{{Short description|Art forms involving live performance}} {{distinguish|Performance art}} {{Use dmy dates|date = October 2019}}{{CS1 config|mode=cs1}}[[File:Labudovo jezero, Balet SNP-a, Jelena Lečić, Andrej Kolčeriju, foto M. Polzović.jpg|thumb|A performance of the ballet ''Swan Lake'']] {{Performing arts}} The '''performing arts''' are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience.<ref>{{Cite web|title=the-performing-arts noun – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes {{!}} Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/the-performing-arts?q=performing+arts|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730070105/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/the-performing-arts?q=performing+arts|url-status=live}}</ref> They are different from the visual arts, which produce physical or static objects. Performing arts include a range of disciplines which are performed in front of a live audience, including theatre, music, and dance. Performances may take place in purpose-built buildings, such as theatres and opera houses, as well as in open air festivals, street settings, and recorded formats like film or television.
Performing arts traditions are present in every society.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Melis |first=Alessandro |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Design_for_Performative_Arts_Spaces/PrOPEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Performing+arts%22+traditions+%22every%22+culture+prehistory&pg=PA35&printsec=frontcover |title=Design for Performative Arts Spaces: Historical Evolution, Cultural Context, and Future Opportunities |last2=Pelle |first2=Marco |date=2025-10-15 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-98215-6 |pages=35 |language=en}}</ref> Music and dance date to pre-historic times,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morley |first=Iain |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Prehistory_of_Music/dHbqAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=music+dance+%22prehistory%22&pg=PA316&printsec=frontcover |title=The Prehistory of Music: Human Evolution, Archaeology, and the Origins of Musicality |date=2013-10-24 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-150209-5 |language=en}}</ref> while theatrical forms appear in ancient Greece, India, and China. Performance served combinations of religious, ceremonial, and entertainment functions. Traditions including Japanese Noh and Kabuki as well as Indian classical dance have been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Western performing arts history spans from ancient Greek tragedy and comedy through medieval mystery plays, the emergence of opera and ballet in the Renaissance, and the Romantic expansion of grand opera. In the modernist revolutions of the early 20th century, figures such as Isadora Duncan, Konstantin Stanislavski, and Sergei Diaghilev reworked the principles of dance and theatre. Postmodern performance increasingly challenges the boundaries between disciplines.
Live performances before an audience are a form of entertainment. The development of audio and video recording has allowed for private consumption of the performing arts. In narrative performance characters express emotions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Álvarez |first=Inma |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Expression_in_the_Performing_Arts/FUcaBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22performing+arts%22+express+emotion&pg=PA17&printsec=frontcover |title=Expression in the Performing Arts |last2=Pérez |first2=Héctor J. |last3=Pérez-Carreño |first3=Francisca |date=2010-02-19 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-2024-0 |language=en}}</ref>220x124px|thumb|right|alt=A picture of a Theatre, a place to showcase performances to audience.|McKenna Theatre Stage
==Types== ===Theatre=== {{main|Theatre}}
Theatre is the branch of performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hayford |first1=Michelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MIlcDwAAQBAJ&dq=Theatre+%22performing+arts%22+stories&pg=PA188 |title=Performing Arts as High-Impact Practice |last2=Kattwinkel |first2=Susan |date=2018-05-21 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-72944-2 |language=en}}</ref> using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carey |first1=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJlfBIsbPzMC&dq=%22Theatre%22+speech,+gesture,+music,+dance+combination&pg=PA135 |title=Creating White Australia |last2=McLisky |first2=Claire |date=2009 |publisher=Sydney University Press |isbn=978-1-920899-42-4 |language=en}}</ref> It is linked to ritual in ancient cultures across the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Advancement_in_Ancient_Civilizations/8EH_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22theater%22+ancient+ritual+world&pg=PA127&printsec=frontcover |title=Advancement in Ancient Civilizations: Life, Culture, Science and Thought |date=2020-09-21 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-4075-4 |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref>
The most familiar form of theatre is the scripted play, in which actors portray characters in a narrative unfolding in real time before an audience.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heim |first=Caroline |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Actors_and_Audiences/9tHVDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=theater+%22actors%22+%22narrative%22+audience&pg=PT43&printsec=frontcover |title=Actors and Audiences: Conversations in the Electric Air |date=2020-03-10 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-45607-2 |language=en}}</ref> Theatre diversified into musicals integrating song and dance<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Millie |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Musical_Theatre_Realism_and_Entertainmen/ZX8WDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22musical%22+integrate+song+dance&pg=PA57&printsec=frontcover |title=Musical Theatre, Realism and Entertainment |date=2016-04-29 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-09136-3 |pages=57 |language=en}}</ref> and opera with all the words set to music.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dobson |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Shakespeare/2nQYCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=opera+text+all+sung&pg=PA419&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare |last2=Wells |first2=Stanley |last3=Sharpe |first3=Will |last4=historian) |first4=Erin Sullivan (Cultural |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-870873-5 |pages=419 |language=en}}</ref> In improvisational theatre, actors invent material instead of following a set script,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cunha |first=Miguel Pina e |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Routledge_Companion_to_Improvisation/lK3NEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Improvisational+theatre+spontaneous+invention+script&pg=PA320&printsec=frontcover |title=The Routledge Companion to Improvisation in Organizations |last2=Vera |first2=Dusya |last3=Abrantes |first3=António Cunha Meneses |last4=Miner |first4=Anne |date=2023-09-20 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-93379-6 |pages=320 |language=en}}</ref> while performance art explores other disciplines to understand cultural intersections.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Viora |first=Angela |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Ecology_of_the_Performance_Art_Proce/od1BEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22performance+art%22+question+disciplines&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover |title=The Ecology of the Performance Art Process: Fragmentation, Union, Reconfiguration |date=2025-02-25 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-31988-8 |pages=27 |language=en}}</ref>
The relationship between performers and audience has varied from formal and distant proscenium productions to more intimate formats,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunham |first=Richard E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mYPEAAAQBAJ&dq=theatre+roles+space+audience&pg=PA307 |title=Stage Lighting Second Edition: The Fundamentals |date=2018-10-16 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-45468-9 |language=en}}</ref> including thrust stages, black box theatre, environmental theatre, and even found space adapted from a nontheatrical location.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Malloy |first=Kaoiṁe E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Art_of_Theatrical_Design/UnA9BAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=proscenium,+%22thrust%22+stages,+%22+site-specific+work,+immersive+environments&pg=PA9&printsec=frontcover |title=The Art of Theatrical Design: Elements of Visual Composition, Methods, and Practice |date=2014-08-07 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-317-69427-4 |pages=9 |language=en}}</ref> Spatial setup shapes the nature of a performance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Tim |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Playwright_Space_and_Place_in_Early_Mode/z9UGDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=theater+%22spatial%22+%22shape%22+performance&pg=PR15&printsec=frontcover |title=Playwright, Space and Place in Early Modern Performance: Shakespeare and Company |date=2016-04-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-07977-4 |pages=xv |language=en}}</ref>
===Dance=== {{main|Dance}}
[[File:Dancing girls in concert.jpg|thumb|right|Two female dancers in Sofia, Bulgaria]]In the context of performing arts, dance generally refers to human movement, typically rhythmic and to music, used as a form of audience entertainment in a performance setting. Definitions of dance are culturally contingent and range from functional forms such as folk dance to codified virtuoso techniques such as ballet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shay |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3UK2EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22folk+dance%22+ballet+spectrum&pg=PR19 |title=Folk Dance and the Creation of National Identities: Staging the Folk |date=2023-03-28 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-23336-4 |language=en}}</ref>
