http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13119 Mon, 05 Oct 2026 05:19:19 GMT 2026-10-05T05:19:19Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13138 Title: The Pedagogy of Clowning: Learning through Play, Failure, and Presence Authors: Shyam Prakash, M. Abstract: In contemporary performing arts education, the training often prioritizes technical excellence, accuracy, and success-oriented performance. This approach appears to create challenges for students, such as performance anxiety, fear of failure, loss of natural responses, and hesitation toward creative inquiry. In this context, clowning is not just a form of comedy; it is an alternative pedagogical framework and method of art training based on the concepts of play, failure, and presence. Clown training redefines failure as a key opportunity for learning and creation, rather than seeing it as a state to be avoided. At the same time, play is embraced as an active means of teaching and of training the students to be fully present in the moment. This creates opportunities for students to develop self-confidence, independent performance, teamwork, body-mind coordination, and creative thinking. Clowning is therefore considered a pedagogical model that can help foster a healthy and inclusive art-learning environment. This study aims to critically analyze the pedagogical potential of clowning in the context of art education. In particular, it examines how the concepts of play, failure, and presence operate in acting practice and how they influence students’ learning experiences and performance. The research is based on a qualitative approach and Practice-as-Research methodology. The main research methods are clown training activities, participant observation, reflective journals, and interviews. By connecting the concept of Healthy Practices in Performing Arts Education with the experiential learning approach of clowning, this study proposes an alternative pedagogical framework for healthy, creative, and student-centered theatre learning. Furthermore, this research proposes a new perspective on art education that emphasizes the learning process over performance success, human experience over technical excellence, and acceptance over perfection. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13138 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13137 Title: Using Sama-Chakeva Folk Performance to Teach Environmental Ethics: An Approach to Sustainable Arts Education Authors: Hazra, R.; Priyanka, S. Abstract: Environmental education increasingly calls for pedagogies that seek to connect ecological knowledge to experiences, creativity, cultural memory, and ethical values. This paper explores the pedagogical potential of Sama-Chakeva folk performance of the Mithila region as a means of teaching environmental ethics through visual and performing arts. The research problem addressed in this paper is the underutilization of living folk performance traditions as pedagogical resources for sustainability and environmental education. This study aims to identify how the artistic, seasonal, material, symbolic, and communal features of Sama-Chakeva can facilitate experiential learning and contribute to cultural heritage education. The study adopts a qualitative research design that relies on secondary sources of information. The sources include research articles, books, folklore, cultural heritage resources, and educational literature on Sama-Chakeva, folk performance, environmental education, indigenous and traditional knowledge, and artsbased pedagogy. The analysis reveals that clay figures, bamboo baskets, bird symbolism, seasonal references, songs, storytelling, movement, craft, and communal participation can be used as points of entry into biodiversity, ecological relationships, responsible material use, respect for non-human life, community, and intergenerational knowledge. The paper suggests a five-stage Sustainable Arts Education Model that builds from cultural encounter, ecological inquiry, artistic creation, collaborative performance, and ethical reflection. The study argues that Sama-Chakeva should not be used as a mere cultural exhibit or a festival performance; instead, it should be engaged as a pedagogical resource that connects folk knowledge, environmental ethics, creative practice, and sustainable education. At the same time, the study notes that traditional practices should not be presented as inherently sustainable and that future research should explore the perspectives of performers, teachers, and students. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13137 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13136 Title: Pedagogical Aspects of Andher Nagari by Bhāratendu Harishchandra: An Analysis for Visual and Performing Arts Education Authors: Yadav, R.; Sharad Kumar Abstract: The play Andher Nagari by Bhāratendu Harishchandra has acquired a special place in the modern Hindi theatre for its satire, social relevance, humor, drama, and politics. However, the pedagogical potentials of this play in the field of visual and performing arts education are yet to be explored. This paper attempts to present Andher Nagari as a source to develop creative and critical abilities, ethical reasoning, communication, collaboration, performance skills, and experiential learning of the visual and performing arts. The research problem of the paper is the lack of attention to classical Hindi dramatic texts as resources for experiential learning in the visual and performing arts education domain. The objectives of the paper include examining the pedagogical potentials of this play’s dramatic features for learners, theatre workshops, role-play activities, scriptreading practices, and performance. The paper employs a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretive research design that utilizes secondary sources of information. The primary source of this study is the dramatic text of Andher Nagari , while the other sources include scholarly articles, research papers, and publications on Hindi theatre and pedagogy. The findings of the paper demonstrate that this play can be fruitfully used in the educational process to promote experiential learning of dramatic arts. The study concludes that Andher Nagari can be employed as a pedagogical tool in the visual and performing arts education to enhance interdisciplinary learning, learner agency, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13136 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13135 Title: Integrating Puppetry into Contemporary Actor’s Training (A Practice as Research towards hybrid pedagogies in Performing Arts) Authors: Pachiaru, M. Abstract: Contemporary actor training increasingly requires interdisciplinary approaches to presence, embodiment, and ensemble practice. This paper examines puppetry’s pedagogical potential through a practice-based case study of OTT – On the Table, a tabletop Bunraku-inspired performance created by Theatre Arts students at the University of Hyderabad, exploring bodily awareness, object animation, ensemble sensitivity, and hybrid performance strategies. The work resulted from a series of 15-day intensive workshops led by yours truly consecutively for the batches since 2022 to till date, which emphasised breath awareness and ensemble coordination and object/figure manipulation. Students engaged in the complete process of designing, constructing, and animating puppets – integrating materiality with performativity. Observations, training and rehearsal analysis, and participants’ reflections traced the study’s insights into how puppetry reshaped their engagement with performance. And how can hybrid pedagogy be developed by integrating puppetry towards the contemporary actor training, achieving fundamentals of performativity? Puppetry enriched actor training by developing spatial awareness, physical precision, and sensitivity to movement. Bunraku-inspired ensemble work strengthened coordination, rhythm, and responsiveness. Puppet construction and animation encouraged alternative approaches to storytelling and embodiment, expanding students’ understanding of presence, agency, materiality, and non-human performativity while connecting traditional puppetry with contemporary performance practices.The research affirms puppetry as a transformative pedagogical tool, capable of reframing the actor’s process through externalised expression, ensemble collaboration, and interdisciplinary exploration. By bridging traditional and emerging techniques, puppetry cultivates adaptability and creative agency, preparing actors for the contemporary performance context. Far from a peripheral practice, puppetry emerges as a vital medium for rethinking narrative structures and actor-body relationships within modern training environments. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13135 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z