« Lights. Camera. Action,” says the director to the actors and actresses. “Five, six, seven, eight,” calls the choreographer to the dancers. “One and two and three and four,” the conductor whispers to the performers, waving his baton. Each of these phrases is an example of the cogs of performance turning to convey a specific story to an audience. Performance art is an art form generally referred to as "living art" because it is created to be presented to an audience. Dance, music, theater and spoken word are all elements of performance art. There is a common misconception that art is purely visual, because that is usually what people think of when they hear the word “art.” However, this is far from the truth. Art is divided into two types: visual and performance. Visual art is present everywhere, including homes, offices, streets and other everyday places, throughout history. According to history, painting dates back to 40,000 years ago when Native Americans painted on cave walls (prehistoric art). Visual art is art created from various materials intended for visual perception such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, advertisements, etc. (Esaak). Performance art became popular in the 1960s when the Futurist movement began and spread over time (Sprinkle). Performance art uses the human body as a material to create works of art to present to an audience, such as dance, music, theater, opera, spoken word, etc. (Akers) First, one of the oldest and most popular forms of performing arts is dance. Dancing has been a form of expression since early history, when Native Americans used dancing as a ritual to call upon different gods to bring what they needed at the time. They had a specific dance...... middle of paper...... the speaker performs in front of an audience. It is often forgotten when we talk about art, or considered “easy” and “weak”. However, speaking is much more than reading a poem on a sheet of paper. When a person interprets a word, they convey their emotion in their words and body language. The speaker uses their posture, facial expressions, hand gestures, etc. to express what he is saying with such power that the audience is able to feel the emotions contained in the poem. When a poem is performed through speech, it is a powerful example of performance art. In conclusion, performance art is any art created to be presented to an audience. This can be live or recorded, a group act or a solo act, technical or improvised. Dance, music, theater, spoken word and other forms of performance art create “living art” that lights a fire in the emotions of the audience..