The place of performance in performance studies

This essay calls attention to the value of conspicuous aesthetic performance in performance studies. It provides a review of past and current practice and offers suggestions for increasing both the practice of performance and publications about that practice. Further, it recognizes the labor of those devoted to conspicuous aesthetic performance. Ultimately, it argues for the centrality of conspicuous aesthetic performance in performance studies and works to galvanize a continued commitment, among those in performance studies, to performance practice.