Choreography is the art of composing dances<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Craine |first1=Debra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42g8Hp-xA48C&dq=Choreography+composing+dances+choreographer&pg=PA98 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance |last2=Mackrell |first2=Judith |date=2010-08-19 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-956344-9 |language=en}}</ref> and choreographers assign how movement conveys meaning.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angelov |first=Vladimir |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/You_the_Choreographer/Jr3GEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22choreographer%22+%22meaning%22&pg=PT609&printsec=frontcover |title=You, the Choreographer: Creating and Crafting Dance |date=2023-08-30 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-78244-8 |language=en}}</ref> Dance serves both social and artistic functions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sN00AgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Dance%22+%22social%22+artistic+function&pg=PT304 |title=Essential Guide to Dance, 3rd edition |date=2012-04-13 |publisher=Hodder Education |isbn=978-1-4441-6975-1 |language=en}}</ref> It features in ceremonies, rituals, customs, and celebrations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bangura |first=Abdul Karim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLWuDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Dance%22+ritual+courtship+celebration+ceremony&pg=PA320 |title=Branches of Asanteism |date=2019-10-03 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-4985-9499-8 |language=en}}</ref> In Black and Indigenous communities, dance is often inseparable from music and communal ritual.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Candelario |first1=Rosemary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OaxEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22dance%22+inseparable+music,+storytelling,+spiritual+practice&pg=RA1-PT114 |title=Dance Research Methodologies: Ethics, Orientations, and Practices |last2=Henley |first2=Matthew |date=2023-03-31 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-84871-7 |language=en}}</ref>
Modern dance emerged as a 20th century response to ballet strictures,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gerstner |first=David A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=851qoMjA3icC&dq=%22modern+dance%22+%22ballet%22+century+response&pg=PA169 |title=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture |date=2006-03-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-76181-2 |language=en}}</ref> emphasizing freer bodily movement and self-expression.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kowal |first1=Rebekah J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYauDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22modern+dance%22+individual+expression&pg=PA202 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Politics |last2=Siegmund |first2=Gerald |last3=Martin |first3=Randy |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-992818-7 |language=en}}</ref> Subsequent forms including hip-hop dance, contemporary dance, and postmodern dance continue expanding what dance is and who performs it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pine |first=Adam M. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Geographies_of_Dance/jzOAEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=postmodern+dance,+hip-hop+dance,+contemporary+dance&pg=PA48&printsec=frontcover |title=Geographies of Dance: Body, Movement, and Corporeal Negotiations |last2=Kuhlke |first2=Olaf |date=2013-12-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-20717-7 |language=en}}</ref>
===Music=== {{main|Music}}
thumb|Middleton Community Orchestra Spring 2024 Concert Music is an art form which combines timbre, pitch, rhythm, and dynamics to create sound.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Terry E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcbADwAAQBAJ&dq=Music+pitch,+rhythm,+dynamic+sound&pg=PA13 |title=World Music CONCISE: A Global Journey |last2=Shahriari |first2=Andrew |date=2018-08-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-17602-6 |language=en}}</ref> It can be performed using a variety of instruments and styles and is divided into genres such as folk, jazz, hip hop, pop, and rock, etc. As an art form, music can occur in live or recorded formats, and can be planned or improvised.
Jazz combines written arrangements with improvisation, while in classical Western concert music faithful interpretation of the written score is central.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moorefield |first=Virgil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PZ0R4_Oxr-4C&dq=Improvisation+central+jazz+classical+faithful&pg=PR14 |title=The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music |date=2010-02-26 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-51405-7 |language=en}}</ref> Improvisation is central to traditions from around the world including Indian classical music and West African griot singing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=William Forde |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Music_in_the_Social_and_Behavioral_Scien/qfcOBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Indian%22+%22griot%22+improvisation+formal&pg=PA596&printsec=frontcover |title=Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia |date=2014-07-18 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-8302-9 |pages=596 |language=en}}</ref> In practice few types of music are wholly composed or improvised.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Born |first=Georgina |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Improvisation_and_Social_Aesthetics/WFd7DgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=genres+music+composed+improvise&pg=PT118&printsec=frontcover |title=Improvisation and Social Aesthetics |last2=Lewis |first2=Eric |last3=Straw |first3=Will |date=2017-04-11 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-7401-5 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Film === {{main|Film}}
thumb|Chaplin in the role of the tramp (1915) From Thomas Edison's kinetoscope in the 1890s, cinema developed into a mass media with the Hollywood studio system.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grimshaw |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=viQiAgAAQBAJ&dq=Edison+%22kinetoscope%22+1890s+Hollywood+%22studio+system%22&pg=PA26 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality |date=February 2014 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-982616-2 |language=en}}</ref> Film acting differs from stage acting, projecting to a camera rather than to an audience.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lust |first=Annette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4b2lrWxMEzsC&dq=Acting+camera+stage+differ&pg=PA4 |title=Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen: Expressive Movement for Performers |date=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-0-8108-8212-6 |language=en}}</ref> The performance is then shaped and assembled in editing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hollinger |first=Karen |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Actress/hVtHAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=film+performance+shaped+editing&pg=PA7&printsec=frontcover |title=The Actress: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star |date=2013-10-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-20589-8 |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref> Acting on camera often requires subtlety rather than the projection required on stage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hampe |first=Barry |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Making_Documentary_Films_and_Videos/Du5_Hach9ygC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=film+acting+subtlety+psychological+projection+stage&pg=PA291&printsec=frontcover |title=Making Documentary Films and Videos: A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries |date=2007-12-10 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8050-8181-7 |pages=291 |language=en}}</ref>
Film has become an umbrella term covering cinema and television, with different film cultures around the world accessible by streaming services.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dervin |first=Fred |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Routledge_Handbook_of_Critical_Inter/ELElEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cinema+studies+film+definition&pg=PA87&printsec=frontcover |title=The Routledge Handbook of Critical Interculturality in Communication and Education |date=2024-11-20 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-12587-8 |language=en}}</ref> Distinct film cultures in South Asia, East Asia, and elsewhere reach wide audiences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuhn |first=Annette |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Dictionary_of_Film_Studies/pJfgDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=distinct+%22film+culture%22+Asia+Europe+Latin+America&pg=PT17&printsec=frontcover |title=A Dictionary of Film Studies |last2=Westwell |first2=Guy |date=2020-04-28 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256804-5 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Opera === In opera, the drama is primarily conveyed through singing with an orchestral accompaniment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lo |first=Patrick |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Stories_and_Lessons_from_the_World_s_Lea/J2tZEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22opera%22+%22orchestra%22+singing&pg=PA1996&printsec=frontcover |title=Stories and Lessons from the World’s Leading Opera, Orchestra Librarians, and Music Archivists, Volume 1: North and South America |last2=Sutherland |first2=Robert |last3=Hsu |first3=Wei-En |last4=Girsberger |first4=Russ |date=2022-01-26 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-80117-654-5 |pages=1996 |language=en}}</ref> It combines music, drama, and spectacle into a single art form.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Till |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Companion_to_Opera_Studies/1xGZzJQC4ZUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22opera%22+single+artwork&pg=PA117&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cambridge Companion to Opera Studies |date=2012-10-18 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85561-7 |pages=117 |language=en}}</ref> Opera originated in Italy at the end of the sixteenth-century and spread throughout the world,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Petrocelli |first=Paolo |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Evolution_of_Opera_Theatre_in_the_Mi/PqqwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Opera+16+century+spread+rapidly&pg=PA6&printsec=frontcover |title=The Evolution of Opera Theatre in the Middle East and North Africa |date=2019-09-12 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-3978-5 |language=en}}</ref> becoming the prestige entertainment of aristocratic then bourgeois society.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hepokoski |first=James |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Music_Structure_Thought_Selected_Essays/RiYxDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Opera+prestige+entertainment+aristocratic+bourgeois&pg=PT111&printsec=frontcover |title=Music, Structure, Thought: Selected Essays |date=2017-07-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-55698-9 |language=en}}</ref>
