Evaluating Community-Based Performance as a Strategy for Community Development

This research project examines how community-based performance initiatives contribute to the community in which they are engaged. Chapter one provides a brief historical overview of the development of the field and gives an overview of four defining principles for community-based performance practices proposed by performance scholar Jan Cohen-Cruz. A review of the literature situates this work in the context of a growing conversation around the role of the arts in community development, namely the funding model of creative placemaking. Through case studies and analysis of the qualitative data, the second chapter explores the ways in which community-based performance practices can build on social capital and bridge across social barriers in a community. Findings support an understanding of community-based performance projects as vital strategies for equitable community development.