Critique of Lauren’s Performance

Critique of Lauren’s Performance

Critics viewing performance as an artistic event

            A Critics viewing of performance as an artistic event are one of the five evaluative models that the book discusses and mentions, specific points regarding the topic. “Assuming that an artistic event should have certain qualities that should trigger certain responses.” (Pelias and Shaffer 185) Lauren’s performance of Lee’s piece was of this type of performance. It was an artistic event that is meant to leave a mark. Cut and mix is hard to put together and try to make sense of it, so for each person that listened it was up for debate on what it was trying to explain. Lauren’s performance of it was of the same, it was controlled in that she read it carefully and tried to get out the performance as functionally as possible. Her voice wasn’t clear and she was rushing which hurt the essences of the performance making it not have the “umph” that it could. Due to it being confusing could be what hindered her performance ability and that it wasn’t her, own piece.  Lauren’s ability to analyze and give feedback to her belief is what made her performance; she was able to focus after the difficulty reading the cut and mix. She was concise on the points she was trying to make. She left a mark with her opinion and analysis, which is what this evaluative model is looking for. A suggestion for the future would to be focused on the end goal and not just getting out the words, speak them with meaning.

Critics seeing performance as a communicative act

            Critics that view the performance, as an act of communicating is another of the five evaluative models and what it consists of the act focusing solely on the interchanging of performers and listeners and the reactions. “Especially the concern with how the performer performs and listeners position on the events having something of worth.” (Pelias and Shaffer 185) In Lauren’s performance her acts in communicating to the class resulted in mixed reactions of the listeners, the difficulty with relaying what was written is what lessened her effectiveness as a performer. Speeding through and not giving thought and pauses to what she wrote made it difficult to get reactions and feedback, because of the execution. During her analysis she had difficult time speaking also due to trying to rush, by pausing it would be easier to for her to perform. One thing she did well in communicating was during her analysis where she laid out everything and made it possible for her to make her points across, which was able to get reactions from the listeners. This enabled her performance to be apart of the critic as a communicative act.

Critics, perceiving performance as a textual study

            Critics watch a performance as a textual study; they look directly at the power of the performance and what they said. “They explicate aesthetic texts, certain interests of the text and the performance carries and interests.” (Pelias and Shaffer 185) A performance where the words speak more then who says them adds importance to what it says and more so when both the speaker and the words have meaning. When delivered properly it can be very empowering, which can make something that seems basic to a whole new level. In Lauren's performance Lee’s piece had memorable lines “Flowers and song’s song” can be interpreted by me to have a lot of meaning and when delivered could be inspiring. Lauren lacked in this, she was unable to bring the text to the front and make it powerful, due to speaking too quickly. Something that she did that stood out was her ability to put effort, she tried to read it as well as she could, this opens room for improvement, and could help in the future by taking it slower and one thing at a time. By slowing down and grasping the little things that could have more meaning is the goal for Lauren in the future to bring the words off the paper, rather then them just being said.

Final Evaluation

            Lauren has the ability to be a great speaker and performer she has the tools at her disposal, it’s as simple as keep practicing, and slowing down. Slowing down and pausing will help her further her performance and speaking ability. The performance overall was okay, her analysis was much better. To improve future performances, ideally is to read the piece as if you wrote it and own it, doing this will make it easier for the reader to read and be able to speak in a dramatic and emotional tone. Confidence is also key the more confident you are the more natural it will become, and the better you feel when reading.