Performing Arts and Its Branches

Dance, drama and music that are performed in front of many people or audiences are known to belong in performing arts. This type of art is different from plastic arts which only involve several artworks made from different type of materials like clay, paint, wood and metal. These artworks are often created by many artists and are displayed during exhibits but unlike performing arts, the presence of the artists is not required or is not necessary at all. When it comes to performing arts, the artists themselves together with their performances are the ones that the audiences are interested in. These people are then commonly known as performers.

This type of art is not new to the society because this has been around for so many years now. It actually started centuries ago. This type or art is even more common in schools all over the world and it often involves a number of people who all have the passion to please the crowd by showcasing their talents. By wearing a huge variety of costumes, wigs, masks, foot wears and other accessories, an artist becomes/transforms to a totally different person in front of the crowd and then performs.

As mentioned earlier, there are three branches of performing arts – the dance, drama and music. The first type of performing arts is dance which basically refers the movements of the human body using a particular rhythm. Performing a dance is not only intended to please the crowd but it is also a way to express the performer’s sentiments. It is also a way of showing the people different types of cultures or telling them about the history of a certain place. A dance can be in several forms like folk dance, ballet and many more.

Another branch of performing arts is the drama which is mainly about acting in front of the people. In a drama, the performers act out a particular story in order to entertain their audience. Aside from acting, music, dance, sound, speeches and other elements of performing arts are used for the best performance.

And the last branch of performing arts is music. Music does not only refer to the musical instruments or the sounds that they make, it also involves the people who play the instruments and the voices of the people singing. Music basically started several years ago and from then it became one of the most popular ways to entertain people. Usually, there are four things which make music complete – the pitch, rhythm, dynamic and the timbre.

Each of the branches of performing arts plays a very important role in the entertainment world. All these things make performing arts complete and very interesting. Not only because it is a very good way to entertain people but because this is also a way for other people to see the skills and talents of the performers. It is also a very good way to let the whole world know on what are the things that the performers can do and offer.

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National Center for the Performance Arts

The newly opened National Center for the Performance Arts, formerly named the Chinese National Grand Theatre, is the largest performing art center in the world. It is shaped like a massive, silvery dome in the heart of China’s capital that offers Chinese and international art performances of the highest standards. It hosts opera, ballet, musicals, dance, dramas and traditional Chinese performances.

Situated west of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the National Center for Performance Art occupies an area of over 149,500 square meters. There are three gigantic halls located inside: a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall and a 1,040-seat theater. Its goal is to become the center of Chinese performance art culture. The National Center for the Performing Arts took nearly five years to build at a cost of over 2.69million RMB.

Designed by the famous French architect Paul Andreu, this imposing building is a fine example of modern architecture. It has been thought of as resembling an eggshell, a baozi (Chinese steamed bread), or even a giant bubble. The National Center for Performance Arts has been listed among the top ten architectural miracles by the USA, for its energy-saving and environmentally-sound design. The center has three firsts: it is the largest sky dome in the world, the deepest building in Beijing, and is home to the largest pine organ in Asia. As its prompters have said, the National Center for Performance Arts has a lush dazzling interior, sophisticated acoustics and a design that that is superior to most of Europe’s or America’s performing arts centers. This building is so unique that it stands out amongst the nearby government buildings in central Beijing and the imperial grandeur of the centuries-old Forbidden City.

The interior design of National Center for Performance Arts, it is quite spectacular. The dome’s interior is paneled with long Brazilian mahogany spans, giving the expanse an amazingly warm feeling. While the walls of the theater, the smallest of the performance spaces, are covered in thick padded silk which is divided into red, purple and tangerine strips. The ceiling of the grey-white color-schemed concert hall consists of undulating waves of acoustical panels that resemble abstract art. On the exterior shell of the center, there are over 500 lights that shine like the stars in the sky, making the National Center for Performance Arts looks like a visitor from the outer space.

Even though the exterior appearance of National Centre for Performance Arts is futuristic in design, it does not clash with nearby buildings. Surrounded on one side by a large pool of water, the reflections in the water form an impressive sight day or night. For this reason, National Centre for Performance Arts is said to appear like a “bright pearl resting in a lake.

Most visitors to the National Center for Performance Arts, come for the performances, but there is much more to this beautiful building than just the three gigantic halls. There are also many smaller places located inside the National Center for Performance Arts such as: an underwater hallway, an exhibition hall, olive hall, library center, Press-release hall, souvenir shop, and a coffee house. In these locations, visitors or audience members can enjoy other aspects of this amazing building other than just performances.

The Center’s management has hired the best performers from throughout China to perform. Musicians such as pianist Yundi Li, and Lang Lang are regulars to the National Center for Performance Arts’stage. Many foreign troupes are vying for a chance to perform during the center’s opening season. The first foreign troupe to perform on the stage of the National Center for Performance Art was the Mariinsky Ballet Troup of St. Petersburg(still marketed in the U.S. under its Soviet-era name, the Kirov Opera and Ballet). Although the center’s musical groups,ballets, symphony orchestras, and Chinese opera have received far less attention, they are also performed by some of the best artists in China.

To allow each audience to fully and comfortably appreciate each performance, the National Center for Performance Arts has makes great effort in its design of the opera house, concert hall and theater. The materials used in the construction of the opera house were chosen for their ability to control sound. The ceiling of the concert hall is designed so that each audience member will enjoy an unforgettable experience. The theatre, the place with the most distinctive Chinese characteristic, has the most advanced stage facilities and the largest auditorium. Each seat in the National Center for Performance Arts is placed over an air vent which will allow each audience member to enjoy perfectly controlled temperatures, and each seat is designed with a muffling devise so that no sound will be made when audience members stand up,or sit down. These many different features of the center has been put in place to insure each audience member will receive the most from each performance they see.

Even if visitors to Beijing have no interest in watching a performance at the National Centre for Performance Arts, a visit to the center will leave a deep impression on them. It is one of the most brilliant architectural designs in the world, and worth a visit.

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