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There is a fine line between performance art and dance, both manifestations of the “live arts,” which include theater, storytelling, mime, and other artistic forms. AIDS-inspired works, written by impassioned artists and choreographers anxious to use all expressive means available to them, have blurred the distinction even more. Many of these pieces might be characterized as “dance-theater,” a genre that arose in the 1980s incorporating dance, special effects, and the spoken word. In any case, dance and performance art are unlike written music or the making of art objects in that each performance is ephemeral and unique.