Las formas de la vitalidad en la recepción de una obra teatral

Abstract

This article describes an empirical study conducted with spectators of a theater-dance piece with the goal of exploring the reception of forms of vitality (Stern, 1985 and 2010). The study entails a complex design including a) the production of a live performance; b) the creation of an original stimulus based on the play; c) the design of tasks to be carried by spectators after the show. The performance attended by the spectators/participants was Dibaxu by theater director Hugo Aristimuño. The stimulus was the projection of two excerpts of the play recorded during one of the live performances. The tasks were four: two non-verbal tasks, original and innovative, and two verbal ones. The specific traits of the performance, the process of creation of the stimulus and the tasks carried by participants are described. The results are presented of the verbal task consisting in the selection by participants of forms of vitality words to describe the excerpts. The article also discusses the challenges of studying the reception of live performances, establishes comparisons with other studies in the field, and points to the advantage of designing a short stimulus which nevertheless retains some of the qualities of the whole performance. Finally, it discusses the contribution of the study to the knowledge of forms of vitality and to cognitively oriented research on dance and theater audiences.