The Viewer’s Experience of Performing Arts
Discussing performing arts, “I think that live performance is incredibly democratic,” says Scott Illingworth. “Unlike film or television, which have unique storytelling tools such as cut and frame, live performance allows the viewer or audience member to make their own choices about what they pay attention to — the parts of people’s bodies, which person they pay attention to, how they turn their attention back and forth between performers over the course of the event.”
While offering performing arts education, Illingworth goes on to explain, “It’s hard to state how significant that is in terms of the audience experience. At any given moment, you could be paying close attention to an actor’s face and what’s going on. Then suddenly, you find yourself drawn to the tapping of their foot. It requires, therefore, that actors are incredibly clear in the use of their entire bodies.” Illingworth concludes by stating that it also permits audience members to tell or experience the story in the way they want, based on the things that draw them in. He thinks one of the reasons it continues to last is that people keep finding new ways of rewarding audience members for that kind of experience and attention. This sort of lesson is also taught in online performing arts education.
