Choose at least one particular film/scene. What are some of the main themes the artist tries to say? How do they relate to current cultural issues in society? Cite at least one idea or key term covered in class from readings, lectures, and viewings.
4. Conclusion: What do we learn from your analysis? Why do you think the piece is important? What does the piece mean in a larger context of gender, race, sexuality, and performance of identity? Bring your position and experience as an audience and weave them into the analysis. Conclude with a broader implication vis-a-vis functions, values, and beauty of dance performance.
Check List
- Does the paper provide a clear, well-developed (1) Introduction (2) Description (3) Analysis, and (4) Conclusion? Does each section meet the criteria and requirements?
- Does it fully analyze the performance in-depth and support the arguments with at least one source (key term) from the lectures or the readings? Does it include a list of references at the end?
- Does the format match: 2 pages, double-spaced, Times New Romans? Have you done proofreading so that it meets the expectation for a 200 level class?