The form ranges from smaller comic operas to spectacular grand opera.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goulding |first=Phil G. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ticket_to_the_Opera/zJ4skAMNUmYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22comic+opera%22+%22grand+opera%22+spectacular&pg=PA25&printsec=frontcover |title=Ticket to the Opera: Discovering and Exploring 100 Famous Works, History, Lore, and Singers, with Rec |date=2011-03-30 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-76184-2 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref> Operas by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini remain among the most performed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bull |first=Anna |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voices_for_Change_in_the_Classical_Music/3yOqEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mozart+verdi+wagner+puccini+opera+repertoire&pg=PA105&printsec=frontcover |title=Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession: New Ideas for Tackling Inequalities and Exclusions |last2=Scharff |first2=Christina |last3=Nooshin |first3=Laudan |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-760121-1 |pages=105 |language=en}}</ref> Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk concept influenced the modern stage, with artists seeking theater appealing to all the senses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Langford |first=Rachael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Textual_Intersections/wfI0Tg-61g4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Wagner+%22Gesamtkunstwerk%22+influential+theatrical&pg=PA41&printsec=frontcover |title=Textual Intersections: Literature, History and the Arts in Nineteenth-century Europe |date=2009 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-90-420-2731-2 |pages=41 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Other forms === thumb|The Aerial Showgirls perform aerial tissu Circus arts include clowning, acrobatics, aerials, and object manipulation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cho |first=Jasmine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fboIEQAAQBAJ&dq=Circus+arts+acrobatics,+aerial+performance,+juggling&pg=PT107 |title=Get a Hobby: 365 Things to Do for Fun (Not Work!) |date=2024-11-05 |publisher=Union Square & Company |isbn=978-1-4549-5428-6 |language=en}}</ref> Ancient Egyptian depictions survive that show acrobatics, which was performed at festive occasions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trapp |first=Franziska |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Readings_of_Contemporary_Circus/-c0UEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ancient+%22Egypt%22+acrobat&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover |title=Readings of Contemporary Circus: A Dramaturgy |date=2024-08-27 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-12462-8 |language=en}}</ref> Contemporary circus is an interdisciplinary performance form integrating circus elements with narrative, with Cirque du Soleil a widely recognizable example.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Jason |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Modern_Popular_Theatre/TyhIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Contemporary+traveling+circuses+Cirque+du+Soleil&pg=PA178&printsec=frontcover |title=Modern Popular Theatre |date=2016-09-05 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-55062-0 |pages=178 |language=en}}</ref>
The broader field of performing arts include musical theatre, magic, mime, spoken word, puppetry, performance art, improv, and stand-up comedy.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nilsen |first1=Alleen Pace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HWIDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22performing+arts%22+stand-up+comedy,+puppetry,+spoken+word,+magic&pg=PA242 |title=The Language of Humor: An Introduction |last2=Nilsen |first2=Don L. F. |date=November 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-41654-2 |pages=242 |language=en}}</ref> Musical theatre and especially the Broadway musical became a dominant theatrical form in the twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Armstrong |first=David |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Broadway_Nation/1h1jEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22musical+theater%22+dominant+theatrical+form&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover |title=Broadway Nation: How Immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artists invented the Broadway Musical |date=2025-08-21 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-42833-1 |pages=1 |language=en}}</ref> Puppetry encompasses traditions from Indonesian shadow puppetry to Japanese Bunraku to contemporary uses like in the Lion King.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capra |first=Steve |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Stage_Voices/4mLlEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=puppet+Indonesian+shadow+Bunraku+experimental&pg=PA46&printsec=frontcover |title=Stage Voices: Interviews with 28 Theater Directors Worldwide |date=2023-12-06 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-9324-8 |pages=46 |language=en}}</ref> Stand-up comedy emerged as a distinct form, developing out of variety shows and moving into clubs with important audience reactions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tomsett |first=Ellie |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Stand_up_Comedy_and_Contemporary_Feminis/v2S6EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22stand-up+comedy%22+distinct+major+genre&pg=PT6&printsec=frontcover |title=Stand-up Comedy and Contemporary Feminisms: Sexism, Stereotypes and Structural Inequalities |date=2023-06-29 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-30229-7 |language=en}}</ref> Performance art grew out of avant-garde movements, using the artist's body and presence to create work that resists conventions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birringer |first=Johannes H. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Media_Performance/Sp-uWarorw8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22performance+art%22+avant-garde+body+resist+convention&pg=PA7&printsec=frontcover |title=Media & Performance: Along the Border |date=1998 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5851-2 |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref>
==History== <!-- "History of the performing arts" redirects to here --> [[File:Sophocles pushkin.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Sophocles]]
=== Ancient and classical periods === As early as the 19th century BCE, a large religious ceremony in Egypt may have had theatre-like elements.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nellhaus |first1=Tobin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwoSEQAAQBAJ&dq=earliest+theatre+Egypt+2000+BCE&pg=PT53 |title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction |last2=Lei |first2=Daphne P. |last3=Underiner |first3=Tamara |last4=Ybarra |first4=Patricia |date=2024-07-31 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-04631-9 |language=en}}</ref> The earliest text of a play is the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus from the 20th-century BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rozik |first=Eli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGG40fhg6usC&dq=Dramatic+Ramesseum+Papyrus+%22earliest%22+play&pg=PA316 |title=The Roots of Theatre: Rethinking Ritual and Other Theories of Origin |date=April 2005 |publisher=University of Iowa Press |isbn=978-1-58729-426-6 |pages=316 |language=en}}</ref>
Greek playwrights including Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides developed tragedy in the fifth century BCE,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lovano |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkTPEAAAQBAJ&dq=Greece+Aeschylus+Sophocles+century&pg=PA98 |title=The World of Ancient Greece: A Daily Life Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=2019-12-02 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-4408-3731-9 |language=en}}</ref> while Aristophanes, Cratinus, and Menander developed comedy.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Perks |first1=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdaNAgAAQBAJ&dq=Aristophanes+comedy+develop&pg=PA76 |title=A2 Drama and Theatre Studies: The Essential Introduction for Edexcel |last2=Porteous |first2=Jacqueline |date=2009-12-04 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-27001-8 |language=en}}</ref> Greek theatre was performed in outdoor auditoriums<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Winter |first1=Frederick E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03UNLhtEP1oC&dq=Greek+theatron+Sken%C3%A9&pg=PA98 |title=Studies in Hellenistic Architecture |last2=Fedak |first2=Janos |date=2006-01-01 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-3914-9 |language=en}}</ref> with actors performing in masks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eldredge |first=Sears A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAxe8oefujQC&dq=Greek+masked+actor&pg=PA10 |title=Mask Improvisation for Actor Training & Performance: The Compelling Image |date=1996 |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-1365-7 |language=en}}</ref> Greek theatre spread over the Mediterranean and beyond.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nervegna |first=Sebastiana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8njsAwAAQBAJ&dq=theatrical+traditions+spread+Mediterranean&pg=PA20 |title=Menander in Antiquity: The Contexts of Reception |date=2013-04-25 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00422-1 |language=en}}</ref>
