Skip to main content
Social Sci LibreTexts

6.1: Selected Reading

  • Page ID
    88776
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    SELECTED READING

    Performing arts are a form of art in which artists use their voices or bodies, often in relation to other objects, to convey artistic expression. Performing arts can help explain our emotions, expressions, and feelings (Oliver, 2010). It is different from visual arts, which is when artists use paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing arts include several disciplines, each performed in front of a live audience. 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. Artists who participate in performing arts in front of an audience are called performers. Examples of these include actors, comedians, dancers, magicians, circus artists, musicians, and singers. Performing arts are also supported by workers in related fields, such as songwriting, choreography and stagecraft. Performers often adapt their appearance, such as with costumes and stage makeup, stage lighting, and sound. Theatre, music, dance, and other types of performances are present in all human cultures. The history of music and dance date to pre-historic times. More refined versions, such as ballet, opera performed professionally.

    Types of Performing Arts

    Theater/Children's Theater

    Theater is the branch of performing arts that is concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience, using a combination of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle (Figure 6.1). In addition to the standard narrative dialogue style of plays. Theatre takes such forms as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, illusion, mime, improvisational theatre, comedy, magic, pantomime, etc.

    Theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers, typically actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience (Carlson, 1986). The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theater" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing") itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

    Children's theater is formal children’s performances. It includes organizations that are dedicated to children and theater. Children’s theater focuses on performing arts types such as plays, puppet shows, etc., that are intended for a young audience. Children’s theater also includes the audiences and buildings that are dedicated to children's theater.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 11.57.11 AM.png
    Figure 6.1.1: Public Performance in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Open Air Theatre

    Dance

    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 (Figure 6.2). Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet (Mackrell, n.d.; Figure 6.3).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 11.57.51 AM.png
    Figure 6.1.2: Dance a Type of Performing Art Practiced All Over the World
    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.04.15 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.3: Ballet

    There is one another modern form of dance that emerged in 19th-20th century with the name of Free-Dance style. This form of dance was structured to create a harmonious personality which included features such as physical and spiritual freedom. Isadora Duncan was the first female dancer who argued about “woman of future” and developed novel vector of choreography using Nietzsche’s idea of “supreme mind in free mind” (Nana, 2015, p. 65). Dance is a powerful impulse, but the art of dance is that impulse channeled by skillful performers into something that becomes intensely expressive and that may delight spectators who feel no wish to dance themselves. These two concepts of the art of dance-dance as a powerful impulse and dance as a skillfully choreographed art (choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who practices this art is called a choreographer) practiced largely by a professional few-are the two most important connecting ideas running through any consideration of the subject. In dance, the connection between the two concepts is stronger than in some other arts, and neither can exist without the other (Mackrell, n.d.).

    Music

    Music is an art form which combines pitch, rhythm, and dynamic in order to create sound. It can be performed using a variety of instruments and styles and is divided into genres such as classical music, art music, music for religious ceremonies, 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. As music is a protean art, it easily coordinates with words for songs as physical movements do in dance. Moreover, it has a capability of shaping human behaviors as it impacts our emotions (Epperson, n.d.). However, the creation, performance, significance of music can vary according to culture and social context. Music creation and performance can range from strictly organized compositions-such as classical music symphonies from the 1700s and 1800s, through to spontaneously played improvisational music such as jazz, and contemporary music from the 20th and 21st centuries.

    Acrobatics

    Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination (Figure 6.4). It can be found in many of the performing arts, sports (sporting) events, and martial arts. Acrobatics is most often associated with activities that make extensive use of gymnastic elements, such as acro dance, circus, and gymnastics, but many other athletic activities-such as ballet and diving-may also employ acrobatics. Although acrobatics is most commonly associated with human body performance, it may also apply to other types of performance, such as aerobatics.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.05.05 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.4: Chinese Acrobat in Midair

    Figure 6.1.4 The picture shows the acrobat performers in the middle of air after being propelled off a springboard, China, 1987.

    Ballet

    Ballet is a type of performance dance (Figure 6.5) that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread, highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary based on French terminology. It has been globally influential and has defined the foundational techniques used in many other dance genres and cultures. Ballet has been taught in various schools around the world, which have historically incorporated their own cultures to evolve the art.

