Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2009 An ethnography of "Hang It Out To Dry" Danielle Sears Vignes Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Vignes, Danielle Sears, "An ethnography of "Hang It Out To Dry"" (2009). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2392. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2392 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF “HANG IT OUT TO DRY” A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agriculture and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Studies by Danielle Sears Vignes B.G.S., Louisiana State University, 1996 M.A., Louisiana State University, 2002 December 2009 For Mom and Dad ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I thank my friend, my neighbor, my running partner, my mentor, and my advisor, Tracy Stephenson Shaffer. Thank you for always believing in me, and believing in the project. The following document is as much yours as it is mine. Many thanks to my committee whose support, feedback, and encouragement propelled this project forward. A joyous thanks to Michael Bowman, my mentor and cherished friend. To Trish Suchy, thank you for your guidance throughout the years and for loving Louisiana as much as I do. Thanks to Rachel Hall, for jumping on board and for your continued interest in my work. To Joshua Gunn, my former committee member, thank you for the encouraging words and thought provoking seminars echoed throughout this document. Thank you Michael Tick for serving as my dean’s representative for so many years. So many hands have carried this project forward. I am forever grateful to you all. To Ruth Bowman, thank you for your wisdom on the stage, in the classroom, and in life throughout the years. To Lisa Flanagan, thank you for being a selfless colleague and beloved friend. Your guidance and support were invaluable. To Jonathan Alcon and Benjamin Powell, thank you for sharing your beautiful music. To the T.L Ritchie and Phillip Tebbutt along with the fall interior design lab of 2006, thank you for making interdisciplinary work seem like not work at all. To David Pye, Dre Betancourt, Sarah Jackson, Rebecca Walker, Holly Vaughn, Brianne Waychoff, Rebecca Kennerly, Gretchen Stein Rhodes, Mindy Fenske, Melanie Kitchens, Jim Flanagan, Gary Reeves, Gary Balfantz, Kay Ellen Capo, E. Patrick Johnson, Stace Treat, Nick Slie, and Bruce France, thank you for helping this project move through many spaces and places. iii To my respondents, Justin Trudeau, David Terry, Phaedra C. Pezzullo, Della Pollock, Cindy Spurlock, and Lisa Flanagan, thank you for your insights into “Hang It Out To Dry,” giving the project more depth and breadth than I could ever imagine. A special thanks to my co performative witnesses, the late Irvan Perez, Kenny Sigsworth, Charles “Pete” Savoie, Jason MacFetters, Shannon Sanders, Gene Alonzo, and Kenneth William Sears Sr. Thank you for passing your experiences to me and to the witnesses of this project. To the audiences of “Hang It Out To Dry,” thank you again for witnessing. Thank you to my family, without you I would be nothing. To Susan, Wayne, and Heather, thank you for giving yourselves and your home to those in need in good times and not so good times. To Mark and Erin, thank you for your never ending smiles. To Beignet, Nettie, Josie, Poly, and Bergy, thank you for always being the sunshine in my life! To my little sis Reine, thank you for being my rock on which I lean. To Luis, thank you for sharing your translating skills and always being there for me. To Kenny and Mary, thank you for your votes of confidence. To my parents, Linda and Kenny Sears, you are reason behind this project. You are both my angels. And finally, to my sweetest Andy, always at my side. Thank you for your love, laughter, and support through thick and thin. I love you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER ONE: BEGIN WITH A STORY ........................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: PERFORMANCE ETHNOGRAPHY AS METHOD ............................22 SITUATING MYSELF .............................................................................................28 DEVELOPING A METHOD ....................................................................................39 METHODS: AN EASY ETHNOGRAPHIC RECIPE ..............................................42 CHAPTER THREE: SCRIPTING AND STAGING “HANG IT OUT TO DRY” ...............53 CHAPTER FOUR: COLABORATING ON “HANG IT OUT TO DRY” ...........................85 INTERVIEW COLLABORATIONS ........................................................................85 INTERIOR DESIGN COLLABORATIONS ............................................................101 COLLEAGUE COLLABORATIONS ......................................................................108 MUSIC COLLABORATIONS ..................................................................................114 AUDIENCE COLLABORATIONS ..........................................................................118 CHAPTER FIVE: THE COMMUNITIES OF “HANG IT OUT TO DRY” ........................124 HOMETOWN COMMUNITY ..................................................................................125 DISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY ..............................................................................135 PERFORMANCE COMMUNITY ............................................................................140 PERFORMANCE AS REDRESSIVE COMMUNITY ACTION ............................147 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION: A LISTENING BACKWARD IS A LISTENING FORWARD............................................................................................................................154 MOBILE MATRIX ...................................................................................................157 PERFORMING COMMUNITY: A TRAVELING SCRIPT ....................................158 WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................................166 APPENDIX A. HANG IT OUT TO DRY SCRIPT ......................................................................176 B. PHAEDRA C. PEZZULLO’S RESPONSE ........................................................198 C. CINDY SPURLOCK’S RESPONSE ..................................................................209 v D. LISA FLANAGAN’S RESPONSE .....................................................................211 VITA ......................................................................................................................................214 vi ABSTRACT This study is an ethnography of a performance ethnography. The performance “Hang It Out To Dry” explores the experiences of residents from Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This dissertation traces “Hang It Out To Dry” from the beginning of fieldwork to the aesthetic staging of collected narratives and through two years of community building as the performance toured the nation. Particularly, I develop methods for collecting materials from fieldwork for adaptation to the stage. The study demonstrates the intellectual work of performance composition in scripting and staging a performance ethnography. In doing so, I mark the collaborative efforts of the coproducers of “Hang It Out To Dry,” focusing on set design, musical composition, stage work with colleagues, and audience response. I also discuss the communities of “Hang It Out To Dry” to show the power of performance as a primary redressive act in community building. Finally, I map the web of remaking the story, “Hang It Out To Dry.” The dissertation concludes with a reconstituted script, a reminder that performance is a doing of remembrance and therefore forward making. My study is significant because while scholars have discussed the method and process of performance ethnography, they have not fully explored the aesthetics of a staged ethnography. This study highlights the performance composition and production while tracing the many events and stories of those who bore witness. vii CHAPTER ONE BEGIN WITH A STORY A pattern in a story can generate a larger context in which all patterns, all constructed forms of lived experience, can symbolically converge. -H.L. “Bud” Goodall, Writing The New Ethnography (41) Home is the place where my affections are centered.1 Home is my place of origin, my residence, my refuge. As a native of Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana, my home is a place called Chalmette, the location of the Battle of New Orleans, surrounded by water, filled with history and overflowing with storytellers. Spanish speaking