Item Detail
-
27730
-
0
-
1
-
English
-
Testimony in the Muscles, in the Body :
Proxy Performance at the Mesa Easter Pageant -
Mormon Studies Review
-
3
-
Provo, UT
-
Brigham Young University
-
11-18
-
Mormonism has a long history of both ritual and performing arts. At the dedication of the Salt Lake Theatre in 1862, Brigham Young stated that “the stage can be made to aid the pulpit in impressing upon the minds of a community an enlightened sense of a virtuous life, also a proper horror of the enormity of sin and a just dread of its consequences.”7 Since then, the LDS Church has produced a wide range of theatrical performances, celebrations, and spectaculars with an eye towards uplifting the audience. Additionally, performance is embedded in every aspect of Mormon practice: from the formal rituals practiced in temples to the elaborate handcart trek reenactments performed by Mormon youth to the identity construction evidenced by the “I’m a Mormon” campaign. Mormon performance is a vibrant cultural expression of the lived Mormon experience. [From the text]