Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, Music)

The paper at a glance

Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, Music) carries the subject code 320. The syllabus described here is the one published for 2026-27.

One document serves four very different disciplines. A sitar student, a Kathak dancer, a tabla player and a theatre student all sit under the same code, and the syllabus keeps their material in separate sections rather than blending it.

How the syllabus is organised

The document is laid out in four sections — Section A: Vocal-Instrumental Melodic (Hindustani-Karnatak Music); Section B: Dance; Section C: Percussion Music (Hindustani and Karnatak); Section D: Drama-Theatre. The cover puts the disciplines in the order "Dance, Drama, Music", but the sections themselves run Music, Dance, Percussion, Drama.

The syllabus is a list of topics only. It does not print question counts, marks, negative marking or timing, and it does not say whether a candidate answers one section or all four. Read it alongside the exam pattern.

Section A: Vocal and instrumental melodic music

Section A: Vocal-Instrumental Melodic — Hindustani-Karnatak Music (seven units) covers Hindustani and Karnatak music together. Most units pair a Hindustani term or raga with its Karnatak counterpart, so a student from either tradition can recognise the ground.

Section B: Dance

Section B: Dance (six units) names eight classical forms and then moves to theory: terms, texts, abhinaya and rasa, and the institutions and festivals of the dance world.

Section C: Percussion music

Section C: Percussion Music — Hindustani and Karnatak (seven units) is built around three instruments, Tabla, Pakhawaj and Mridangam, and is the most vocabulary-heavy section: Unit III alone lists more than twenty technical terms.

Section D: Drama and theatre

Section D: Drama-Theatre (six units) moves from Sanskrit drama to modern Indian theatre, then from Greek and Shakespearean drama to the modern West, before closing with stagecraft and institutions. For each group of playwrights the document says the student "can identify and study one text (one play)"; it does not prescribe which.

What this syllabus does not tell you

The document is a topic list and nothing more. From it you cannot learn:

• whether you answer one section or all four, how many questions come from each, or the marks, negative marking and duration — those are on the exam pattern;
• the weightage of any unit, so treat every unit in your section as examinable rather than ranking them;
• which play to study where the document says "one text (one play)"; the choice is left open;
• which books or recordings to use; the syllabus names no textbook;
• how much weight a university gives this paper once you qualify — the programmes that accept it are listed below, but the marks or ranking rule each one applies sits in its own admission bulletin.

One caution: the document is typed but carelessly proof-read. Many names are misspelt in it (for example "Euripedese", "Marlin Brando", "John Grilgood", "Violon", "Mrindangam"); the tables above use the standard spellings, so if you are checking a name against the PDF, expect the printed form to differ slightly. The last unit of Section D is printed with a number but no title. For anything about attempt rules or numbers of questions, go to the NTA information bulletin and the exam pattern rather than to this list.