    Figure 6.1.5: Ballerina

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.05.42 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.5: Ballerina

    Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language (Glossary of Ballet, n.d.). Ballet vocabulary words examples are below:

    Allegro. Brisk, lively motion. 1. An attribute of many movements, including those in which a dancer is airborne (e.g., assemblé, changement, entrechat, sauté, sissonne, soubresaut). 2. Used in ballet to refer to all jumps, regardless of tempo. 3. A category of exercises found in a traditional ballet class, e.g. petit allegro (small, generally fast jumps) and grand allegro (large, generally slower jumps).

    Assemblé. A jump that lands on two feet. When initiated from two feet, the working leg performs a battement glissé/dégagé, brushing out. The dancer launches into a jump, with the second foot then meeting the first foot before landing. A petit assemblé is when a dancer is standing on one foot with the other extended. The dancer then does a small jump to meet the first foot.

    Attitude. A position in which a dancer stands on one leg (the supporting leg) while the other leg (working leg) is raised and turned out with knee bent to form an angle of approximately 90° between the thigh and the lower leg. The height of the knee versus the foot and the angle of the knee flexion will vary depending on the techniques. The working leg can be held behind (derrière), in front (devant), or to the side (à la seconde) of the body. The alignment of the thigh compared to the midline in Attitude derrière will vary depending on the techniques. The foot of the supporting leg may be flat on the floor, en demi-pointe (ball of the foot), or en pointe (tips of the toes). The standing leg can be straight or bend ("fondu") (Figure 6.6).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.06.35 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.6: Attitude

    Balancé. A rocking sequence of three steps-fondu, relevé, fondu (down, up, down)-executed in three counts. Before the first count, one foot extends in a dégagé to second position (balancé de côté) or to the front (balancé en avant) or rear (balancé en arrière). The second foot in the sequence (in any direction) assembles behind the first to relevé in fifth or fourth position (Figure 6.7).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.07.17 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.7: Balance

    A ballet, a work, consists of the choreography and music for a ballet production. A well-known example of this is The Nutcracker, a two-act ballet originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a music score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained ballet dancers. Traditional classical ballets are usually performed with classical music accompaniment and use elaborate costumes and staging, whereas modern ballets, such as the neoclassical works of American choreographer George Balanchine, often are performed in simple costumes (e.g., leotards and tights) and without the use of elaborate sets or scenery.

    Circus and Clown

    A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists, as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. Circus skills are performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow, busking, or variety, vaudeville or music hall shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-performers as a hobby.

    In the circus, a clown (Figure 6.8) may perform a circus role:

    • Walk a tightrope, a highwire, a slack rope or a piece of rope on the ground.
    • Ride a horse, a zebra, a donkey, an elephant or even an ostrich.
    • Substitute himself in the role of "lion tamer."
    • Act as "emcee", from M.C. or Master of Ceremonies, the preferred term for a clown taking on the role of "Ringmaster."
    • "Sit in" with the orchestra, perhaps in a "pin spot" in the center ring, or from a seat in the audience.
    • Anything any other circus performer might do. It is not uncommon for an acrobat, a horse-back rider or a lion tamer to secretly stand in for the clown, the "switch" taking place in a brief moment offstage.
    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.20.37 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.8: A Clown

    Special terms are used in reference a clown’ role in the performance:

    Gags, Bits and Business. Business-the individual motions the clown uses, often used to express the clown's character. Gag-very short piece of clown comedy that, when repeated within a "bit" or "routine," may become a running gag. Gags are, loosely, the jokes clowns play on each other. A gag may have a beginning, a middle, and an end-or may not. Gags can also refer to the prop stunts/tricks or the stunts that clowns use, such as a squirting flower. Bit-the clown's sketch or routine, made up of one or more "gags" either worked out and timed before going on stage, or impromptu bits composed of familiar improvisational material.

    Menu. Entrée-clowning acts lasting 5-10 minutes. Typically made up of various gags and bits, usually within a clowning framework. Entrées almost always end with a "blow-off"-the comedic ending of a show segment, "bit," "gag," "stunt," or "routine." Side dish-shorter feature act. Side dishes are essentially shorter versions of the "entrée," typically lasting 1-3 minutes. Typically made up of various "gags" and "bits," side dishes are usually within a clowning framework. Side dishes almost always end with a "blow-off."

