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Performing Arts
The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts
insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face and presence as a medium,
and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded
or transformed to create some art object. Performing arts include the
acrobatics, busking, comedy, dance, magic, music, opera, film, juggling,
marching arts, such as brass bands, theatre, and circus arts. Artists who
participate in these arts in front of an audience are called performers,
including actors, comedians, dancers, musicians, and singers. Performing arts
are also supported by workers in related fields, such as songwriting and
stagecraft. Performers often adapt their appearance, such as with costumes and
stage makeup, etc. There is also a specialized form of fine art in which the
artists perform their work live to an audience. This is called Performance art.
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.
Starting in the 6th century BC, the Classical period of performing art began in
Greece, ushered in by the tragic poets such as Sophocles. These poets wrote
plays which, in some cases, incorporated dance (see Euripides). The Hellenistic
period began the widespread use of comedy. However, by the 6th century AD,
Western performing arts had been largely ended, as the Dark Ages began. Between
the 9th century and 14th century, performing art in the West was limited to
religious historical enactments and morality plays, organized by the Church in
celebration of holy days and other important events.The introduction of the
proscenium arch in Italy during the 17th century established the traditional
theater form that persists to this day. Meanwhile, in England, the Puritans
forbid acting, bringing a halt to performing arts which lasted until 1660. After
this period, women began to appear in both French and English plays. The French
introduced a formal dance instruction in the late 17th century. It is also
during this time that the first plays are performed in the American Colonies.
During the 18th century the introduction of the popular opera buffa brought
opera to the masses as an accessible form of performance. Mozart's The Marriage
of Figaro and Don Giovanni are landmarks of the late 18th century opera.
At the turn of the 19th century Beethoven and the Romantic movement ushered in a
new era that lead first to the spectacles of grand opera and then to the great
musical dramas of Giuseppe Verdi and the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) of
the operas of Richard Wagner leading directly to the music of the 20th century.
The 19th century was a period of growth for the performing arts for all social
classes, the technical introduction of gaslight to theaters in the United
States, burlesque (a British import that became popular in the U.S.), minstrel
dancing, and variety theater. In ballet, women make great progress in the
previously male-dominated art.
Modern dance began in the late 19th century and early 20th century in response
to the restrictions of traditional ballet. Konstantin Stanislavski's "System"
revolutionized acting in the early 20th century, and continues to have a major
influence on actors of stage and screen to the current day. Both impressionism
and modern realism were introduced to the stage during this period. With the
invention of the motion picture in the late 19th century by Thomas Edison, and
the growth of the motion picture industry in Hollywood in the early 20th
century, film became a dominant performance medium throughout the 20th and 21st
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