India produced a performing arts tradition. The Natya Shastra is a Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy that formulated Indian theatrical theory and practice, attributed to Bharata and possibly compiled 200 BCE - 200 CE.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kundu |first1=Tanmoy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxeNEQAAQBAJ&dq=Bharata+Muni+Natya+Shastra+theory+drama&pg=PT125 |title=Indian Classical Literature: Critical Essays |last2=Panda |first2=Ujjwal Kr |date=2024-06-06 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-03311-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=Bharatmuni's Natyashastra: The Rise of Indian Drama | url=https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49615.pdf/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131092439/https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49615.pdf | archive-date=2023-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lowthorp |first=Leah |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Deep_Cosmopolitanism/GMCGEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Natyashastra+200+bce+200+ce&pg=PA79&printsec=frontcover |title=Deep Cosmopolitanism: Kutiyattam, Dynamic Tradition, and Globalizing Heritage in Kerala, India |date=2025-09-02 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-07360-0 |pages=79 |language=en}}</ref> Dramatists such as Bhāsa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti produced a rich heritage of dramatic literature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Veṅkaṭēśvararāvu |first=Nārla |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UgwAAAAMAAJ&q=Dramatists+Bhasa,+Kalidasa,+Bhavabhuti+Sanskrit |title=Veeresalingam |date=1968 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-0423-2 |language=en}}</ref> The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are popular in India and much of Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_World_Mythology/kQFtlva3HaYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sanskrit+epics+Ramayana+Mahabharata+%22popular%22&pg=PA335&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |date=2005-11-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-515669-0 |pages=335 |language=en}}</ref>
In China, the dramatic tradition goes back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) involving music and theatre.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCMxk_17rGcC&q=%22Shang+dynasty%22+theatre+music |title=Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism |date=1997 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=978-0-395-76341-4 |language=en}}</ref> Shadow puppetry emerged during the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Chunyan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWjwEAAAQBAJ&dq=Shadow+puppetry+Han+dynasty&pg=PT61 |title=Chinese Language and Culture Education: Representation, Imagination and Ideology of China in Australian Schools |date=2024-04-02 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-01072-3 |language=en}}</ref> During the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), Emperor Xuanzong established the Pear Garden to train musicians and performers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ye |first=Tan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvCAEQAAQBAJ&dq=Tang+dynasty+%22Pear+Garden%22&pg=PA233 |title=Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater |date=2020-03-04 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-8818-7615-9 |language=en}}</ref> In the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), the Zaju variety play reached its peak, having Beijing opera as a descendant.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brandon |first1=James R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttnH5W9qoBAC&dq=%22Yuan+dynasty%22+dramatic+%22structure%22+Beijing+Opera&pg=PA59 |title=The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre |last2=Banham |first2=Martin |date=1997-01-28 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-58822-5 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Middle Ages === {{main|Middle Ages}}
thumb|Engraving depicting a 15th-century Passion play (The Trial and Crucifixion of Christ) by the Smiths' Company of Coventry In medieval Europe, theatre was entwined with the Christian Church, with mystery plays adapting Biblical stories and dramatizing sermons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mangan |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRKEAAAQBAJ&dq=medieval+Europe+theatrical+performance+religious+dramas&pg=PA213 |title=The Drama, Theatre and Performance Companion |date=2013-05-14 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-01552-5 |language=en}}</ref> Secular entertainment included itinerant performers like jongleurs who combined singing, telling jokes, clowning, juggling, tumbling, or magic tricks.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Echard |first1=Sian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXoqDwAAQBAJ&dq=medieval+jongleurs,+troubadours,+minstrels&pg=PA1075 |title=The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set |last2=Rouse |first2=Robert |date=2017-08-07 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-39698-8 |language=en}}</ref>
In West Africa, griots shared oral history with music and storytelling, reciting genealogy and specializing in musical instruments. They also had social roles like political advisers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Weisl |first1=Angela Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dsHEQAAQBAJ&dq=West+Africa+griot+medieval&pg=PA113 |title=Medievalisms in a Global Age |last2=Squillace |first2=Robert |date=2024 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-84384-703-8 |language=en}}</ref>
In the medieval Islamic world, the ta'ziyeh were shadow puppet theatre telling religious epic dramas, with Shi'a ta'ziyeh focused on the death of Husayn ibn Ali.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Sarah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ubr35UeE-UQC&dq=medieval+ta'ziyeh+shadow+puppet&pg=PA241 |title=The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Theatre |last2=Banham |first2=Martin |date=1996-03-07 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-44654-9 |language=en}}</ref> The ta'ziyeh was a living tradition through the 1930s when it was banned in Iran.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Devos |first1=Bianca |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSGAAAAAQBAJ&dq=ta'ziyeh+%22living%22+ritual+drama+tradition&pg=PT356 |title=Culture and Cultural Politics Under Reza Shah: The Pahlavi State, New Bourgeoisie and the Creation of a Modern Society in Iran |last2=Werner |first2=Christoph |date=2013-08-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-12560-8 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Renaissance === {{main|Renaissance}}
The Renaissance, beginning in 15th century Italy and spreading throughout Europe saw a revival of classical forms, alongside theatrical innovations. Domenico da Piacenza is credited with the first use of the term ''ballo''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGG1AAAAIAAJ&q=%22first%22 |title=Ballet: An Illustrated History |last2=Crisp |first2=Clement |date=1992 |publisher=H. Hamilton |isbn=978-0-241-13068-1 |language=en}}</ref> to describe choreographed court dances.<ref>{{Cite book |last=d'Artois |first=Florence |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dance_Embodied_Politics_and_Court_Cultur/hG3QEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Domenico+da+Piacenza%22+ballo+%22court%22+choreograph+dance&pg=PA82&printsec=frontcover |title=Dance, Embodied Politics and Court Culture in Early Modern Spain: The Poetics Turn |date=2025 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-85566-406-7 |pages=82 |language=en}}</ref> The term eventually became ''Ballet''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grout |first1=Donald Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVCsAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22ballo%22+%22ballet%22+derived&pg=PA22 |title=A Short History of Opera |last2=Williams |first2=Hermine Weigel |date=2003 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-11958-0 |language=en}}</ref> The first Ballet ''per se'' is thought to be Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx's Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buelow |first=George J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aw1TTtpp4FwC&dq=%22first+Ballet%22+1581&pg=PA155 |title=A History of Baroque Music |date=2004-11-23 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34365-9 |language=en}}</ref> [[File:Jan Miel – Actors from the Commedia dell’Arte on a Wagon in a Town Square.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1<!-- requires curly apostrophe --> |''Commedia dell'arte troupe on a wagon'', by Jan Miel, 1640]]
By the mid-16th century the commedia dell'arte became widely popular in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bertinetto |first1=Alessandro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Nw2EAAAQBAJ&dq=Commedia+dell'arte+mid+16th+century+improvised&pg=PT700 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Improvisation in the Arts |last2=Ruta |first2=Marcello |date=2021-07-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-39784-0 |language=en}}</ref> This improvisational form performed by professionals used stock characters, including servants, old men, and lovers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuritz |first=Paul |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Making_of_Theatre_History/cS6JV4Z27DoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=commedia+dell'arte+improvisation+characters&pg=PA170&printsec=frontcover |title=The Making of Theatre History |date=1988 |publisher=PAUL KURITZ |isbn=978-0-13-547861-5 |pages=170 |language=en}}</ref> A professional theatre industry also emerged in England,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dobson |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nQYCgAAQBAJ&dq=professional+theatrical+companies+emerge+England&pg=PA75 |title=The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare |last2=Wells |first2=Stanley |last3=Sharpe |first3=Will |last4=historian) |first4=Erin Sullivan (Cultural |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-870873-5 |language=en}}</ref> providing an institutional context for William Shakespeare's plays in the late 16th century.
