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A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience members often applaud.

The means of expressing appreciation can vary by culture. Chinese performers will clap with audience at the end of a performance; the return applause signals "thank you" to the audience. In Japan, folk performing arts performances commonly attract individuals who take photographs, sometimes getting up to the stage and within inches of performer's faces.

So long as the source of our identity is external—vested in how others judge our performance at work, or how others judge our children’s performance, or how much money we make—we will find ourselves hopelessly flawed, forever short of the ideal.
— Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)

Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience members get involved in the production.

Theatrical performances can take place daily or at some other regular interval. Performances can take place at designated performance spaces (such as a theatre or concert hall), or in a non-conventional space, such as a subway station, on the street, or in someone's home.

Performance genres

Examples of performance genres include:

• musical genres:
  • concert
  • recital
  • music competition
• theatrical genres:
  • play
  • opera
  • operetta
  • ballet and other types of dance
  • musical theater
• other genres:
  • circus acts
  • performance art
  • live art
  • performance poetry
  • busking
  • magic (illusion)
  • storytelling

Music performance (a concert or a recital) may take place indoors in a concert hall or outdoors in a field, and may require the audience to remain very quiet, or encourage them to sing and dance along with the music.

To vote is like the payment of a debt—a duty never to be neglected, if its performance is possible.
— Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

A performance may also describe the way in which an actor performs. In a solo capacity, it may also refer to a mime artist, comedian, conjurer, or other entertainer.

• Palermo Concertmaster Salvatore Greco in performance

• A U. S. Navy sailor singing on a stage at a sporting event.