Date of Award

12-2020

Access Control

Open Access

Degree Name

Creative Studies, M.S.

Department

Center for Studies in Creativity

Advisor

J. Michael Fox

Abstract

This project focuses on the practical application and conceptual acceptance of deliberate creative adaptation within the purview of the performing arts and arts education. More specifically, it centers this conversation around stagings of the iconic musical West Side Story, as my role as a choreographer and arts educator is used to further explore, examine, and emphasize these topics through the documentation of my production planning process, choreographic creation, and ultimate execution of performance material for a local high school production of the show. As such, this project builds with greater specificity off of my previous investigations of “adaptation” as an ideological concept and physical practice within a comparative arts - creativity context. An accumulation of anecdotal evidence, performance product, literary review, colleague critique, and personal reflection are presented. Elements of chief importance could best be framed as the relationship between innovation and novelty in conjunction with artistic repertoire and identity; the struggle for balance and boundaries between innovation and tradition when working with iconic performance pieces; innovatively addressing classical demands through alternate means; and finding opportunities for unique and novel interpretations without compromising artistic integrity. Additionally, all this is overlaid with the perspectives and potential opportunities of greater accessibility and engagement in arts education.

Bateson-Brown_Sample1_WSS-BAVPA-2016-Fight.mp4 (42188 kB)
Performance Product Sample 1 (same as link1 in-text p.34)

Bateson-Brown_Sample2_WSS-BAVPA-2016-America.mp4 (99510 kB)
Performance Product Sample 2 (same as link2 in-text p.35)

Bateson-Brown_Sample3_WSS-BAVPA-2016-Cool.mp4 (50426 kB)
Performance Product Sample 3 (same as link3 in-text p.36)

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