performing

Performing Arts Resources

Dance

The art of the movement of the body, usually to music, using prescribed or improvised steps and gestures in front of a live audience.

Bye

Presents a filmed interpretation of Mats Ek's solo dance piece, performed by Sylvie Guillem to a recording of Beethoven's final piano sonata.

Dancing, a Man’s Game

Gene Kelly dances on television for the first time, presents a history of modern American dance, and along with top athletes, shows that dancing is not only limited to women.

Ludwig Minkus' 1869 ballet Don Quixote takes the stage at the Amsterdam Music Theatre in 2010. Choreographed by Marius Petipa, Alexander Gorsky, and Alexei Ratmansky, the production co-stars Anna Tsygankova, Natalia Hoffmann, Matthew Golding, and Peter de Jong in the title role.

First Position

Profiles six contestants in the Youth America Grand Prix, a prestigious competition for aspiring young ballet dancers.

The Green Table

Presents a televised studio performance by the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago of Kurt Jooss' anti-war ballet, reconstructed by his daughter.

A History of Dance on Screen

In this revelatory documentary, director Reiner E. Moritz poses the question: How has the media influenced dance in the twentieth century and vice versa? A History of Dance on Screen contains an impressive amount of archive footage featuring the greatest dancers and choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries, framed by in-depth interviews with great personalities of the contemporary dance scene.

Marco Spada, or, the Bandit’s Daughter

The Bolshoi Ballet presents a filmed ballet performance relating the adventures of a bandit, Marco Spada, and his daughter, Angela.

Spartacus: A Ballet in Three Acts

Choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich, this robust and powerful Bolshoi Ballet performance of Spartacus features the formidable Carlos Acosta dancing the lead.

Theatre

Actors present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place.

Broadway Theatre Archive: Set No. One: Great Performances

This set of four classic plays from the Broadway Theater Archive features a television adaptation of the production of Death of a Salesman that stars Lee J. Cobb, a version of Alice at the Palace with Meryl Streep. Streep can also be seen opposite Swoozie Kurtz in a staging of Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others. Rounding out this collection is For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide.

Direct From Broadway Triple Feature

Features Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical - Dr. Jekyll's latest medical experiment goes awry and creates the alter ego of Mr. Hyde. Putting it Together - Five guests attend a Manhattan cocktail party, featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim. Smokey Joe's Cafe? - A musical revue featuring the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar exploded on the scene in 1970 and changed the way the world watched musicals with an interpretation of the story of Christ's final weeks.

Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go

The surviving members of Monty Python reunite for their first show in over 30 years, for their last ever show, filmed live at the O2 in London on July 20, 2014. At a combined age of just 357, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin once again take to the stage and perform some Monty Python's greatest hits with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert HallThe Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, Cameron Mackintosh produced a unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale which had never been seen before. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully staged production set in the sumptuous Victorian splendor of London's legendary Royal Albert Hall features a cast and orchestra of over 200, plus some very special guest appearances.

Richard II

Richard is King. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years. Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs David Tennant in the title role of a definitive production of a great play.

Opera

This staging of the Richard Strauss opera Capriccio features vocalists like Renee Fleming and Bo Skovhus in the leading roles.

Capriccio

This staging of the Richard Strauss opera Capriccio features vocalists like Renee Fleming and Bo Skovhus in the leading roles.

Carmen

In 19th century Seville, the lusty, tempestuous Carmen seduces a naive Army corporal, Don Jose?. Jose abandons his career, his fiancée and even his dying mother for the love of this sultry gypsy. But soon she spurns him for the love of a toreador, Escamillo. Crazed with jealousy, Jose? begs Carmen to return to him, but her taunting declaration of independence results in tragedy.

Death in Venice

Edward Gardner conducts this performance of Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice starring John Graham-Hall, Andrew Shore, Tim Mead, and Sam Zaldivar.

Eugene Onegin

A modern production of Tchaikovsky's opera about a selfish Russian gentleman who lives to regret his rejection of a young woman's love and his careless incitement of a duel with his best friend.

