The Senses in Performance Worlds of Performance Series

This ground-breaking anthology is the first to be dedicated to assessing critically the role of the human sensorium in performance.

Senses in Performance presents a multifaceted approach to the methodological, theoretical, practical and historical challenges facing the scholar and the artist. This volume examines the subtle actions of the human senses including taste, touch, smell and vision in all sorts of performances in Western and non-Western traditions, from ritual to theatre, from dance to interactive architecture, from performance art to historical opera.

With eighteen original essays brought together by an international ensemble of leading scholars and artists including Richard Schechner and Philip Zarrilli. This covers a variety of disciplinary fields from critical studies to performance studies, from food studies to ethnography from drama to architecture.

Written in an accessible way this volume will appeal to scholars and non-scholars interested in Performance/Theatre Studies and Cultural Studies.

1. Introduction: The Performance of the Senses Part I:Theory and Practice 2. Rasaesthetics 3. Olfactory Performances 4. Unearthing Kinesthesia 5. Senses and Silence in Actor Training and Performance 6. Making Sense of Food in Performance Part II: History 7. Edible Performance 8. Incense & Decadents 9. Touching Realism Part III: Contemporary Performance 10. Guiding Somatic Responses Within Performative Structures 11. Containment + Contamination 12. Seeing Nothing: Now Hear This... 13. A Doubly "Environmental" Sensorium 14. Tangible Acts Part IV: Case Studies 15. Touching the Sun on the Reservation 16. Performers, Spectators, Cannibals. Making Sense of Theatrical Consumption. 17. Indonesian Theatre and Its Double 18. Artaud’s Anatomy