Improv Comedy
Never say no to your scene partner: that single "Yes, and" rule powers improv, from Chicago's Second City to SNL.
Ballet
A dance form so technically codified that dancers worldwide still use the same French vocabulary developed centuries ago in the court of Louis XIV.
Opera
A centuries-old art form once considered genuinely popular mass entertainment, not the exclusive high-culture pursuit it's often assumed to be today.
Musical Theater
Musicals let characters burst into song to advance the plot or reveal their feelings, a trick that would be absurd anywhere else.
Stand-up Comedy
Behind every effortless stand-up set are weeks or months of testing and retesting jokes in small, unforgiving rooms.
Circus Arts
The modern circus began not with clowns or lion tamers but with a retired cavalry officer showing off trick riding in a circular London arena in 1768.