    Interludes. "Clown Stops" or "interludes" are the brief appearances of clowns in a circus while the props and rigging are changed. These are typically made up of a few gags or several bits. Clown stops will always have a beginning, a middle, and an end to them, invariably culminating in a blowoff. These are also called "reprises" or "run-ins" by many, and in today's circus they are an art form in themselves. Originally, they were bits of "business" usually parodying the act that had preceded it. If for instance there had been a tightrope walker the reprise would involve two chairs with a piece of rope between and the clown trying to imitate the artiste by trying to walk between them, with the resulting falls and cascades bringing laughter from the audience. Today, interludes are far more complex, and in many modern shows the clowning is a thread that links the whole show together.

    Prop stunts. Among the more well-known clown stunts are: squirting flower; the "too-manyclowns-coming-out-of-a-tiny-car" stunt; doing just about anything with a rubber chicken, tripping over one's own feet (or an air pocket or imaginary blemish in the floor) or riding any number of ridiculous vehicles or "clown bikes." Individual prop stunts are generally considered individual bits.

    Magic

    Magic, along with its subgenres of, and sometimes referred to as illusion, stage magic or street magic is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by staged tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible feats using natural means (Foley, 2016; Gibson, 2016; Figure 6.9; Figure 6.10). It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which, it is claimed, are effects created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.

    Opinions vary among magicians as to how to categorize a given effect in a magic performance. Some commonly used descriptions are below:

    Production: The magician produces something from nothing-a rabbit from an empty hat, a fan of cards from thin air, a shower of coins from an empty bucket, a dove from a pan, or the magician himself or herself, appearing in a puff of smoke on an empty stage-all of these effects are productions.

    Vanish: The magician makes something disappear-a coin, a cage of doves, milk from a newspaper, an assistant from a cabinet, or even the Statue of Liberty. A vanish, being the reverse of a production, may use a similar technique in reverse.

    Transformation: The magician transforms something from one state into another-a silk handkerchief changes color, a lady turns into a tiger, an indifferent card changes to the spectator's chosen card.

    Restoration: The magician destroys an object-a rope is cut, a newspaper is torn, a woman is cut in half, a borrowed watch is smashed to pieces-then restores it to its original state.

    Transposition: This is whereby two or more objects are used in play. The magician will cause these objects to change places, as many times as he pleases, and in some cases, ends with a kicker by transforming the objects into something else.

    Transportation: The magician causes something to move from one place to another-a borrowed ring is found inside a ball of wool, a canary inside a light bulb, an assistant from a cabinet to the back of the theatre, or a coin from one hand to the other. When two objects exchange places, it is called a transposition: a simultaneous, double transportation. A transportation can be seen as a combination of a vanish and a production. When performed by a mentalist it might be called teleportation.

    Escape: The magician (or less often, an assistant) is placed in a restraining device (i.e., handcuffs or a straitjacket) or a death trap, and escapes to safety. Examples include being put in a straitjacket and into an overflowing tank of water and being tied up and placed in a car being sent through a car crusher.

    Levitation: The magician defies gravity, either by making something float in the air, or with the aid of another object (suspension)-a silver ball floats around a cloth, an assistant floats in mid-air, another is suspended from a broom, a scarf dances in a sealed bottle, and the magician hovers a few inches off the floor. There are many popular ways to create this illusion, including Asrah levitation, Balducci levitation, and King levitation.

    Penetration: The magician makes a solid object pass through another-a set of steel rings link and unlink, a candle penetrates an arm, swords pass through an assistant in a basket, a salt shaker penetrates a tabletop, or a man walks through a mirror. Sometimes referred to as "solid-throughsolid."

    Prediction: The magician accurately predicts the choice of a spectator or the outcome of an eventa newspaper headline, the total amount of loose change in the spectator's pocket, a picture drawn on a slate-under seemingly impossible circumstances.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.23.20 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.9: The Conjurer (1475-1480) by Hieronymus Bosch/Workshop

    Figure 6.1.9 Notice how the man in the back row steals another man's purse while applying misdirection by looking at the sky. The artist even misdirects the viewer from the thief by drawing the viewer to the magician.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.23.53 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.10: A Stage Magician Using a Top Hat as a Prop

    Mime Show

    A mime or mime artist is a person who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. Miming involves acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer would typically be referred to as a mummer. Miming is distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a seamless character in a film or sketch.

