Education in the performing arts is a key part of many primary and secondary education curricula and is also available as a specialisation at the tertiary level (needs citation). The performing arts, which include, but are not limited to dance, music and theatre, are key elements of culture and engage participants at a number of levels (needs citation).
The end point for performing arts education varies: some educators integrate arts into school classrooms to support other curricula while simultaneously building students' art skills, and some educators focus on performing arts as an academic discipline in itself.
Performing arts integration in schools
Integrating performing arts into educational experiences can help students learn other subjects, such as science, as well as help them develop various non-arts-based skills. As children grow, engaging them in performance arts can help them meet developmental milestones, including those for motor skills and psychosocial skills. For example, teachers can integrate performing arts and the discussion thereof into their classrooms to honor student self-expression. Bilingual youth can benefit from this type of Arts integration because it offers them modes of communication that can respond more easily to their culture and language than text-based or test-based learning. Regardless of language used, teachers have even found that using performing arts in the classroom, such as improvisational drama, can help students process and prepare for non-arts-based life situations, including Bullying.
Performing arts integration out of schools
Performing arts integration that empowers students in these ways doesn't only happen in schools: community organizations, such as the Beat Nation Collective in Canada, use hip hop performance to help students deepen their understanding of and broaden their experience with indigenous identity and language.
Issues of access and equity
Despite the benefits of engaging students in performing arts, many students, particularly minoritized students such as African American and Latino students, do not have equitable access to performing arts in their school classrooms.
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 Performers often adapt their appearance by special clothing, stage makeup, etc.
For students pursuing elite professional careers in performing arts like classical ballet and circus arts, the physical demands are such that early entry into training can be essential (needs citation).
The breadth of areas covered by the performing arts is wide, including:
Acting - actor, comedian, etc.
comedy
drama
magic
motion pictures
opera
theatre
music - singer, musician, etc.
busking
opera
dance - dancer
Circus skills
acrobatics
juggling
marching arts
performance art a specialized form of fine art in which the artist performs his or her work live to an audience
Helpmann Academy
National Institute of Circus Arts
National Institute of Dramatic Art
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Kala Academy
Darpana Academy of Performing Arts
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has over 15,500 members in 82 countries. It was founded in 1920.
The Royal Ballet School founded in 1931 is a specialist co-educational school in London, England. It combines a mainstream academic education with an intensive dance training.
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) founded in 1904 in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as the most prestigious drama school in the United Kingdom.
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) founded in 1861 it is the oldest drama academy in the world producing some of the worlds top entertainers.
The School of American Ballet, Lincoln Center is located in New York City, United States is the official academy of the New York City Ballet
Un-Cabaret Laboratories teaches alternative comedy writing & performance
The Juilliard School in New York City provides an arts education for people around the world since 1905, and has trained hundreds of famous actors that have performed on Broadway and in American films for the past century.
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA)
Leland Powers School in Boston provided training in theatre, public speaking, opera, and more for more than 50 years.
The Los Angeles Academy of Performing Arts (LAAPA)
The National Conservatory of Arts (NCA) in Washington, DC National Conservatory of Arts is a performing and fine arts conservatory that offers classes and private lessons in Music, dance, art, theater, and foreign language. NCA also hosts a performing arts after school program, and summer camp, where students major in specific art forms, or participate in all of the programs throughout the week. NCA, also houses the National Girls Choir, which is dedicated to presenting the finest in choral performance and education for girls and young women. NCA also offers music teacher mentorship programs, which allows music teachers with inexperience or credentials to shadow accomplished music teachers until they embody the same skill sets and standards.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater started by African American dancer, Alvin Ailey, in New York
Lula Washington Dance Theatre, a non-profit dance school and professional company founded by African-American dancer, Lula Washington, in South Los Angeles
Debbie Allen Dance Academy, founded by African American dancer, actor and director, Debbie Allen in South Los Angeles.
Bali School of Dramatic Art founded in Bali 2007 provides accredited arts education through LAMDA.
