Editing Performing arts (section)

===Western performing arts===
{{main|Western art history}}{{See also|Antitheatricality}}
Starting in the 6th century BC, the [[Classical antiquity|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 civilization|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 (historiography)|Dark Ages]] began. Between the 9th century and 14th century, performing art in the West was limited to [[Religion|religious]] historical enactments and [[morality play]]s, organized by the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] in celebration of holy days and other important events.

====Renaissance====
{{main|Renaissance}}

In the 15th century performing arts, along with the arts in general, saw a revival as the Renaissance began in Italy and spread throughout Europe plays, some of which incorporated dance, which were performed and [[Domenico da Piacenza]] credited with the first use of the term ''ballo'' (in ''De Arte Saltandi et Choreas Ducendi'') instead of ''danza'' (dance) for his ''baletti'' or ''balli''. The term eventually became ''[[Ballet]]''. The first Ballet ''per se'' is thought to be [[Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx]]'s [[Ballet Comique de la Reine]] (1581).
[[File:Jan Miel – Actors from the Commedia dell’Arte on a Wagon in a Town Square.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1<!-- requires curly apostrophe --> |''[[Commedia dell'arte]] troupe on a wagon'', by [[Jan Miel]], 1640]]

By the mid-16th century [[Commedia Dell'arte]] became popular in Europe, introducing the use of [[improvisation]]. This period also introduced the [[Elizabethan masque]], featuring music, dance and elaborate costumes as well as professional theatrical companies in England. [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays in the late 16th century developed from this new class of professional performance.

In 1597, the first opera, [[Dafne]] was performed and throughout the 17th century, opera would rapidly become the entertainment of choice for the [[aristocracy]] in most of Europe, and eventually for large numbers of people living in cities and towns throughout Europe.

====Modern era====

The introduction of the [[proscenium arch]] in Italy during the 17th century established the traditional theatre form that persists to this day. Meanwhile, in England, the [[Puritans]] forbade acting, bringing a halt to performing arts that lasted until 1660. After that, 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 were performed in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American Colonies]].

During the 18th century, the introduction of the popular [[comic opera|opera buffa]] brought opera to the masses as an accessible form of performance. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' and ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' are landmarks of the late 18th century opera.

At the turn of the 19th century, [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and the [[Romantic movement]] ushered in a new era that led first to the spectacles of [[grand opera]] and then to the 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.

[[File:Vaslav Nijinsky, 1912.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Vaslav Nijinsky]] dancing the Faun in ''[[Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky)|L'après-midi d'un faune]]'' (1912)]]
The 19th century was a period of growth for the performing arts for all social classes, technical advances such as the introduction of [[Gas lighting|gaslight]] to theatres, [[burlesque]], minstrel dancing, and variety theatre. 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.
The arrival of [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]] (1909–1929) revolutionized ballet and the performing arts generally throughout the Western world, most importantly through Diaghilev's emphasis on collaboration, which brought choreographers, dancers, set designers/artists, composers and musicians together to revitalize and revolutionize ballet. It is extremely complex.

[[Konstantin Stanislavski]]'s [[Stanislavski System|"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 [[Cinema of the United States|motion picture industry in Hollywood]] in the early 20th century, [[film]] became a dominant performance medium throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

[[Rhythm and blues]], a cultural phenomenon of black America, rose to prominence in the early 20th century, influencing a range of later popular music styles internationally.

[[File:Street Theatre Show, La Chaux-de-Fonds.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.15|Modern street theatre performance in La Chaux-de-Fonds]]In the 1930s [[Jean Rosenthal]] introduced what would become modern [[stage lighting]], changing the nature of the stage as the [[Broadway musical]] became a phenomenon in the United States.

====Postwar====
Post-World War II performing arts were highlighted by the resurgence of both ballet and opera in the Western world.

[[Postmodernism]] dominated the performing arts during the 1970s and the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Auslander |first=Philip |url=https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/6/11/files/2017/12/Auslander-Postmodernism-and-Performance.pdf |title=The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=28 May 2006 |pages=98 |language=en}}</ref>