    Jacques Copeau, strongly influenced by Commedia dell'arte and Japanese Noh theatre, used masks in the training of his actors. Étienne Decroux, a pupil of his, was highly influenced by this and started exploring and developing the possibilities of mime and developed corporeal mime into a highly sculptural form, taking it outside the realms of naturalism. Jacques Lecoq contributed significantly to the development of mime and physical theatre with his training methods (Callery, 2001).

    Opera

    Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers. Such a 'work' (the literal translation of 'opera') is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costumes and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor (Figure 6.11; Figure 6.12; Figure 6.13).

    Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as musical theater, Singspiel and Opéra comique. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of singing: recitative, a speech-inflected style (Apel, 1969, p. 718) and self-contained arias. The 19th century saw the rise of the continuous music drama.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.24.54 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.11: Performers from the Atlanta Opera

    Figure 6.1.11 Performers from the Atlanta Opera sing the finale of Lucia di Lammermoor. The opera orchestra is visible in the lowered area in front of the stage.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.25.31 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.12: Sydney Opera House
    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.25.52 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.13: Palais Garnier of the Paris Opéra

    Puppetry

    Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets-inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer (Figure 6.14; Figure 6.15). Such a performance is also known as a puppet play/puppet show. The puppeteer uses movements of her hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppets are typically used in storytelling.

    There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are finger puppets, which are tiny puppets that fit onto a single finger, and sock puppets, which are formed from a sock and operated by inserting one's hand inside the sock, with the opening and closing of the hand simulating the movement of the puppet's "mouth". A hand puppet is controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet and moves the puppet around (Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of hand puppets). A "live-hand puppet" is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers for each puppet. Marionettes are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.

    Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which was first recorded in the 5th century B.C. in Ancient Greece. Some forms of puppetry may have originated as long ago as 3000 years B.C. (Blumenthal, 2005). Puppetry takes many forms, but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects to tell a story. Puppetry is used in almost all human societies both as entertainment-in performance-and ceremonially in rituals and celebrations such as carnivals (Bell, 2002).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.26.33 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.14: Gioppino and Brighella Puppet Show in Bergamo, Italy

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.26.52 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.15: Performance of the Kstovo Puppet Theatre

    Speech

    Speech (also called oratory or oration) is the process or act of performing a talk to a live audience (Figure 6.16). Public speech is deliberately structured with three general purposes: to inform, to persuade and to entertain (Beall, n.d.). Speech is commonly understood as formal, face-to-face speaking of a single person to a group of listeners (Beall, n.d.). Public speech can be governed by different rules and structures. For example, speeches about concepts do not necessarily have to be structured in any special way. However, there is a method behind giving it effectively. For this type of speech, it would be good to describe that concept with examples that can relate to the audience’s life (Valenzano III & Braden, 2015).

    Performing a speech can serve the purpose of transmitting information, telling a story, motivating people to act or some combination of those. Speech can also take the form of a discourse community, in which the audience and speaker use discourse to achieve a common goal. In short, the speaker should be answering the question "who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?" (Public Speaking, n.d.).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.27.27 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.16: Cicero Denounces Catiline (1889) by Cesare Maccari

    Figure 6.1.16 The Roman orator Cicero speaks to the Roman Senate.

    Ventriloquism

    Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) changes his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered "dummy" (Figure 6.17; Figure 6.18). The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice.

    One challenge ventriloquists face is that all the sounds that they make must be made with lips slightly separated. For the labial sounds f, v, b, p, and m, the only choice is to replace them with others. A widely parodied example of this difficulty is the "gottle o' gear", from the reputed inability of less skilled practitioners to pronounce "bottle of beer" (Burton, Davey, Lewis, Ritchie, & Brooks, 2008, p. 10). If variations of the sounds th, d, t, and n are spoken quickly, it can be difficult for listeners to notice a difference.

