Where Should We Start and What Could We Do?: Asian Performance and Pedagogy

Abstract

In this paper, I offer reflections on the challenges and strategies involved in teaching Asian performance to non-conservatory students in North America. With specific case studies drawn from courses that I have taught, I discuss pedagogical approaches in three areas: 1) strategies of using interaction among the multiple aspects of language, musicality, costumes, scenery, and use of space to nurture student awareness of foreign aesthetics in both visual and aural dimensions; 2) evolvement of project design that takes advantage of textual analysis to foster critical thinking in dealing with foreign ideology; and 3) challenges and strategies to strengthen students’ oral communicative skills with regard to Asian performance in an academic context.