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Locomotive leisure : the effects of railroads on Chicago-area theatre, 1870-1920
textIn the years between 1870 and 1920, while Chicago
solidified its status as “second city,” outranked only by
New York in metropolitan might, American theatre
underwent its own industrial revolution. Like other
service-oriented businesses of the time, theatre became a
centralized, consolidated industry, managed from the top
down by profit-maximizing producers. During this same
time, railroads transformed the nation’s cultural and
geographical landscape, quite literally laying the tracks
for mass (re)production and distribution, and, by
extension, consumer capitalism itself. The connection
between these events was more than coincidental. In this
x
half-century, theatre and railroads both thrived in
cocksure Chicago – indeed, railroad’s success fueled
theatre’s, and theatre’s reliance on touring in turn
influenced rail development. These three main characters
– the city of Chicago (and, to a lesser extent, the
surrounding Midwest), the railroad business, and the
touring theatre business – guide the following study,
which seeks to answer the question “how did railroads
affect Chicago-area theatre, 1870-1920?”
On economic, social, and aesthetic levels, railroad
reliance changed American theatre in ways that remain
apparent today. From the rails, theatre learned the
strategies of this nation’s paradigmatic big business –
and these strategies would in turn influence the everyday
lives of actors and audience alike. As railroads grew to
be an assumed part of daily routines, they infected the
imaginations of the American public in ways that were
reflected in the artwork of this period, from lithography
and literature to musical and stage compositions.
Overall, the sense of what it meant to be “transported” –
both literally and figuratively – became a central issue
to Americans grappling with Modern life at the turn of
the twentieth century.
Based largely on archival research, my dissertation
explores how this transportation sensibility resonated in
the locomotive leisure of midwestern America. It does so
through two trajectories: the first, focusing on the
effects railroads had on theatre business, looks at the
managers, actors, and spectators of locomotive leisure.
In the second, I consider how some of the same concerns
wrought by the rails (efficiency, urbanization, and
nervousness) surfaced in theatre practice, using a
popular extravaganza as my case study.Theatre and Danc
Betwixt and Between: Creating Communitas Without Getting Bendy with It
While it is common knowledge that faculty learning communities (FLCs) are a powerful means to encourage vibrant intellectual exchange and professional growth, we often overlook the possibilities forged in FLCs that focus on the body and spirit as well as the mind (Goto, Marshall, and Gaule, 20). During our multi-year participation, we found that communal yoga practice, shared readings, discussions, and reflective wiki writing allow faculty members to shed their academic selves (and/or poses) in favor of behaviors indicative of more integrated professionals. In this session, attendees will practice simple, non-bendy, standing poses (e.g., mountain pose) and perform and interpret academic postures (e.g., standing behind a lectern). These activities will lead to discussion about creating communitas in liminal institutional spaces. Furthermore, along with identifying strategies and implications for integrating yoga pedagogy and teaching, attendees will receive resources for further inquiry into the field of contemplative pedagogy