PERFORMING ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS - are art forms in which artists use their voices and/or the
movements of their bodies, often in relation to other objects, to convey artistic
expression - as opposed to, for example, purely visual arts, in which artists use
paint/canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing
arts include a variety of disciplines but all are intended to be performed in front of a
live audience. Examples include the following: dance, music, opera, drama, magic,
spoken word, circus arts. recitation and public speaking.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERFORMING ARTS
1. Movement through time and space
2. Requires interpreters as well as creators
• A playwright writes a play, but actors and actresses perform it
• Composer writes a piece of music which singers and instrumentalists
will perform
• Choreographer develops a belief which dancers will interpret
3. Requires an audience
• To have an interaction between the audience and performers

THEATER/THEATRE
- From Latin theātrum, from Greek theātron, base of theāsthai which means to
watch, from theā, a viewing or “seeing place”. A place where something is seen,
something is done. An action is witnessed denotes:
1. A building in which theatrical performance take place – a physical space.
2. An art form
3. A discipline

THE THEATRE BUILDING

It is a place to act and a place to watch. And when there’s a text for the
performance, it is a place to hear as well as to watch.

THEATRE
• Denotes the elements of the whole
theatrical production (architecture,
scenery, acting design, advertising,
marketing, and so on)
• Can mean a building
• The hardware
• That which is “seen”
DRAMA
• More limited term, tends to refer
mainly to the plays and to dramatic
texts (or dramatic literature) produced
in such a “theatrical” environment.
• Can’t be a building
• The software
• That which “is done”

THEATRE AS AN ART FORM

• A mirror or reflection of life; an abstraction or a projection of what we live, think,
and feel.
• Modes of expression
TALENTS OF THEATER
1. Performers –people onstage presents characters in dramatic action (performance)
Acting is a demanding profession
 • requires considerable crafts and skills
• learn to use both voice and body with flexibility and control
• must be able to create believability, or the emotional truth of the characters
they portray
2. Audience
• The essence of theater is the interaction between the performer and audience
• Critic – one audience member who is not essential to the theater experience,
but who can enhance it for other audience members
• Can provide criteria by which audiences can judge production and can offer
helpful information about the playwright, the plot, theater history, and other
important subjects.
3. Director – the person who rehearses the performers and coordinates their actions
to make certain actions that they interpret the text well.
- His work is the key element of a theater production.
4. Theater Space – a space in which performers and audiences come together.
5. Design Elements – the design aspects of a production- includes visual aspects-
costumes, lighting, scenery, and sound
6. Text that is performed – this is a story, an incident, or an event that has been put
into dramatic form by a playwright.
• It is a dramatic story in a written form.
• Script –is the form
• Must have a structure, a focus, and a point of view
OCCUPATION OF THEATRE
- Theatre as occupation has different aspects that deserve individual attention.

WORK – the work of theatre is hard work. It is generally divisible into a number of
crafts.
• Producing- includes securing all necessary personnel, space, and financing,
supervising all production and promotional efforts; fielding all legal matters; and
distributing all proceeds derived from receipts.
• Directing – includes controlling and developing the artistic product and providing it
with a unified vision, coordinating all its components, and supervising all
rehearsals.
• Acting – actors perform the roles of characters in a play.
• Designing – designers map out the visual and audio elements of a production,
including the scenery, properties, costumes and wigs, make-up, lighting, sound
concepts, programs, advertising, and general ambience of the premises.
• Building – carpenters, costumers, wigmakers, electrician make-up artists,
recording and sound engineers, painters, and a host of other specially designated
craftspeople translate the design into reality by constructing and finishing in detail
the “hardware” of a show.
• Crewing – in which technicians execute in proper sequence and with carefully
rehearsed timing the light and sound cues and the shifting of scenery, as well as
oversee the placement and return of properties and the assignment, laundering,
repair, and changes of costumes.
• Stage Managing – includes the responsibility for “running” a play production in all
its complexity in performance after the performance.
• House Managing – includes the responsibility for admitting, seating, and providing
for the general comfort at the audience.
• Playwriting – it is in a class by itself.

THE THEATRE AUDIENCE

• From the Latin word audientia which means “those who hear”
• The presence of an audience is an essential element in live theatre performance.
Just as no two performances the same production are ever exactly alike, no two
audiences are identical. Each audience is composed of a different kind of people,
with varied ages, educational background, and occupation.
The role of the audience is crucial to a theatre event because of the importance of
the performer-audience relationship. They complete the electrical circuit that provides the
immediacy and excitement of a live theatre performance.
1. Management audience – members come mostly from similar backgrounds and
experiences.
Example: A university theatre production in which the audience consist primarily
of student, faculty members, and friends.
2. Heterogeneous Audience – here you will find people of many ethnics and social
backgrounds and of all ages.
Example: Spectators at free performances in the Concert at the Park.
3. Broadway theatre or downtown theatre in any large city – members would be
mostly middle and upper-class but might include children, students, or foreign
visitors.
Example: The Miss Saigon on Broadway.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATES
- Audiences participate vicariously through the mind and the heart.
- Through imagination, we come to believe in the reality of what we see onstage
and to identify with the characters.

THEATRE CRITIC
- Someone who observes theatre and then analyzes and comments on it.
- Considered a special type of audience member.
- Stands between the theatre even and the audience, serving in ideal
circumstances as a knowledgeable and highly sensitive audience member.
What is criticism?
The word criticize has at least two meanings:
1. “ to find fault ” 2. “ to understand and appraise

Types of criticism:
1. Descriptive 2. Prescriptive
Critics and Reviewers
 REVIEWER
• Usually works for a newspaper, a magazine,
or a television station and reports on what
has occurred at a theater event.
• He/She explains briefly what the theater is
about. Describing the plot and stating whether
it is musical, a comedy, or a serious play.
• Will generally add an opinion whether or not
the event was done well and worth seeing
• Most instances, they are restricted by time or
space
CRITIC
• Goes to greater detail in describing and
analyzing theater events
• Has time and space to do so
• Generally publish their analyses in magazines
and scholarly journals
• At times, they go beyond articles and essays
to write books about playwrights, plays, or
theatrical movements.
• Attempts to put a playwright or a group of
plays into the larger context of theater history
and into the broad framework of the arts and
society
• Ideally, should have a thorough grounding in
the history of theater, its elements, and the
nature of acting and performing.

What is Music?
Music is the art of arranging sound. It consists of tones and silences arranged together to produce a
sound that conveys the composer’s ideas and emotions.
SOUND is the essential material in music that touches our senses. All sounds are produced by
VIBRATIONS. Thus, when the vibration is regular, it produces tones or musical sounds. When it is
irregular, noise is produced.

Four qualities of SOUND

1. TIMBRE is the quality which enables us to distinguish one sound from another.
Examples: Violin has a different tone quality from a flute or a piano; the voice of a man from that of a
woman

2. PITCH refers to the highness or lowness of a tone.

3. DURATION is a quality that describes how long a sound is heard or the length of time a sound is
spent.

4. INTENSITY is the quality that provides the loudness and softness of the sound.

Terms used by musicians to indicate intensity:

∞ FORTE > loudly
∞ FORTISSIMO > very loudly
∞ PIANO > softly
∞ PIANISSIMO > very softly
∞ CRESCENDO > becoming louder
∞ DECRESCENDO > becoming less loud
∞ DIMINUENDO > becoming softer

Musical terms which denote tempo

∞ PRESTO > very fast
∞ ALLEGRO > fast
∞ MODERATO > moderately speed
∞ ANDANTE > moderately slow
∞ ADAGLO > slow
∞ LAUGO > very slow