The performing arts include theatre, motion pictures, drama, comedy, music, opera, dance, acrobatics, magic, juggling, busking and the marching arts, such as brass bands, etc. Artists who participate in these arts are called performers, including actors, comedians, singers, dancers, and musicians.

Types of performing arts

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There is also a specialized form of fine art in which the artist performs his or her work live to an audience. This is called Performance art.

The performing arts differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face and/or presence as a medium while the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some art object. Of course, most performance art also involves some form of plastic art, perhaps in the creation of props. Dance was often referred to as a plastic art during the Modern dance era.

More on [ Performing arts ]

NPR Topics: Performing Arts

'Mortified': Step 1, Exhume Your Past; Step 2, Share With All
Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400
In the storytelling series Mortified, performers dig through old diaries and love notes to find a glimpse of their ridiculous, self-centered, pathetic and comical adolescent lives. Then they get onstage and share it with an audience of complete strangers.
Antoine Dodson: Riding YouTube Out Of The 'Hood'
Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0400
Antoine Dodson of Huntsville, Ala., found overnight stardom after he appeared on a local news report to talk about the alleged attempted assault of his sister. The video of his remarks has scored millions of hits on YouTube, and so has a song that's based on his story. Dodson reflects on the attempted assault, and his own efforts to capitalize on his fame.
'Superclogger': Free Theater On L.A.'s Freeways
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:25:00 -0400
Avenue Q, meet the 405: Artist Joel Kyack's performance piece Superclogger takes to the traffic-snarled roadways of Los Angeles, taking advantage of stopped traffic to explore how we deal with the unexpected.

Culture: Culture Vulture | guardian.co.uk

A Christmas Carol | Theatre review
Elisabeth Mahoney Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:05:00 -0000
Sherman Cymru, CardiffThe Sherman's festive shows are always a treat, but Gary Owen's new version of A Christmas Carol is an impressive adaptation for our times. Best of all, the modern touches – references to MPs' expenses, hedge funds and the war in Afghanistan – are subtly done in a production that streamlines and updates the original for a younger audience while keeping its moral core intact.This is a rousing family show, with belly laughs and cheering songs, yet it also presents the dark side of Dickens's tale with tremendous boldness. The depiction of Christmas Future, in which feral children terrorise a house-bound Scrooge, is bleak enough to make us all want to mend our ways.Owen doesn't linger over evidence of Scrooge's miserly, wicked behaviour, opting instead to focus on what brutalised him. The workhouse, a terrifying black mill in Patrick Burnier's stark design, is always quite literally in the background. Director Amy Hodge has, in Mark Frost, opted for a younger Scrooge and this works: he is portrayed as a single-minded, workaholic entrepreneur, the kind who makes the decisions on Dragons' Den.The ghosts are a mix of spectral forms and beasts, from sci-fi nightmares to Simon Nehan's majestically camp performance as Christmas Present, who was played somewhere between an annoying Big Brother contestant and a drag version of Gavin and Stacey's Nessa. There are lots of contemporary references and echoes – the interval is playfully handled like the dramatic hook at the end of a soap opera – but the production, which is boisterous and thoughtful in equal measure, retains a Victorian sternness. Some adaptations ditch this, and others are hemmed in by it; this hugely likable show is confident enough to work with that, and meld it with our world.Rating: 4/5TheatreCharles DickensChristmasElisabeth Mahoneyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Win tickets to a Soulmates screening
Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:10:23 -0000
Win tickets to a Soulmates (500) Days of Summer screening
And that's a wrap...
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:47:01 -0000
The Guardian Unlimited Music team is home or on its way home. For a round-up of the weekend, visit our Glastonbury special report. For all the reviews from this weekend - the Who and the Kaiser Chiefs have been added, with more to come - click here. And for all the music blog posts - new ones by Jack Penate and the Rakes have been added - visit the music blog.Oh, and here's editor Alan Rusbridger's Flickr set of the National Youth Orchestra. Everyone pitches in during Glastonbury here.Glastonbury festivalGlastonbury 2007Festivalsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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