Learner Team members Angela Snead and Connie Usova attend “Critic School.”
The following information will help you focus and organize your professional development session.
Learning Objective
- Investigate Parade and Quidam through individual and group research in order to understand the social and historical settings in which these works were conceptualized and produced.
- Recognize melodic themes and nonmusical sounds in Parade and Quidam and discuss their significance within the dramatic context of each piece.
- Perform a piece of music using body percussion and percussion instruments.
- Explore the theatrical traditions of vaudeville and create a performance piece in the style of vaudeville.
- Understand the purpose of criticism and a process for performance criticism.
- Analyze written criticism to identify the purpose and the author’s process. Respond to Quidam in-role as a critic.
Guiding Questions
These are questions for your group to consider as you work through the session:
- What does “multi-arts” mean?
- What is criticism?
Materials and Resources
Opening Steps
Recall the sequence from Quidam you viewed at the end of Program 1 (or the entire performance, if you were able to view it later).
Discuss these questions:
- In what time and place does the action appear to occur?
- How do these cultural clues affect your experience of the performance?
Facilitator: Distribute the handout, Jean Cocteau’s Scenario for Parade (PDF).