Performing the World: Challenge 3

TRY SOMETHING NEW

The other night I went to a rooftop bar for the first time. There were two things that struck me as particular to experiencing something new. 

Firstly, no experience is ever entirely new. Whether or not we perceive an experience as new is rooted in our perspective. Many would not have viewed going to a rooftop bar as different to going to a normal bar, and therefore would not have viewed it as a new experience where I did. 

Secondly, when experiencing a new event, one typically places a great deal more weight on each action and process, which is in many ways similar to the theory of ritual. Bial describes rituals as “a means of ordering the world to fit our perception" (87). In this way, undergoing a new experience can be analysed as the creation of a new ritual. For example, taking the lift to get to the rooftop became an event in itself with its own problems, solutions and excitements, such as making sure we were going to the right level, and feeling the lift start to move. 

Through this experience I realised that in order for something onstage to be perceived as new, it is important to give weight to even the most minute of acts. Furthermore I realised that ritual, despite its associations with repetition and tradition, holds the key to the theory behind experiencing and performing ‘newness.'


Referenced:

Bial, Henry. The Performance Studies Reader. London: Psychology Press, 2004.