NSSCO Integrated Performing Arts 6150 flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Elements of drama

The building blocks a performer manipulates: role, character, situation, voice, movement, focus, tension, and space. Directors combine them deliberately to shape meaning for the audience.

Elements of music

Pitch, duration, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure, and silence. Tempo and articulation are ways of performing these elements rather than separate elements in their own right.

Elements of dance

Action, space, time, dynamics, and relationships. The body is the instrument, and each element can be varied independently to change the expressive quality of movement.

Sightlines

The lines of vision from every audience seat to the stage. Designers and directors check sightlines so that key action and faces remain visible from the cheapest and most extreme seats.

Diaphragmatic breathing

Low breathing in which the diaphragm descends on inhalation and controlled exhalation supports sustained tone. It underpins vocal projection and reduces strain on the throat.

Passaggio

The transition zone between chest and head voice. Singers negotiate it by blending registers, often called mixed voice, to avoid an audible break in the vocal line.

Projection versus volume

Projection is supported, forward-placed sound directed at the back row. Volume is mere loudness; shouting raises volume but damages the voice and blurs diction.

Spike marks

Tape marks on the stage floor fixing the position of scenery, props, or performers. They keep blocking consistent across rehearsals and prevent collisions during dark scene changes.

Motif and phrase

A motif is a short movement idea; a phrase is a longer sequence built from it. Choreographers develop motifs into several distinct phrases using choreographic devices.

Choreographic devices

Techniques that transform existing movement: canon, unison, repetition, retrograde, augmentation, diminution, and fragmentation. They create variety without inventing entirely new material.

Rondo form

A musical and choreographic structure in which a recurring refrain alternates with contrasting episodes, shown as ABACA. The refrain anchors the listener while episodes supply variety.

Devising cycle

The sequence from stimulus through research, improvisation, selection, structuring, and refinement to performance. Material generated at any stage can be revisited and reworked later.

Blocking

The fixed pattern of movement and stage positions set by the director. It is recorded in the script and repeated consistently so that lighting, sound, and props can be cued reliably.

Technical rehearsal

The rehearsal that fixes light, sound, and scene-change cues. Acting tempo is secondary; the priority is that every technical cue happens at the correct moment.

Call sheet

A document listing date, call time, venue, scenes to be rehearsed, people required, and props or costumes needed. It prevents confusion and wasted rehearsal time.

Distributed practice

Spreading line learning or practice across several days rather than cramming. Spaced repetition with self-testing aloud produces more durable memory than silent rereading.

Intention–realisation gap

The difference between what the makers intended and what the audience actually received. Evaluating this gap is the central question of performance criticism.

Constructive critique

Feedback structured as strength, specific evidence, area for development, and a suggested strategy. It avoids taste statements and gives the recipient something actionable to change.

Audience reception

The meaning an audience takes from a performance, shaped by seating position, prior knowledge, cultural familiarity, and expectation. The same show can be received very differently.

Call-and-response

A structure in which a leader's phrase is answered by a chorus. Common across African music and dance, it invites participation and reinforces community among performers and audience.

Polyrhythm

Two or more contrasting rhythms sounded simultaneously. It is a deliberate structural feature of much African music, not a rhythmic error or a sign of poor ensemble.

San trance dance

A communal healing performance of the San involving extended dancing, clapping, and singing. It functions as a social and spiritual event rather than entertainment alone.

Oral tradition

Performance as archive: praise poetry, folktales, and work songs transmit history, law, and values without written records. Accuracy depends on trained memory and repeated performance.

Break-even point

The number of tickets needed to cover costs, calculated as fixed costs divided by ticket price minus variable cost per attendee. Below this figure the production makes a loss.

Audience development

Building future audiences through school matinees, community workshops, social media clips, and local radio interviews. It aims at long-term loyalty, not only single-ticket sales.

Cultural appropriation

Using another community's cultural expression without consent, credit, context, or benefit to that community. Appreciation differs by being invited, credited, contextualised, and mutually beneficial.

Copyright term in Namibia

Protection lasting the life of the author plus 50 years under Namibian law. Public performance of another person's work requires permission before the event takes place.

Vocal health rule

Hydrate, warm up before use, avoid shouting over noise, and rest the voice afterwards. Hoarseness persisting beyond two weeks should be reviewed by a medical professional.

Safe stage practice

Glow tape or spike marks for hazards, clear wings, taped cables, and a fire extinguisher at each exit. These measures prevent trips, falls, and blocked escape routes.

Rigging safety

Only trained and authorised personnel operate counterweight or fly systems. No one stands beneath a suspended load, and loads are checked before every performance.

Reflective journal

A dated record describing what happened, why it happened, what it reveals, and what you would change. In school-based assessment it is primary evidence of the creative process.

Integrated project criterion

The production must show purposeful links between at least two art forms, judged against stated intentions. A sequence of unrelated items does not meet the integration requirement.

Measurable success criteria

Targets stated as numbers or observable events, such as an audience of sixty or all cues executed without a stop. They make the final evaluation evidence-based rather than opinion-based.