Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

College/School

College of the Arts

Department/Program

Theatre and Dance

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Stefanie Batten Bland

Committee Member

Apollinaire Scherr

Committee Member

Jessica Dimauro

Abstract

Double Tap: The Curation of Self is a deep look into how visual and virtual presentation influences identity. Through the constant presence of social media, we have access to the most intimate self as both viewer and poster. This positionality can be celebrated and vilified through our scrolling habits. Double Tap allows me, as an interdisciplinary artist, to interrogate the hidden landmines, avoiding recrimination and winning validation. GRWM (get ready with me) is the performance companion to my research that illuminates the impossibilities of confronting the battle of our many outfacing identities, and being honest with the in-facing one. In response to being constantly met with my reflection and the virtual reflections of everyone else, peers and strangers alike, my performance work conceptualizes our choices to conceal or reveal parts of ourselves. Engaging with the merry-go-round of GRWM methods through my artistic process, I unpack the superfluous and superficial platforms with audience participation. Together, we discover why they are relevant in dance, and how live performance and presentation are directly related to commerce, branding, and self-fashioning. TikTok and Instagram combine those modes. The self-made entrepreneur is making herself in public.

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