In 1597, the first opera, Dafne was performed<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graybill |first=Guy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYiDDwAAQBAJ&dq=1597+first+opera+Dafne&pg=PA59 |title=Italy's Primacy in Musical History |date=2019-01-08 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-2442-2 |language=en}}</ref> and throughout the 17th century, opera would rapidly become the entertainment of choice for the aristocracy in most of Europe, and eventually for large numbers of people living in cities and towns throughout Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=Alison E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAvXEAAAQBAJ&dq=17th+century+opera+aristocracy+entertainment&pg=RA1-PT419 |title=What in the World is Music? |last2=Kramer |first2=Jonathan C. |date=2023-09-13 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-003-85467-8 |language=en}}</ref>
A proscenium arch and curtain used in Italy during the 17th century established the traditional theatre form that persists to this day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=DiGaetani |first=John Louis |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/An_Invitation_to_the_Opera_Revised_Editi/Tcz-CgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22proscenium%22+Italy+17th+persists&pg=PA65&printsec=frontcover |title=An Invitation to the Opera, Revised Edition |date=2015-12-22 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9519-1 |language=en}}</ref> In England, the Puritans banned theatrical performance until 1660, after which women began to appear in plays.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zarrilli |first=Phillip B. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Theatre_Histories/Fy9wGU_lPOQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Puritan+ban+acting+1660&pg=PA206&printsec=frontcover |title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction |last2=McConachie |first2=Bruce |last3=Williams |first3=Gary Jay |last4=Sorgenfrei |first4=Carol Fisher |date=2013-03-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-04294-4 |language=en}}</ref> The French introduced formal dance instruction in the late 17th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Selvik |first=Randi Margrete |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Performing_Arts_in_Changing_Societies/0YbiDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=French+formal+dance+%22instruction%22+17th+century&pg=PT15&printsec=frontcover |title=Performing Arts in Changing Societies: Opera, Dance, and Theatre in European and Nordic Countries around 1800 |last2=Gladsø |first2=Svein |last3=Fiskvik |first3=Anne Margrete |date=2020-05-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-05566-5 |language=en}}</ref>
=== 18th and 19th centuries === thumb|Cover to the vocal score of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots The introduction of the popular opera buffa brought opera to the masses as an accessible form of performance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kotnik |first=Vlado |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Opera_as_Anthropology/zPBTDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=popular+opera+buffa+masses&pg=PA98&printsec=frontcover |title=Opera as Anthropology: Anthropologists in Lyrical Settings |date=2016-09-23 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-1422-5 |language=en}}</ref> Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and ''Don Giovanni'' are 18th century landmarks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rechcigl |first=Miloslav |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Czechoslovak_Contribution_to_World_C/Y4mFEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mozart+Marriage+of+Figaro+landmark+18th+century&pg=PA124&printsec=frontcover |title=The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture |date=2021-03-22 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-241590-0 |language=en}}</ref>
In the early 19th century, the Romantic movement emphasized individual self-expression, emotional directness, and nationalist energies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldick |first=Chris |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Literary_Terms/s4FMCAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Romantic+19th+century+emotional+intensity,+individual+expression,+nationalist&pg=PT297&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms |date=2015-05-15 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-104407-6 |language=en}}</ref> In opera, this led to the spectacular grand operas of Giacomo Meyerbeer<ref>{{Cite book |last=Charlton |first=David |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Companion_to_Grand_Opera/iqoVHY6OrjIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22grand+opera%22+Meyerbeer&pg=PA208&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera |date=2003-09-04 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64683-3 |language=en}}</ref> and then to the musical dramas of Giuseppe Verdi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van |first=Gilles de |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Verdi_s_Theater/_kg2VLqOp5AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Verdi+%22music+drama%22&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover |title=Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music |date=1998-09-15 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-14370-5 |language=en}}</ref> The Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork) of Richard Wagner united dance, music, and poetry into one expression.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderton |first=Chris |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Routledge_Handbook_of_Progressive_Ro/4GqNEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Gesamtkunstwerk+Wagner+music,+drama,+poetry,+visual+design&pg=PT384&printsec=frontcover |title=The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination |last2=Burns |first2=Lori |date=2025-02-26 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-29712-4 |language=en}}</ref> Influential ballet repertoire included Giselle (1841) and Swan Lake (1877). Romantic ballet provided more prominence to the female dancing body and pointe work.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rumsey |first=Phoebe |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dance_in_Musical_Theatre/sl7aEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Romanticism+Giselle+Swan+Lake+pointe+technique&pg=PA31&printsec=frontcover |title=Dance in Musical Theatre: A History of the Body in Movement |last2=Martincich |first2=Dustyn |date=2023-12-14 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-23555-7 |language=en}}</ref>
The 19th century also saw the expansion of popular performing arts, driven by urbanization and the growth of commercial entertainment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Booth |first=Paul |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Companion_to_Media_Fandom_and_Fan_Stud/_5hODwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=19th+century+popular+urbanization+commercial+entertainment&pg=PT61&printsec=frontcover |title=A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies |date=2018-02-26 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-23720-4 |language=en}}</ref> Variety shows, vaudeville, and burlesque offered working class entertainment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shteir |first=Rachel |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Striptease/Mn48DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=19th+century+vaudeville,+burlesque,+working+class+entertainment&pg=PA33&printsec=frontcover |title=Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530076-5 |language=en}}</ref> Gaslight and later electric lighting transformed the visual perception of theatre.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marx |first=Peter |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Cultural_History_of_Theatre_in_the_Age/g4inDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=gaslight+electric+theatres+stage&pg=PA58&printsec=frontcover |title=A Cultural History of Theatre in the Age of Empire |date=2019-08-08 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-13547-5 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Modern era === {{main|Modernism}}
[[File:Vaslav Nijinsky, 1912.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Vaslav Nijinsky dancing the Faun in ''L'après-midi d'un faune'' (1912)]] Modern dance began in the late 19th century and early 20th century in response to the restrictions of traditional ballet. Pioneers Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller focused on natural, expressive movements over conventional technique.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Filippis |first=Simonetta de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuD6DAAAQBAJ&dq=Isadora+Duncan+Loie+Fuller+natural+gesture&pg=PA138 |title=D. H. Lawrence: New Critical Perspectives and Cultural Translation |date=2016-08-17 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9805-8 |language=en}}</ref> The arrival of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (1909–1929) revolutionized ballet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McPherson |first=Elizabeth |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Milestones_in_Dance_in_the_USA/wiuGEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ballets+Russes+revolutionized+ballet&pg=PA1956&printsec=frontcover |title=Milestones in Dance in the USA |date=2022-09-30 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-68532-9 |language=en}}</ref> Diaghilev's collaboration brought together choreographers, dancers, composers, authors, visual artists, and fashion designers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angelov |first=Vladimir |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/You_the_Choreographer/Jr3GEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Diaghilev+collaboration,+choreographers,+dancers,+set+designers,+composers+musicians&pg=PT167&printsec=frontcover |title=You, the Choreographer: Creating and Crafting Dance |date=2023-08-30 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-78244-8 |language=en}}</ref> New ballet companies with strong national identities were founded across Europe starting in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karthas |first=Ilyana |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/When_Ballet_Became_French/zyXCDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=opera+many+%22national+companies%22+formed+postwar&pg=PA144&printsec=frontcover |title=When Ballet Became French: Modern Ballet and the Cultural Politics of France, 1909-1939 |date=2015-09-01 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-9781-5 |language=en}}</ref>
Konstantin Stanislavski's "System" revolutionized acting in the early 20th century, introducing psychological realism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aponte-Moreno |first=Marco |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Leadership_as_Performance/350LEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Konstantin+Stanislavski's+%22System%22+revolutionized+acting&pg=PT3&printsec=frontcover |title=Leadership as Performance: Developing Leadership Skills through Acting |date=2024-08-02 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-10625-9 |language=en}}</ref> Method acting exercises are taught in many acting schools.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Enelow |first=Shonni |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Method_Acting_and_Its_Discontents/h_OsDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=method+acting+conservatories&pg=PT20&printsec=frontcover |title=Method Acting and Its Discontents: On American Psycho-Drama |date=2015-07-09 |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-3141-5 |language=en}}</ref>
