When the Utopian Performative Encounters Beauty

Authors

  • Daria Skjoldager-Nielsen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v34i2.141660

Keywords:

utopian performative, aesthetics of the performance, the experience of beauty, dance performance, affect, Oratorium Dance Project, Teatr Chorea

Abstract

I remember the first time I came across the utopian performative: the butterflies in my stomach, the overwhelming feeling of hope and happiness it produced. Jill Dolan [2005] points to those moments during performances when the audience comes together and feels hopeful; moments that constitute inspiration for change: for the performer, the spectator, and maybe even the world – and which are often (understandably) politically or socially charged.
But my experiences were different: my feeling of hope was not emerging after watching a political vision of the future, but during and after my encounters with beauty. I began to wonder: can a profound sense of beauty that brings the feeling of hope and love, also have the potential to change the world?
In this article, I explore the aesthetics of the theatrical event and its effectiveness in bringing out utopian performatives. Theoretically, I draw on Erika Fischer-Lichte’s aesthetics of the performative to show how the language of performance analysis can access a theatrical (aesthetic) experience and on the theory of affect in performance to understand my experience; also, I supplement Dolan’s theory with Dorthe Jørgensen’s experience of beauty to extend her thinking into non-political experiences and grasping them more fully.
As an example, I discuss Oratorium Dance Project (Lodz 2011).

References

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Reason, Matthew and Anja Mølle Lindelof (eds.). 2017. Experiencing Liveness in Contemporary Performance. Interdisciplinary Perspectives. London and New York, NY: Routledge.

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Skjoldager-Nielsen, Daria. 2021. “Theatre Talks: How to Accommodate Hygge in Theatre Experience.” Nordic Theatre Studies 33:2, 58–71. https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v33i2.132872.

Skjoldager-Nielsen, Kim and Daria Skjoldager-Nielsen. 2020. “Para-Anthropo(s)cene Aesthetics Between Despair and Beauty: A Matter of Response-Ability.” Nordic Theatre Studies 32:1, 44–65. https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v32i1.120407.

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Published

2023-12-19

How to Cite

Skjoldager-Nielsen, D. (2023). When the Utopian Performative Encounters Beauty. Nordic Theatre Studies, 34(2), 29–41. https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v34i2.141660

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