Performances as Communication Processes

Note to Chapter 1:

The description of performances using diagrams to identify the various factors and functions that explain the success (or failure) of communication processes may convey an impression of formalism that does not reflect the intensity of our experience as performers or audience.These are abstract models that were developed for analytical purposes. We must keep in mind that performances are also, and more importantly, work and trade. Let it be in music, dance, or acrobatics, the training takes years of exacting efforts until performers have acquired the skill and self-confidence to confront the high expectations of their audience. This must be kept in mind when we follow the successive stages in the flow chart of the next chapter. During their career in the performing arts, performers  must constantly train to maintain their physical proficiency, including warm-up exercises before they step on a stage or in a ring. There is is a permanent energy demand behind the performance displays that may convey an impression of lightness and easiness but requires sustained efforts. Furthermore, performers must make a living through performing and they need for this the support of agencies, organizations, and institutions  that take care of booking engagements, running advertising campaigns, and keeping them in the eye of potential audiences in the social media. This has to be kept in mind when checking the lower stages of the next chapter’s flow chart. These various aspects are more fully described and discussed in chapters 2 to 6 of the textbook.