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Performing Arts

Misty Copeland sees dance as a “language and a culture that people from everywhere, all over the world, can relate to and understand and come together for.”

In the Footsteps of Three Modern American Prima Ballerinas

A new exhibition shows that classical ballet and the role of the ballerina are rapidly changing

"Container Trade Object"

Cool Finds

New Exhibition Highlights Art Inspired by Standing Rock

Art as a lens to understand the protest

Breaking Ground

Smithsonian Artifacts and Music Legends Share the Stage in Tonight’s Star-Studded Television Program

Notable African-American performing artists commemorate the opening of the National Museum of African American History

Singer-songwriter St. Vincent performs with color guard team Field of View.

A New Documentary Conceived by David Byrne Explores the Wonder of the Color Guard

The dazzling offshoot of the marching band gets its moment in the spotlight

New York's shrine to the performing arts has never seen a dancer quite like this.

Cool Finds

A Huge Bronze Hippo in a Tutu Is Coming to Lincoln Center

Her name is Hippo Ballerina, and she’s sure to make theatergoers do a double-take

Some of the performers are circus-trained, adding authenticity to the aerial acrobatics displayed.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

“Call Me Ishmael” Is the Only Melville Tradition in This Innovative Presentation of “Moby Dick”

Visceral, kinesthetic, cinematic, aural and psychological, Arena Stage’s new show about the 19th-century novel is a 21st-century experience

Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers Were Originally Silver

Bright red is how we remember them, but Dorothy’s famous shoes had another look at the start

"I try to go into the personal stuff because I really believe that’s the most universal," says Aziz Ansari.

American Ingenuity Awards

With “Master of None,” Aziz Ansari Has Created a True American Original

The star of the breakout television series brings the voice of his generation to the masses

An archaeologist studies remains of the Curtain theater's foundations.

New Research

Shakespeare May Have Tailored “Henry V” for a Specific Theater

Archaeological digs at the Curtain theater suggest it looked very different from the Bard’s usual venues

Marina Abramović, The Artist is Present, Performance, 3 months, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2010

What to Make of Marina Abramović, the Godmother of Performance Art

Is her body of work art, magic, theater or masochism?

The Voice of Tomorrow Choir on the front porch of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture

Breaking Ground

What You Need to Know About the September 24 NMAAHC Grand Opening

Entry Passes are all gone for today, but there is plenty to see and do on the National Mall

Trending Today

‘Hamilton’ Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda Joins the War Against Bots

Ticket-buying bots are snatching up seats and jacking up the price of concert and theater tickets

Duke Riley's pigeons taking off for a performance of "Fly BY Night."

Cool Finds

A Giant Flock of Pigeons Is Lighting up New York’s Night Sky

The show is meant to illustrate that pigeons aren’t rats with wings

Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris with the thunder run.

Cool Finds

A New Production of “King Lear” Features 18th-Century Special Effects

The Bristol Old Vic’s thunder run hasn’t been used since 1942

Cool Finds

Watch ‘Swan Lake’ Transform Into a Spectacular Light Show

The classic ballet has never looked so stunning

The Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership is a 1,200-pound aluminum stage prop that once stole the show at funk singer George Clinton's concerts. Now, it's a part of the Smithsonian's permanent collections.

Breaking Ground

Watch George Clinton’s P-Funk Mothership Get Reassembled For Its Museum Debut

A timelapse video shows Smithsonian curators rebuilding one of music’s most iconic stage props—the Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership

Cool Finds

There Are Indeed Side Effects to Sword Swallowing

From “sword throat” to putting a hole in your pharynx, sword swallowing comes with a few risks

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. perform during the ice dance free dance at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, on March 29, 2012.

Winter Olympics

Why Reality TV May Bring Team USA Its First Gold in Ice Dancing

Amy Henderson, curator of the Smithsonian’s “Dancing the Dream” exhibition, chronicles the meteoric rise of a dazzling sport once considered vulgar

Distant view of man standing with Macy’s Day Parade balloons

The Puppeteer Who Brought Balloons to the Thanksgiving Day Parade

A Thursday morning tradition came with strings attached

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?

The Patents Designed to Make Carving Your Pumpkin a Little Less Messy

A group of innovators set out to simplify how we make classic Jack-o-Lanterns and their ghoulish grins

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