In On the Edge of Utopia, Rachel Bowditch— performer, theatre director, scholar, and Burning Man participant—explores the spectrum of performance and ritual practices within Black Rock City from the everyday to spectacle, the profane to the sublime. Bowditch argues that Burning Man can be understood as a contemporary galaxy of happenings,
In On the Edge of Utopia, Rachel Bowditch— performer, theatre director, scholar, and Burning Man participant—explores the spectrum of performance and ritual practices within Black Rock City from the everyday to spectacle, the profane to the sublime. Bowditch argues that Burning Man can be understood as a contemporary galaxy of happenings, a site for rehearsals of utopia, and a secular pilgrimage. As Burning Man continues to grow, it is creating new paradigms for performance, installation art, community, and invented rituals in the twenty-first century.
Seagull Books/University of Chicago Press, 2010.
Performing Utopia, a volume of nine essays edited by Rachel Bowditch and Pegge Vissicaro, expand Jill Dolan's theory of the utopia performative to encompass performance in public life—from diasporic hip-hop battles, Chilean military parades, commemorative processions, Blackfoot powwows, and post-Katrina Mardi Gras to the Philadelphia Mumm
Performing Utopia, a volume of nine essays edited by Rachel Bowditch and Pegge Vissicaro, expand Jill Dolan's theory of the utopia performative to encompass performance in public life—from diasporic hip-hop battles, Chilean military parades, commemorative processions, Blackfoot powwows, and post-Katrina Mardi Gras to the Philadelphia Mummers Parade, Festas Juninas in Brazil, the Renaissance Fairs in Arizona, and neoburlesque competitions. How do these performances rehearse and enact visions of a utopic world? What can the lens of utopia illuminate about the potential of performing bodies to transform communities, identities, values, and beliefs across time?
Seagull Books/University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Physical Dramaturgy: Perspectives from the Field, an anthology edited by Rachel Bowditch, Jeff Casazza, and Annette Thornton, looks at new ways of approaching a wealth of physical worlds, from the works of Shakespeare and other period playwrights to the processes of Jerzy Grotowski, Lloyd Williamson, Richard Schechner, and Michael Chekhov
Physical Dramaturgy: Perspectives from the Field, an anthology edited by Rachel Bowditch, Jeff Casazza, and Annette Thornton, looks at new ways of approaching a wealth of physical worlds, from the works of Shakespeare and other period playwrights to the processes of Jerzy Grotowski, Lloyd Williamson, Richard Schechner, and Michael Chekhov, and devising original works in a variety of contexts from Pig Iron, Dell’Arte International, Bill Bowers and mime, Tectonic Theater Project, and Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange, giving dramaturgs, actors, and directors new ways of looking at existing methods and providing examples of how to translate, combine, and adapt them into new explorations for training, rehearsal, or research.
Routledge, 2018.
Virtual conference
Eco-Aesthetics in Performance and in Design
Moderator: Conrad Alexandrowicz, Tanja Beer, Rachel Bowditch, Joan Lipkin, David Vivian.
"Devis...
Virtual conference
Virtual Conference
“The Art of Presence: Activating Architecture through Stillness and Presence,” for the Tools for Creating Site-Specific Theatre: A Dialogue ...
Virtual Conference
Orlando, Florida
“Pursued by A Bear: A Multidisciplinary Workshop in Dynamic Transitional Storytelling,” coordinated by Amy Chaffee.
“Four Physical Approa...
Orlando, Florida
“Metafiesta: ‘La Fiesta’ that talks about (and laughs at) itself,” working group. Hemispheric Encuentro, Mexico City. Convened by Paolo Vign...
Kierland Commons
Kierland Commons
Indian School Park
Dia de los Muertos by Cultural Coalition.
Indian School Park
Kierland Commons, Scottsdale
POP Art, Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA)
Kierland Commons, Scottsdale
Galvin Playhouse
Directed by Rachel Bowditch **Cancelled due to COVID 19. Produced by the School of Film, Dance, and Theatre at ASU
Galvin Playhouse
Glendale, AZ
Glendale, AZ
Tempe Festival for the Arts and ASU Old Main, Tempe.
at the Wherehouse, Phoenix.
Premiere of Vessel's new atmospheric performance Mystic at the Botanical Gardens Devour Festival.
Vessel will perform Transfix the Color + Light party in Ablesila, a luminarium by Architects of Air, Mesa Arts Center/Pioneer Park.
For inquiries about venue availability or our upcoming events, send us a message.
We will get back to you soon!
Email: Rachel@vesselproject.org