Module Information

Module Identifier

TP33320

Module Title

DOCUMENTING PERFORMANCE

Academic Year

2010/2011

Co-ordinator

Dr Heike Roms

Semester

Intended for use in future years

Pre-Requisite

Successful completion of Part 1

Other Staff

Professor Mike Pearson

Course Delivery

Delivery Type	Delivery length / details
Lecture	10 x 1 hour Lectures
Seminars / Tutorials	10 x 1 hour Seminars

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment length / details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	1. Essay (2,000 words)	40%
Semester Assessment	2. Performance Documentation (equivalent to 3,000 words, including 1,000 words of critical evaluation)	60%
Supplementary Assessment	Failed components of assessment must be resubmitted to a different title: 1. Essay (2,000 words)	40%
Supplementary Assessment	Failed components must be resubmitted to a different title: 2. Performance Documentation (equivalent to 3,000 words, including 1,000 words of critical evaluation)	60%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical awareness of existing approaches to preformance documentation.

2. Utilise a range of analytical skills necessary for research into, and investigation of, documentation and its role within the fields of theatre and performance.

3. Apply appropriate skills for the task of designing and executing their own performance documentation.

4. Make informed judgements regarding the relationship of the live event to the performance document.

Aims

The module aims to:

Give a comprehensive introduction to important debates in the field of performance documentation.
Introduce students to a range of existing approaches to documenting performance, from the use of photography to the application of digital media
Develop students' critical tools in examining and critically evaluating different approaches to recording and documenting performance
Improve students' practical skills for the task of recording and documenting performance work.

Brief description

Theatre and performance practice have always used different means to record and document the fleeting moment of performance: from painting, drawing and writing, to photography, film and video, to the recent application of digital media. These documents are often the only thing left when the performance itself has vanished, and they become important tools for marketing, for scholarship, for education and for the creative process of the artist. As a result, the role that documentation plays for how we understand performance and the implications that different approaches to documentation may have on this understanding are widely debated. Increasingly, performance makers also use documentation as a creative means to reach a secondary audience for their work. This module will provide a comprehensive introduction to the fiedld of performance documentation, focusing on important debates and practices in this field. It will examine a range of different models for documentation and critically evaluate how they relate to the event of performance. Students will be encouraged to see performance documentation as a creative practice that develops along different lines depending on the nature of the work to be documented. In addition to the research and examination of different approaches to documentation studnets will develop their own piece of performance documentation.

The module aims to provide students with a critical awareness of and skills in the documentation of performance which are regarded as valuable preparation for their move into professional practice or further academic work after graduation.

Content

1. An introduction to forms of performance documentation
2. The document I: as photograph
3. The document II: as mediated object 1 (video, film, sound recording)
4. The document III: as mediated object 2 (digital media)
5. The document IV: as text
6. Critical genres: opinion, review, criticism
7. Techniques of mapping and notation
8. Archiving Performance
9. The document V: as lecture or second-order performance (performance about performance), installation or exhibition
10. Documentation in Practice

Module Skills

Skills Type	Skills details
Application of Number
Communication	The ability to cummunicate ideas effectively in written form is assessed directly through Assessment 1 and 2. Oral communication is developed through seminar work.
Improving own Learning and Performance	Self-regulation, motivation and time-management skills are developed through the module and are demanded for the successful completion of its assignments. These skills are directly assessed through Assessments 1 and 2.
Information Technology	The ability to utilize information technolgy both in the research for and delivery of assignments is assessed directly in Assessments 1 and 2.
Personal Development and Career planning	Transferable skills (managing personal workloads ans meeting deadlines, designing and realising assessment project) are devloped through the completion of assessment tasks 1 and 2. Assessment task 2 provides studnets with an awareness of and skills in the documentation of performance work, which are regarded as being valuable preparation for their move into professional practice or further academic study after graduation.
Problem solving	Analytical problem solving, outcome recognition and the identification of appropriate strategies and procedures are encouraged and assessed.
Research skills	Appropriate personal research and the development of effective personal research practices are directly assessed through Assessments 1 and 2.
Subject Specific Skills	See QAA Dance, Drama and Performance Subject Benchmark Statement (Version 2007)
Team work	Seminar discussions demand the application of skills necessary to conduct collaborative activity, such as negotiating ideas and opinions.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6