{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88276"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88276","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"The performance and reception of flash mobs: authenticity, YouTube, and the fantastic","abstract":"This dissertation analyzes the performance methodology and reception of various flash mobs performed from 2003 to 2015. This twelve year history is separated into three periods. The first period consists of Bill Wasik’s initial flash mob performances, a series of eight events known as the Mob Project. These performances establish the three commonalities I use to define and identify flash mob performance- the anonymity between performer and spectator, the overloading of space, and the performance of incongruous action. The second period begins with the popularity of the T-Mobile flash mob commercial “Dance,” which introduced the use of a Protagonist and the “performer/spectator.” The third period is characterized by the use of flash mobs as advertisements by sponsoring organizations in order to achieve authentic alignment between themselves and their audience. All three periods are unified by a common potential reception on the part of the spectator- a reception that corresponds to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the Fantastic.","abstract_html":"This dissertation analyzes the performance methodology and reception of various flash mobs performed from 2003 to 2015. This twelve year history is separated into three periods. The first period consists of Bill Wasik’s initial flash mob performances, a series of eight events known as the Mob Project. These performances establish the three commonalities I use to define and identify flash mob performance- the anonymity between performer and spectator, the overloading of space, and the performance of incongruous action. The second period begins with the popularity of the T-Mobile flash mob commercial “Dance,” which introduced the use of a Protagonist and the “performer/spectator.” The third period is characterized by the use of flash mobs as advertisements by sponsoring organizations in order to achieve authentic alignment between themselves and their audience. All three periods are unified by a common potential reception on the part of the spectator- a reception that corresponds to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the Fantastic.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gailey, Benjamin Joseph"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Davis, Peter","Davis, Peter A.","Robinson, Valleri","Mitchell, Tom","Bishop, Mardia"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-29T21:03:12Z","date_published":"2015-09-29T21:03:12Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:31Z","subjects":["Flash mobs","YouTube","Fantastic","Authenticity","Theatre","Performance Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Benjamin Gailey"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88276","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Davis, Peter","Davis, Peter A.","Robinson, Valleri","Mitchell, Tom","Bishop, Mardia"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gailey, Benjamin Joseph"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-29T21:03:12Z","2017-09-30T09:15:18Z","2015-08","2015-07-17","2015-8"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Flash mobs","YouTube","Fantastic","Authenticity","Theatre","Performance Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Benjamin Gailey"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88276"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This dissertation analyzes the performance methodology and reception of various flash mobs performed from 2003 to 2015. 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