'The show must go on': Event dramaturgy as consolidation of community

Event dramaturgy and cultural performance have not been examined in the literature from a strategic standpoint of fostering the social value of events. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the case of the Water Carnival, a celebratory event in a rural community of Southwest Texas, demonstrating the essence of this event as a symbolic social space, wherein event participants instantiate a shared and valued sense of community. A hermeneutical approach was employed, interpreting the event and its symbolisms as a text, combined with findings from ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation, in-depth interviews and analysis of archival documents. The study examines the ways that dramaturgy in the Water Carnival helps frame the ongoing public discourse for community improvement and enhances social capital. The implications of the study for social leverage of events are discussed. It is suggested that a foundation for strategic social planning is the understanding of events as symbolic social spaces and their embeddedness in community development, which can be accomplished when events are pertinent to public discourse, address community issues, represent an inclusive range of stakeholders, and promote cooperation

Engaging the audience through videography as performance

The audience is an important part of videography, but its role tends to be seen as passive and unengaged. The audience’s experience is often guided in videography, with intended reaction made clear. Yet such an approach to the audience does not make use of the possibilities of videography for inciting active interaction and incorporating multiple interpretations. Previous research has suggested that videography has potential for interventional influence on audiences by taking on the performative turn in research. Developing more deeply the notions of performance and performativity in the context of videography, this paper proposes that one way to activate audiences, interact directly with them and engage them in meaning-making is to approach videography as performance. To provide practical suggestions for creating such performance, the paper contextualises videography as a recording medium, thus establishing its ontological position and ties to other media