This survey provides an overview of the modern concept of performance and how it has developed in various fields. It introduces the reader to the contested interpretations of performance art as a theatrical activity, and to the ways that performance has been understood by ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists and cultural theorists. Some of the topics discussed include: the evolution of performance art since the 1960s, the development of performance as a concept within the various social sciences, and the relationships between performance, postmodernism and the politics of identity. For any student of performance studies, visual and performing arts or theatre history, this text should provide a useful insight into the diverse meanings and uses of performance.