Performing Emancipatory Rites of Passage illuminates an unexpected connection between ancient ritual structures and contemporary applied theater practices.
The book’s interdisciplinary case studies, by contributors from Performance Studies, Music, Anthropology, Black Studies, Education, Psychology, and Cultural Activism, reveal the enduring power of rites of passage in today's diverse, multicultural society, expanding beyond their traditional role of preserving social structures to opening spaces for all. From jazz funerals in New Orleans to reintegration projects for formerly incarcerated individuals, the chapters demonstrate how performance-based transitions continue to guide individuals and communities through profound change, even when challenging mainstream values.
This volume is essential reading for students, practitioners, and scholars of performance studies and applied theater as well as anthropology, education, and religion.
Performing Emancipatory Rites of Passage illuminates an unexpected connection between traditional ritual structures and contemporary applied theatre practices.
Foreword
Introduction
PART I. Deliberate Applications of a Rites of Passage Model
1 From Theater to Rite of Passage: Discovering an Antidote to the Degradation
of Incarceration
2 The Process of Enacting a Ritual for Return
3 Becoming Diamonds and Pearls: Development of Black Identity through
Fraternity and Sorority Rites of Passage
4 Celebrating Life with End-of-Life Rituals
PART II. Rites of Passage as Tool
5 Passages to Utopia
6 Story Circles as Liminal Space: Supporting Gender Diversity in Schools
7 Polyamorous Paradigm Shift as Passage
8 The Afternoon of Life
PART III. Rites of Passage as Resonance
9 DE-CRUITing as Rite of Passage
10 The New Orleans Jazz Funeral as Rite of Passage
Afterword: Emancipatory Rites of Passage and Applied Performance
Kevin Bott, founder of Ritual4Return Inc., oversees the online division of Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University (USA). In addition to his work at the intersection of criminal justice and the arts, Kevin has created community-based theater pieces about race, justice, and democracy. Previously, Kevin served as the associate director of the national arts and humanities consortium, Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life.
Jan Cohen-Cruz taught at NYU (USA) for 28 years, creating their applied theater program. She directed Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (20072011), launching their journal Public. Jan served as director of field research for A Blade of Grass (20112016), supporting socially engaged artists. Co/author or co/editor of nine books, her most recent project is a podcast available through the digital theater platform HowlRound.
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