The motion picture was invented in the 1890s<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Paul |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Man_Who_Invented_Motion_Pictures/ANEDEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=invention+%22motion+picture%22+19th+century+Edison&pg=PP4&printsec=frontcover |title=The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies |date=2022-04-19 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-1485-5 |language=en}}</ref> and developed into a global mass market after World War I.<ref>{{Cite book |last=DeFleur |first=Melvin L. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mass_Communication_Theories/B6dYCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cinema+global+mass+media+1920s&pg=PT43&printsec=frontcover |title=Mass Communication Theories: Explaining Origins, Processes, and Effects |last2=DeFleur |first2=Margaret H. |date=2016-01-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-34657-9 |language=en}}</ref> Hollywood's studio system created film actors and shaped star image.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lucia |first=Cynthia |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Film_History/Pt8DCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Hollywood+studio+system+created+film+actor&pg=PA423&printsec=frontcover |title=American Film History: Selected Readings, Origins to 1960 |last2=Grundmann |first2=Roy |last3=Simon |first3=Art |date=2015-06-25 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-47516-4 |language=en}}</ref> The subsequent development radio and television affected the diversity of performance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepherd |first=John |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Continuum_Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music/Ws-vAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22radio%22+%22television%22+diversity+performance&pg=PA330&printsec=frontcover |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 1: Media, Industry, Society |last2=Horn |first2=David |last3=Laing |first3=Dave |last4=Oliver |first4=Paul |last5=Wicke |first5=Peter |date=2003-03-06 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-84714-473-7 |language=en}}</ref>
right|thumb|upright=1.15|Modern street theatre performance in La Chaux-de-Fonds
=== Postwar === Following World War II, opera and ballet were built up, supported by state subsidies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bernstein |first=George L. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Myth_Of_Decline/-W0Wx5eCydgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=opera+%22national+companies%22+formed+postwar&pg=PT337&printsec=frontcover |title=The Myth Of Decline: The Rise of Britain Since 1945 |date=2011-05-31 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4464-4949-3 |language=en}}</ref> Postmodernism in the performing arts was largely a phenomenon of 1970s and 1980s,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Auslander |first=Philip |url=https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/6/11/files/2017/12/Auslander-Postmodernism-and-Performance.pdf |title=The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=28 May 2006 |pages=98 |language=en |archive-date=7 December 2023 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207194136/https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/6/11/files/2017/12/Auslander-Postmodernism-and-Performance.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> challenging the boundaries between art forms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Tim |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beginning_Postmodernism/f-wXCVMTheEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Postmodernism+challenge+boundaries+performance&pg=PA80&printsec=frontcover |title=Beginning Postmodernism |date=1999-08-20 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-5211-8 |language=en}}</ref> In contemporary performing arts, digital technology is being integrated with live performance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hepworth-Sawyer |first=Russ |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Innovation_in_Music/lWwNEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=integration+digital+technology+live+performance&pg=PT293&printsec=frontcover |title=Innovation in Music: Future Opportunities |last2=Paterson |first2=Justin |last3=Toulson |first3=Rob |date=2021-01-21 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-000-28367-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Szostak |first=Michał |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Humanistic_Management_Organization_and_A/NbHYEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=performing+arts+digital+technology&pg=RA1-PT11&printsec=frontcover |title=Humanistic Management, Organization and Aesthetics: Art of Management and Management of Art |date=2023-11-17 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-003-80476-5 |language=en}}</ref>
Animation, motion capture, and real-time interactivity have extended what is possible on stage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vincent |first=Caitlin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Digital_Scenography_in_Opera_in_the_Twen/2_E1EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=stage+motion+capture,+real-time&pg=PA2017-IA6&printsec=frontcover |title=Digital Scenography in Opera in the Twenty-First Century |date=2021-09-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-44073-7 |language=en}}</ref> During COVID-19 lockdowns theatres worldwide produced streaming and hybrid formats, spurring innovation<ref>{{Cite book |last=Romanska |first=Magda |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Digital_Access_to_the_Performing_Arts/EINxEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=COVID+arts+experiment+streaming&pg=PT10&printsec=frontcover |title=Digital Access to the Performing Arts: Comparative Study of Legal and Structural Challenges |date=2026-02-13 |publisher=Policy Press |isbn=978-1-5292-5704-5 |language=en}}</ref> and debates about the future of live performance and digital technology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wolf |first=Mark J. P. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Routledge_Companion_to_Video_Game_St/dka8EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Debates+live+performance+digital&pg=PT634&printsec=frontcover |title=The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies |last2=Perron |first2=Bernard |date=2023-06-19 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-88602-3 |language=en}}</ref>
== Non-Western and Indigenous traditions ==
=== African performing arts === Africa has much cultural diversity, with over three thousand ethnic groups.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=James A. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cultural_Diversity_and_Education/cDhACwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=African+performing+diverse+distinct+thousands+ethnic&pg=PA267&printsec=frontcover |title=Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum, and Teaching |date=2015-12-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-22246-0 |pages=267 |language=en}}</ref> Many indigenous African performance traditions incorporate dance, song, music, and mime elements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Okagbue |first=Osita |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Theatres_and_Performances/OlYcUkMR3V4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Indigenous+African+performance+storytelling,+music&pg=PT18&printsec=frontcover |title=African Theatres and Performances |date=2013-05-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-40785-9 |language=en}}</ref> Performances were communal with the storytellers and audience interacting and participating in call and response, which is characterized by a vocalist singing a phrase that is then echoed or responded to with a new phrase by the other performers and/or audience.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gemeda |first=Eshete |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Egalitarian_Values_and_Indigenou/aUcbtM9k_fgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22indigenous%22+African+performance+call+response&pg=PA121&printsec=frontcover |title=African Egalitarian Values and Indigenous Genres: A Comparative Approach to the Functional and Contextual Studies of Oromo National Literature in a Contemporary Perspective |date=2012 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-90233-7 |pages=121 |language=en}}</ref> thumb|Mandinka Griot Al-Haji Papa Susso performing songs from the oral tradition of the Gambia on the kora Griots are hereditary musicians specializing in oral history, genealogies, and praise singing with responsibilities well beyond entertainment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sturman |first=Janet |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_SAGE_International_Encyclopedia_of_M/9TuKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Griots+hereditary+oral+historian+praise+singers&pg=PA84&printsec=frontcover |title=The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture |date=2019-02-26 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4833-1774-8 |language=en}}</ref> Griot performance typically combines virtuoso playing of an instrument such as the kora with singing or recitation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hale |first=Thomas Albert |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Griots_and_Griottes/vF6ieMZYhHEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Griot+kora+virtuoso&pg=PA171&printsec=frontcover |title=Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music |date=1998 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-253-33458-9 |pages=171 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Eastern performing arts === thumb|Valiollah Torabi, Iranian naqqāl (storyteller) of Shahnameh
====Iran==== {{Main|Persian theatre}}
In Iran there are other forms of theatrical events such as ''naqqali'' (story telling), ''ta'ziyeh'', ''ru-howzi'', ''siyah-bazi'', ''parde-khani'', and ''ma'rekeh-giri''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daniel |first=Elton L. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Culture_and_Customs_of_Iran/pbTOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Iran+naqqali+ru-howzi&pg=PA93&printsec=frontcover |title=Culture and Customs of Iran |last2=Mahdi |first2=Ali Akbar |date=2006-10-30 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-06043-4 |language=en}}</ref> Prior to the twentieth century, storytelling was the most recognized form of entertainment, although today, some forms still remain. One form, ''Naghali,'' was traditionally performed in coffeehouses where the storytellers, or ''Naghals (Naqqāls),'' only recited sections of a story at a time, thus retaining regular cliental. These stories were based on events of historical or religious importance and many referenced poetries from the Shahnameh. These stories were often altered to bond with the atmosphere or mood of the audience.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Talebi |first1=Niloufar |title='Memory of a Phoenix Feather': Iranian Storytelling Traditions and Contemporary Theater |journal=World Literature Today |date=2009 |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=49–53 |id={{Gale|A203229174}} {{Project MUSE|843278}} {{ProQuest|209398361}} |doi=10.1353/wlt.2009.0306 |s2cid=160657511 }}</ref>
====India==== {{main|Theatre in India||Sanskrit drama}}
[[File:Bharatanatyam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in the state of Tamil Nadu.jpg|thumb|left|Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu]] [[File:Gotikua dance.jpg|thumb|left|Gotikua folk dance is one of the well known performances performed by all boys group dressed in the Indian ladies attire Saree.]] Classical dance forms Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and Sattriya are each associated with distinct regional traditions, embodied philosophies, and revival histories.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pine |first=Adam M. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Geographies_of_Dance/jzOAEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bharatanatyam,+Kathak,+Odissi,+Manipuri,+Kuchipudi,+Kathakali&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover |title=Geographies of Dance: Body, Movement, and Corporeal Negotiations |last2=Kuhlke |first2=Olaf |date=2013-12-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-20717-7 |language=en}}</ref> Kerala's Koodiyattam is among the oldest surviving theatrical traditions and UNESCO declared it a masterpiece of human heritage in 2001.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhaskaran |first=Gautaman |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Adoor_Gopalakrishnan/yP_V35zPgb0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=UNESCO+%22Koodiyattam%22&pg=PT103&printsec=frontcover |title=Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Life in Cinema |date=2017-04-17 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-268-7 |language=en}}</ref>
