Performing Arts

What are the Performing Arts?

The Performing Arts exist to entertain people in an audience.  The primary performing arts involve artists like dancers, actors, and musicians performing for an audience of any size or age. There are numerous variations within each pursuit.  Dancers may perform specific routines that have been designed by choreographers, or they may do a free modern dance, reacting to the music or other stimuli.  Actors act-out life situations to entertain and sometimes to teach.  Musicians and singers create artistic sounds to appeal to a wide range of listeners in various settings. There are wide variations in all of the performing arts, with some performers contorting their bodies or faces to create strange effects while others use unusual objects to create different sounds and melodies – all with the objective of entertainment.

In addition to the performing artists themselves, there are those in the field who are ancillaries who teach the skills of performing and who develop the theories that guide the creation of the plans for the performance.  In dancing there are the dance teachers and choreographers; in acting there are the drama teachers and the playwrights; and in music there are the music teachers, conductors, and composers.

Are you involved right now in one of the performing arts?  Do you play a musical instrument or sing?  Do you write country-western songs in your spare time?  Have you worked behind the scenes on one of your school plays or even played a lead role? When you hear music, do you automatically tap out the beat and want to get up and dance? There are many opportunities in this field, but to become a famous artist takes a lot of talent, time, and effort.  Even though only a limited few ever achieve great fame and fortune, many people have lived exciting, fulfilling lives just being connected to the Performing Arts in some way through support positions.

WHAT DEGREES RELATE TO CAREERS IN THE PERFORMING ARTS?