    Modern ventriloquists use a variety of different types of puppets in their presentations, ranging from soft cloth or foam puppets (Verna Finly's work is a pioneering example), flexible latex puppets (such as Steve Axtell's creations) and the traditional and familiar hard-headed knee figure (Tim Selberg's mechanized carvings) (Figure 6.17; Figure 6.18). The classic dummies used by ventriloquists (the technical name for which is ventriloquial figure) vary in size anywhere from twelve inches tall to human-size and larger, with the height usually falling between thirty-four and forty-two inches. Traditionally, this type of puppet has been made from paper or wood. In modern times, other materials are often employed, including fiberglassreinforced resins, urethanes, filled (rigid) latex, and neoprene (Look Inside a Dummy's Head, 1954, pp. 154-157).

    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.28.12 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.17: A Ventriloquist Entertaining Children at the Pueblo, Colorado, Buell Children's Museum
    Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 12.28.34 PM.png
    Figure 6.1.18: Swedish Ventriloquist Act Zillah & Totte

    Integrating Performing Arts in the Classroom

    Integrating performing arts in the classroom have been found to be successful and accessible to learners in the learning process across all subject areas of math, social studies, science, and language arts (Bradley, Bonbright, & Dooling, 2013; Brock, 2011; Burstein & Knotts, 2011; Cravath, 2011; Moore, 2004; Rajan, 2012). Performing arts integrated in content areas promotes creativity in problem solving, creative expression, social skills, and learner development (Brock, 2011; Gidcumb, 2014; Moore, 2004).

    Academically, performing arts integration improves students’ learning. For example, students’ performance has improved with theater arts integrated in their studies in math and other subject areas (Balingit, 2016; Brock, 2011). Students showed deeper learning and longer retention of knowledge as well. Performing arts integrated learning is active and multi-sensory (Burstein & Knotts, 2011). Unlike the traditional methods, which focus primarily on verbal and auditory learners, performing arts integrated methods engage a variety of learners such as music and kinesthetic inclined learners. In addition to academic effects, performing arts integration helps develop non-cognitive factors such as attitude to school, moral for learning, engagement, self-confidence, self-expression, and collaboration. Studies have shown integrating performing arts in the classroom had resulted in positive attitude toward school, increased moral for learning, higher level of confidence, and more collaboration with others (Moore, 2004; Rajan, 2012).

    In elementary classrooms, performing arts could be implemented creatively through a variety of activities. Gidcumb (2014) suggested five ideas of activities for any classroom to get started: 1. Actor’s Toolbox; 2. Tableau; 3. Tapping In; 4. Stepping Into the Painting; and 5 Biography Drama. Activities based on performing arts such as drama are fund to learn and conducive to knowledge retention and learner development. Dramatic activities activate three domains of learner development, cognitive domain, affective domain, and psychomotor domain (Moore, 2004). By participating in performing activities, students learn the text by actively involving their body, mind, and emotions in the learning process. In language arts, performing arts allow students to see multiple perspectives by role playing characters and scenes and reflecting on behaviors, situations, and personalities in the context; through performing the text and story line, performing arts allows students opportunities to demonstrate a deep understanding of pieces of literature (Gidcumb, 2014; Moore, 2004).

    In Social Studies, the curriculum lends itself for performing arts integration. Performing arts allow for multiple views of culture and historical events. Using performing arts in the learning process also provides students a multi-sensory approach to learning social studies content (Burstein & Knotts, 2011). The performing arts integration includes the use of music and provides an alternative communication system for students to express what they know and feel (Burstein & Knotts, 2011). When children learn difficult concepts in social studies, music can provide one pathway to communicate their understanding besides the more traditional forms of speaking and writing (Burstein & Knotts, 2011). Moor (2004) illustrated an example of learning Oregon Trail with drama integrated. In the example, students took on their role’s emotions as well. They became excited when they were able to accomplish or solve one of their problems. They showed disappointment and anger when they failed at finding food or other difficult situations. Not only did the students learn about the Oregon Trail, but they also learned how the pioneers lived and felt. In the example, the drama activity involves speech, sense, emotions, motor skills which are essential to learner development. Learning comes to live through performing.

