This talk analyzes public backlash to Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl performance using Victor Turner’s theory of social drama. Examining FCC complaints and media responses, it argues the NFL’s subsequent choice of Bad Bunny intensified cultural schisms, showing how controversy, polarization and outrage can become profitable rather than redressed.

This research examines how race and gender shaped tap dance performance during Hollywood’s Golden Age through the careers of Eleanor Powell and Jeni Le Gon. The thesis reveals how MGM appropriated Black performance traditions while suppressing Black performers themselves, demonstrating that dance and performance are deeply political cultural practices.

This research examines dismemberment in early modern drama to explore how cultural systems shape human responses to violence. By analysing plays such as Titus Andronicus, the project argues that fear and disgust are historically conditioned rather than purely instinctive, revealing how societies teach audiences to interpret violent imagery across different historical periods

This theatre research reimagines Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros as a contemporary exploration of conformity in the digital age. Through movement, sound, lighting, costume, and stage design, the production examines how people are seduced into collective behaviour and challenges audiences to reflect critically on conformity within their own lives.

This talk explores African pianism, a fusion of African musical traditions and Western classical piano. Tracing its origins and development, it highlights its cultural significance and growing presence in the United States. The research argues that institutional contexts shape its reception and advocates for its inclusion to diversify and enrich classical music.