Folk theatre in India combines elements such as music, dance, pantomime, poetry, storytelling, visual arts, religion, and festivals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chakraborty |first=Kaustav |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Queer_Provincialism/QTFmEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Folk+theatre+India+music+dance&pg=PA113&printsec=frontcover |title=Queer Provincialism: Narratives and Resilience of Rural India |last2=Roy |first2=Himadri |date=2025-06-16 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-96-5743-8 |language=en}}</ref> Bollywood, the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry, has since the mid-20th century synthesized dance, music, and theatre<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rommen |first=Timothy |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Excursions_in_World_Music/XOH7DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bollywood++dance,+music,+theatre&pg=PA39&printsec=frontcover |title=Excursions in World Music |last2=Nettl |first2=Bruno |date=2020-09-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-78294-7 |language=en}}</ref> into one of the world's most prolific and influential entertainment industries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mogul |first=Jessie Yeung, Rhea |date=2024-05-18 |title=Bollywood’s ‘tidal change’: The influence of India’s far-right on the world’s largest film industry |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/17/style/india-elections-bollywood-modi-bjp-influence-intl-hnk-dst |access-date=2026-04-19 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>
====China==== {{main|Theatre of China}}
thumb|upright=.8|Hand shadow drama, China
There are references to theatrical entertainments in China as early as 1500 BC during the Shang dynasty; they often involved music, clowning and acrobatic displays.<ref name="McConachie Sorgenfrei Underiner Nellhaus 2016 p. 153">{{cite book | last1=McConachie | first1=B. | last2=Sorgenfrei | first2=C.F. | last3=Underiner | first3=T. | last4=Nellhaus | first4=T. | title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-135-04113-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMmjCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 | access-date=29 Jun 2023 | page=153 | archive-date=29 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629202618/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZMmjCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 | url-status=live }}</ref>
During the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang formed an acting school known as the Children of the Pear Garden to produce a form of drama that was primarily musical.<ref name="McConachie Sorgenfrei Underiner Nellhaus 2016 p. 153"/>
In the Song dynasty, there were many popular plays involving acrobatics and music. These developed in the Yuan dynasty into a more sophisticated form with a four- or five-act structure. Yuan drama spread across China and diversified into numerous regional forms, the best known of which is Beijing Opera, which is still popular today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=James |date=2022-09-28 |title=The origins of Peking Opera |url=https://thechinaproject.com/2022/09/28/the-origins-of-peking-opera/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=The China Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
====Thailand==== {{further|Ramakien}} [[File:WatPhraKeaw Ramayana Chariot.JPG|thumb|Hanuman on his chariot, a scene from the Ramakien in Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok]]
In Thailand, it has been a tradition from the Middle Ages to stage plays based on plots drawn from Indian epics. In particular, the theatrical version of Thailand's national epic ''Ramakien'', a version of the Indian ''Ramayana'', remains popular in Thailand even today.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2006-07-31 |title=‘Ramakien’: Thai Rock at the Lincoln Center Festival |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/arts/music/31rama.html |access-date=2026-04-20 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
====Japan==== thumb|right|Kabuki play [[File:Performance 1 (in Kagoshima).jpg|thumb|right|Performance in Kagoshima]] {{main|Noh|Bunraku|Kabuki|Butoh}}
Japan has produced several distinct and sophisticated theatrical forms. During the 14th century, Kan'ami and his son Zeami Motokiyo developed Noh theatre under the patronage of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goff |first=Janet |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Noh_Drama_and_The_Tale_of_the_Genji/JiYABAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kan'ami+Zeami+%22Noh%22+Ashikaga+Yoshimitsu&pg=PA35&printsec=frontcover |title=Noh Drama and The Tale of the Genji: The Art of Allusion in Fifteen Classical Plays |date=2014-07-14 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6181-1 |pages=35 |language=en}}</ref> combining masked performance, chanting, instrumental music, and stylized drama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whelan |first=Gloria |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/K_is_for_Kabuki_A_Japan_Alphabet/u7i2DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Noh+mask+chant,+instrument&pg=PA8&printsec=frontcover |title=K is for Kabuki: A Japan Alphabet |date=2016-08-01 |publisher=Weigl Publishers |isbn=978-1-4896-5214-0 |language=en}}</ref> Noh aesthetics, according to Zeami, include yugen or "refined elegance."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deal |first=William E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbook_to_Life_in_Medieval_and_Early_M/i0ni1NmbYe0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Noh+refined&pg=PA273&printsec=frontcover |title=Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533126-4 |pages=273 |language=en}}</ref>
Bunraku is a form of puppet theatre developed in the 17th century, associated with playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Dennis |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Theatre_and_Perf/xXCcAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bunraku+Chikamatsu+Monzaemon&pg=PA114&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance |date=2010-08-26 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957419-3 |language=en}}</ref> It uses large puppets operated by visible puppeteers, with chanting and shamisen accompaniment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deal |first=William E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbook_to_Life_in_Medieval_and_Early_M/i0ni1NmbYe0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Bunraku%22+puppets+visible+shamisen&pg=PA281&printsec=frontcover |title=Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533126-4 |language=en}}</ref>
Kabuki, which began shortly after Bunraku, is a more accessible form incorporating elaborate costumes, makeup, and stage mechanisms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Melis |first=Alessandro |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Design_for_Performative_Arts_Spaces/PrOPEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kabuki+elaborate+costumes+makeup+stage&pg=PA47&printsec=frontcover |title=Design for Performative Arts Spaces: Historical Evolution, Cultural Context, and Future Opportunities |last2=Pelle |first2=Marco |date=2025-10-15 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-98215-6 |language=en}}</ref> Originally performed by women, kabuki companies became all-male; onnagata developed specialized techniques for female representation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggerty |first=George |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Lesbian_and_Gay_Historie/JwB5AgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=women+kabuki+all-male+late+17th+century&pg=PA785&printsec=frontcover |title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures |last2=Zimmerman |first2=Bonnie |date=2003-09-02 |publisher=Garland Science |isbn=978-1-135-57871-8 |language=en}}</ref> Noh, Bunraku, and Kabuki are recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Sheila |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Museum_Studies_Approach_to_Heritage/nltxDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Noh+Bunraku+Kabuki+UNESCO&pg=RA1-PA2018&printsec=frontcover |title=A Museum Studies Approach to Heritage |last2=Barnes |first2=Amy Jane |last3=Bunning |first3=Katy |date=2018-10-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-36130-5 |language=en}}</ref>
===Americas=== In the Pre-Columbian era, indigenous civilizations of the Americas had established performing arts traditions, before the arrival of Europeans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muckle |first=Robert J. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indigenous_Peoples_of_North_America/hlzjMVMTsKAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22indigenous%22+Americas+performing+%22arts%22+traditions&pg=PA82&printsec=frontcover |title=Indigenous Peoples of North America: A Concise Anthropological Overview |date=2012-02-16 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-0416-2 |language=en}}</ref> These included Aztec and Maya rituals and ceremonies, which often involved elaborate dances, music, and theatrical performances.<ref>Kurath, Gertrude P. "Dance and Song Rituals of Six Nations Reserve, Ontario." Ethnomusicology 3, no. 1 (1959): 1-24.</ref>
Among the Mexica (Aztecs) of central Mexico, performance served as social integration involving a religious element.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zarrilli |first=Phillip B. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Theatre_Histories/pY07LUcJY-cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Aztec+Mexica+performance+religious&pg=PA65&printsec=frontcover |title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction |date=2010 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-46223-5 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref> The tonalpohualli ritual calendar marked important dates with ceremonies involving dancers, singers, and musicians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colín |first=E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indigenous_Education_through_Dance_and_C/pGeoBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22tonalpohualli%22+ceremonies+dances&pg=PT190&printsec=frontcover |title=Indigenous Education through Dance and Ceremony: A Mexica Palimpsest |date=2014-09-04 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-35361-0 |language=en}}</ref> The huehuetlatolli or "speech of the elders" passed down oratorical performance through generations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lockhart |first=James |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nahuas_and_Spaniards/p7OfAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Huehuetlatolli+oratorical+generations&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover |title=Nahuas and Spaniards: Postconquest Central Mexican History and Philology |date=1991 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-1954-4 |language=en}}</ref> Public ceremonies in the Templo Mayor courtyard could involve thousands of dancers in concentric rings accompanied by drums, flutes, and rattles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Diel |first=Lori Boornazian |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Aztec_Codices/w3rCEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ceremonies+Templo+Mayor+thousands+concentric&pg=PT350&printsec=frontcover |title=Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life |date=2020-03-26 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-05101-5 |language=en}}</ref>
