What is Performance?

What is Performance?

Many people ask 'What is Performance' and many people answer with a highly sophisticated interpretation on what performance is, yet we have never stopped to think... What actually is performance?

I will be writing this blog throughout my time at university studying performing arts. Within this blog i shall include detailed analysis of performances that i have seen throughout the year, rehearsal notes, pictures and annotations, along with the occasional inspirational ideas that i get from watching performances around the country. 

Performance is not something that can be fully understood, instead it can be accepted and welcomed into society. Performance has brought enemies together, it has made bad times good and it has even helped solve issues across the world. We under estimate the power of performance and take it for granted, but if you stop and remember what you have seen in your life, you'll see that everything in one way or another is a type of performance. 

Can "Performance" really be summed up in a university students blog? Can one student come up with a generic answer to the question that is set? Maybe my time at university will help me to discover the truth about performance and eventually ill be able to to say, "Performance is..."

So far as a naive student my knowledge of performance is slim compared to others. I have little experience with the industry and still believe that a perfect performance is the best performance. If i were to answer 'What is Performance' at this current time, i would say that it is when 1 or more people present something to others. I believe that performance is a show to inform or entertain. I know that performance is something that some people are afraid of and that it takes a lot of courage and confidence to achieve. 

In order to get a sense of how deep this question is, i asked the smartest person i know. Google. I gave Google the word 'Performance' This would allow me to see the thought process of 'Google' and also allow me to see what can be related to 'Performance'

My findings:

When typing 'Performance' into Google, i began to soon realise that Performance is not all about Performing Arts, it can be about Business, Sport, Music, Art, Management and Drama. The single word Performance has multiple meanings and branches, so no matter what we think performance is, someone will always have a completely different theory than you, hence why Performance its self cannot be explained but a generic formula can be worked out. To be able to present one idea that is lots of ideas at the same time.