    Performing arts such as dance provides an alternative way of communication and relate to students’ daily life as well. In social studies, culture is the core of the subject. Performance allows of the multicultural aspects of culture to come to live through performing arts activities. When dance is integrated into the social study classroom, Burstein and Knotts (2011) conclude students gain a concrete understanding of what life was like in an alternate time period and make real and relevant connections to their daily lives…Just as in music, dance employs an alternative communication system by using the non-verbal forms; the human body and facial expressions to make sense of content (p. 241). Dance allows students to express emotions through use of their body while placing themselves in the context of a character, historical figure or everyday person…Dance is multicultural. Every culture has movement or dance that represents a history or ideals about that culture (p. 242).

    Other performing arts forms such as Ballet could be used in the classroom to learn social content as well. Burstein and Knotts (2011) gave the example of Westward Expansion with Ballet integrated. In the example, dance and movement could be used to enact the Westward Expansion; students can create dance movements to show the common daily activities of cowboys, families in wagon trains, and Native Americans; they can compile all the pieces into a ballet to demonstrate the events of people moving West in the 1800's (p. 242). By performing the historical event, students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in content and context in an alternative time period, which could be otherwise abstract and intangible to them.

    REFERENCES

    Apel, W. (Ed.). (1969). Harvard dictionary of music (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Balingit, M. (2016, February 22). Teachers are using theater and dance to teach math and it’s working. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...68b-11e5-b195- 2e29a4e13425_story.html?utm_term=.ba5f2a960a88

    Beall, J. (n.d.). General purpose of speaking. Retrieved from http://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaki...s-of-speaking/

    Bell, J. (2002). Strings, hands, shadows: A modern puppet history. Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Art.

    Blumenthal, E. (2005). Puppetry and puppets, London, UK: Thames & Hudson.

    Bradley, K., Bonbright, J., & Dooling, S. (2013). Evidence: A report on the impact of dance in K-12 setting. Retrieved from https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/f...Works-NDEO.pdf

    Brock, J. (2011). Integrating theater arts into the classroom: The new responsibilities of the elementary school teacher [Master’s thesis]. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519810.pdf

    Burstein, J., & Knotts, G. (2011). Integrating the visual-performing arts in the social studies curriculum=engagement and access. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.csun.edu/bitstre...pdf;sequence=1

    Burton, M., Davey, J., Lewis, M., Ritchie, L., & Brooks, G. (2008, November). Improving reading: Phonics and fluency. London, UK: National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Retrieved from http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/21964/1/doc_4338.pdf

    Callery, D. (2001). Through the body: A practical guide to physical theatre. London, UK: Nick Hern Books.

    Carlson, M. (1986). Psychic polyphon. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 35-47. Retrieved from https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jd...view/1642/1606

    Cravath, E. (2011). Creative dance integration lesson plans. Retrieved from https://education.byu.edu/sites/defa...l_movement.pdf

    Epperson, G. (n.d.). Music. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/music

    Foley, E. (2016, March 15). Do you believe in magic? Congress does. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0b25c91837454

    Gibson, B. (2016, March 18). David Copperfield is the magic force behind a must-read congressional resolution. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...eb0dde44-ec42- 11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.88191a9a09e8

    Gidcumb, B. (2014, August 1). Integrating drama in the elementary classroom: Where do we begin? Retrieved from https://educationcloset.com/2014/08/...re-do-i-start/

    Look inside a dummy's head. (1954, December). Popular Mechanics Magazine. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=yt...page&q&f=false

    Mackrell, J. (n.d.). Dance. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/dance

    Moore, M. (2004). Using drama as an effective method for teaching elementary students. Retrieved from http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcon...context=honors

    Nana, L. (2015). Philosophical context of contemporary choreographic space. Musicology & Cultural Science, 11(1), 64-67.

    Oliver, S. A. (2010). Trauma, bodies, and performance art: Towards an embodied ethics of seeing. Continuum, 24(1), 119-129. doi:10.1080/10304310903362775

    Rajan, R. S. (2012). Integrating the performing arts in Grades K-5. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

    Valenzano III, J. M., & Braden, S. W. (2015). The speaker: The tradition and practice of public speaking (3rd ed.) Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press.


    This page titled 6.1: Selected Reading is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Molly Zhou & David Brown (GALILEO Open Learning Materials) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?