The Incan rituals and festivals also featured music, dances, and theatrical representations of myths and legends.<ref>Salomon, Frank, and George L. Urioste, eds. The Huarochiri Manuscript: A Testament of Ancient and Colonial Andean Religion. University of Texas Press, 2015.</ref> Northwest Coast cultures, such as the Haida, Tlingit, and Kwakwaka'wakw, had traditions of storytelling, mask carving, and ceremonial dances.<ref>Jonaitis, Aldona. "Dances with Masks." In Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A Traveling Exhibition, edited by Aldona Jonaitis, 57–73. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995.</ref> In the potlatch, Kwakwaka'wakw masks can be opened to reveal an animal mask in dramatic transformations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Voss |first=Christiane |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Anthropologies_of_Entanglements/dpDGEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kwakwaka'wakw+potlatch+shapeshift+animal&pg=PA209&printsec=frontcover |title=Anthropologies of Entanglements: Media and Modes of Existence |last2=Engell |first2=Lorenz |last3=Othold |first3=Tim |date=2023-08-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-7512-5 |pages=209 |language=en}}</ref> [[File:Kwakwaka'wakw_transformation_mask.jpg|thumb|"Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw transformation mask".]]The colonial period brought a fusion of European and indigenous cultural influences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kopstein |first=Jeffrey |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Comparative_Politics/zXjsAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=colonial+fusion+european+indigenous+culture&pg=PA330&printsec=frontcover |title=Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order |last2=Lichbach |first2=Mark |last3=Hanson |first3=Stephen E. |date=2014-07-21 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-13574-0 |language=en}}</ref> The Spanish and French wrote and staged theatrical productions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilmeth |first=Don B. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_History_of_American_Theatr/HALg37VfRRMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Spanish,+French,+British+colonizers+%22theatrical%22&pg=PA218&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cambridge History of American Theatre |last2=Bigsby |first2=C. W. E. |date=1998-02-28 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47204-3 |language=en}}</ref> Indigenous peoples incorporated elements of their traditional performing arts into colonial-era productions.<ref>Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo. Life and Death in the Templo Mayor. University Press of Colorado, 2018.</ref>
== Industry, funding, and institutions == The performing arts distinguish between commercial economic models for popular music and primarily nonprofit models for organizations like orchestras and ballet companies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baskerville |first=David |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Music_Business_Handbook_and_Career_Guide/tJucEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22performing+arts%22+theatre,+music+concerts+film+%22profit%22&pg=PT280&printsec=frontcover |title=Music Business Handbook and Career Guide |last2=Baskerville |first2=Tim |last3=Elton |first3=Serona |date=2022-11-16 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-0718-5423-5 |pages= |language=en}}</ref> Music labels profit from concert ticket sales, merchandise, music publishing, and endorsements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Angela |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/So_You_Want_to_Join_the_Music_Industry/fhzwDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=profit&pg=PT10&printsec=frontcover |title=So You Want to Join the Music Industry: Here's the Info You Need |date=2017-01-19 |publisher=Atlantic Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-62023-204-0 |language=en}}</ref> At the other end, orchestras in Europe receive relatively generous public subsidies, and in the United States rely on a mix of ticket sales, state and municipal support, grants, and philanthropy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herman |first=Arne |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Orchestra_Management/Vr1zEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=classical+music+rely+subsidy+philanthropy&pg=PT2&printsec=frontcover |title=Orchestra Management: Models and Repertoires for the Symphony Orchestra |date=2022-08-01 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-62694-0 |language=en}}</ref>
Training institutions transmit performing arts practice. Conservatories have a vocational focus with high for standards for performance, professionalism, and artistry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dogantan-Dack |first=Mine |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Artistic_Practice_as_Research_in_Music_T/NWKrCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=conservatoires+train+specialist+musician+university+academic&pg=PT1&printsec=frontcover |title=Artistic Practice as Research in Music: Theory, Criticism, Practice |date=2016-03-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-17820-0 |language=en}}</ref> Universities combine artistic practice with academic study.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stévance |first=Sophie |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Research_Creation_in_Music_and_the_Arts/JNZCDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22university%22+music+combine+practice+%22academic%22+study&pg=PT125&printsec=frontcover |title=Research-Creation in Music and the Arts: Towards a Collaborative Interdiscipline |last2=Lacasse |first2=Serge |date=2017-12-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-06561-6 |language=en}}</ref> In non-Western traditions, knowledge in particular styles are transmitted across generations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Dennis |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Theatre_and_Perf/xXCcAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=non-Western+performance+family+lineages&pg=PA6&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance |date=2010-08-26 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957419-3 |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref> The question of who has access to arts education bears on the diversity of the performing arts workforce.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stein |first=Tobie S. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Racial_and_Ethnic_Diversity_in_the_Perfo/DuK5DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=performing+arts+training+who+access+diversity&pg=PT139&printsec=frontcover |title=Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Performing Arts Workforce |date=2019-10-28 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-28263-1 |language=en}}</ref>
Performing arts venues range from purpose-built opera houses to open-air amphitheaters to digital spaces. The architectural design of venues shape the performances held within them, influencing acoustics and audience interaction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Melis |first=Alessandro |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Design_for_Performative_Arts_Spaces/PrOPEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=arts+acoustics+performance+space+shape+performance&pg=PA42&printsec=frontcover |title=Design for Performative Arts Spaces: Historical Evolution, Cultural Context, and Future Opportunities |last2=Pelle |first2=Marco |date=2025-10-15 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-98215-6 |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref> Building flexible performing arts facilities allows a mix of programming to attract audiences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lambert |first=Patricia |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Performing_Arts_Center_Management/z2Z4DQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=purpose-built+concert+hall+black-box+theatre&pg=PT103&printsec=frontcover |title=Performing Arts Center Management |last2=Williams |first2=Robyn |date=2016-11-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-52587-7 |language=en}}</ref>
== Digital technology and contemporary practice == Digital technology has transformed how art is created and distributed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thuy |first=Anh, Trinh |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fusing_Art_and_Technology_Co_Creating_Fu/ucODEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22digital+technology%22+transformed+%22performing+arts%22+rehearse+distribute&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover |title=Fusing Art and Technology: Co-Creating Futures for New Generations: Co-Creating Futures for New Generations |date=2025-08-29 |publisher=IGI Global |isbn=979-8-3693-7612-6 |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref> In multimedia work, motion capture combines actor movement with sound and video to expand the possibilities, even allowing interactive installations blurring the line between audience and performer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shumaker |first=Randall |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Virtual_Augmented_and_Mixed_Reality_Appl/xBe6BQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=performance+projection+mapping+motion+capture+augmented+reality+composer&pg=PA181&printsec=frontcover |title=Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality: Applications of Virtual and Augmented Reality: 6th International Conference, VAMR 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, June 22-27, 2014, Proceedings, Part II |last2=Stephanie |first2=Lackey |date=2014-06-06 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-07464-1 |pages=181 |language=en}}</ref> Sound design envelops audiences in three-dimensional sonic spatiality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Ross |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sound_A_Reader_in_Theatre_Practice/fSJHEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=performance+%22sound+design%22+%22spatial%22+three-dimensional+patterns&pg=PA181&printsec=frontcover |title=Sound: A Reader in Theatre Practice |date=2009-11-27 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-21765-3 |pages=181 |language=en}}</ref> The relationship between live performance and digital mediation has evolved with technology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNeilly |first=Jodie |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Performance_and_Temporalisation/RUITBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22live+performance%22+%22digital+mediation%22&pg=RA1-PT101&printsec=frontcover |title=Performance and Temporalisation: Time Happens |last2=Veerapen |first2=Maeva |date=2015-02-22 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-41027-6 |language=en}}</ref>
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated experimentation with digital formats in maintaining engagement with audiences. Challenges included unequal access to the internet and the autonomy of viewer attention. Digital formats can attract a public that would not otherwise be able to attend due to location, schedule, or other commitments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gullö |first=Jan-Olof |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Innovation_in_Music_Adjusting_Perspectiv/UUMzEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pandemic+performance+formats+connection+audiences&pg=PA75&printsec=frontcover |title=Innovation in Music: Adjusting Perspectives |last2=Hepworth-Sawyer |first2=Russ |last3=Hook |first3=Dave |last4=Marrington |first4=Mark |last5=Paterson |first5=Justin |last6=Toulson |first6=Rob |date=2024-12-30 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-040-18604-6 |pages=75 |language=en}}</ref> The longer-term economics of live performance continue to evolve.
==See also== {{portal|Arts}} * Entertainment * Mixed martial arts * Outline of performing arts * Performing arts education * Performing arts presenters * United States copyright law in the performing arts * Persian theatre * Theatre of Japan * Western culture
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{commonscat-inline}} {{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=no |others=no |about=yes |label=Performing arts }} * [http://asia-perfo-arts.com/ Bibliography of Performing Arts in the East] * [http://www.eclap.eu/ European Collected Library on Performing Arts]
{{Humanities}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Performing arts Category:Entertainment