The influence of performers' stage entrance behavior on the audience's performance elaboration
Friedrich Platz · 2013
This study proposes a typology of the initial stage entrance behavior of performers based on audience members’ first impressions of selected video recordings at an international violin competition. Against the theoretical background of social interaction theory, it is assumed that performance evaluation can only be understood as an interaction between expectations of audience’s sub-classes and observable behavior of groups of performers. An analysis of performer behavior was conducted in three steps: (1) based on methods of classical test theory and item response theory, a selection of six items that best describe performer behavior with regard to the audience’s forming an impression was presented, (2) by means of a multi-level latent class analysis, responses could be described by one of three classes of the audience’s first impression judgments (“appropriate,” “acceptable,” and “inappropriate” stage entrance behavior) resulting in two groups of performers’ stage entrance behavior evaluation, (3) the association between audience first impression classes and the audience’s motivation for performance continuation was used as an indicator for a more in-depth performance elaboration. Results suggest that for the adequate understanding of audiovisual performances, a model of performance elaboration can be an alternative to models of musical communication.