Le Nozze Di Figaro

A performance of Mozart's popular comedy which tells of romance and mistaken identities in the adventures of Susanna and Figaro, servants in the palace of Count and Countess Almaviva, as they plan their wedding.

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

This new staging of Richard Wagner's ""Meistersinger"" burst upon the Salzburg Festival like a thunderclap. Stefan Herheim's idea of staging a midsummer night's dream as a fairytale narrative is enchanting and with this admirably matched ensemble of excellent singer-players, all of whom bring sharp contours to their roles, and the brilliant details of characterization make each scene an experience to cherish. This unbelievably lavish stage set radiates youthful charm and conjures up a flood of incomparable images.

Music

This includes all genres of music played with instruments on stage in front of a live audience.

The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts

For two October nights in 2009, some of the world's most revered rock bands came together to perform a pair of concerts to celebrate the silver anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This documentary captures those two shows in full including sets from Stevie Wonder, U2, Metallica, and Bruce Springsteen among many others.

Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years

The series' 40th anniversary is celebrated with clips of classic performances; and collaborations between such artists as Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. Among the performers: Alabama Shakes, Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters, Buddy Guy and Bonnie Raitt. Jeff Bridges, Sheryl Crow and Matthew McConaughey host.

Chopin: A Documentary

This documentary describes the places that provided the basis for the young Chopin’s imagination, from the capital Warsaw to rural Poland, where he spent part of his childhood and was formed as a man and a musician, and then on to Paris, where he spent the second half of the his life.

Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013

This documentary captures some of the performances from the 2013 edition of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, an event that featured sets from such musical luminaries as Robert Cray, Steve Cropper, BB King, Keb' Mo', John Mayer, and Buddy Guy among many others.

The Great Hip Hop Hoax

Californian hip-hop duo Silibil n' Brains were going to be massive. No one knew the pair were really Scottish, with fake American accents and identities. When their promising Scottish act was branded 'the rapping Proclaimers,' Billy and Gavin reinvented themselves as LA homeboys. With confessions from the scammers, and insight from music execs, the film charts the roller coaster story.

Kodo: The Heartbeat of the Drum

Takes us deep into the world of Japan's famed KODO Company of percussionists and its island school. We share the lives of the teenagers who for two years commit themselves totally to the fulfilment of their dream: becoming a fully-fledged KODO troupe member. This one-of-a-kind school teaches not just an art form, but an entire way of life.

Music and Monarchy

This fascinating documentary follows historian David Starkey through an exploration of the history of the British Monarchy and its relationship to the realm of music. From Henry V through Elizabeth II, Britain’s monarchs have molded the story of British music as patrons, tastemakers, and even composers.

Welcome to the Machine

The 12 Commandments of the music business brought together in one film. The secret of success, the purpose of music awards, the whole truth about recording contracts and nine other monstrosities. Welcome to the Machine is not just a rockumentary, but also uncovers the whole truth! Features Kim Wilde, Fatboy Slim, Cypress Hill, Bloodhound Gang, Kool and the Gang and more.

Spoken Word

This includes poetry, storytelling and stand-up comedy on stage.

Beowulf

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem surviving in a single manuscript source dating from the early eleventh century, the story told in song and speech, often accompanying oneself on a string instrument. This story of King Hrothgar, the monster Grendal and the hero Beowulf is one of Europe's greatest epics.

But I’m Not Wrong

In this freewheeling, no-holds-barred performance before a packed house in Raleigh, North Carolina, Bill Maher fearlessly and hilariously lets loose on a comprehensive set of unique insights and controversial topics: the 'Great Recession,' fake patriotism, President Obama, Michael Jackson, the drug war, health care, the Tea Party movement, reverse racism, religion, and much more.

The Elements of Poetry

Figurative language, meter and rhyme, simile, and metaphor - these are a few of the many topics explored in this lively video tour through the genre of poetry.

Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale

Jim Gaffigan is the nice guy next door- with more than a hint of the devil in him. The versatile actor shows his unique style of humor - cantankerous but endearing, clean but cutting, with an irrepressible "inside voice" that keeps wickedly popping out - to the delight of the audience in Chicago's historic Vic Theater.