A Survey on the Capacity of Theater and Performing Arts to Promote Tourism in the Isfahan Province

Performing arts as important parts of human culture can help to conserve societies cultural identity ,all around the world .People of Iranian plateau have known Theater and dance in several mixed forms of music, play ,drama or religious rituals and have used instruments like masks, costumes of animals or plants ,and musical instruments for rhythm ,at least since6 th millennium BC .From ancient times ,cultural mixed forms of dance ,play and drama have served rituals like celebration ,mourning and worship in this area .The actors of those plays were masters of music, dance ,physical acts and manners of expression .Artifacts with pictures of dancers ,players or actors were found in many of archaeological prehistoric and historical sites in Iran .The first initiation of theater and phenomena of acting can be traced in ceremonial theaters to glorify national heroes and legends and to summon the enemy .Naqqāli as one of the oldest forms of traditional Persian Theater, is performing and recounting stories in prose often accompanied by music, dance and decorative painted scrolls. Tazieh, is another form of traditional religious Persian Theater in which the drama is conveyed through music, narration, prose and singing. Kheimeh shab bazi is the Persian traditional puppetry which is performed in a small chamber. Likewise, many other forms of traditional and modern performing arts are common in Iran. Since performing arts are parts of activities in art tourism, it can attract audiences with specific interests. Therefore, identifying of performing arts potentials can provide a new opportunity to attract audiences for tourism destinations. Isfahan, with its magnificent historical squares, streets and buildings, is considered as a popular tourist destination and a major cultural and economic center of Iran. Identification of performing arts potentials in Isfahan province is a huge step to develop the tourism industry in this area both qualitative and quantitative. The main objective of this research is to investigate strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of performing arts in Isfahan province. And a SWOT (mixed method) model was used in this regards. In the first step, the data was gathered through an interview form with snow ball sampling method. Saturation has attained in 48 data. In the next step a questionnaire was designed according to previous interview forms in order to calculate the scores of determined items. Finally, the strategy was determined through SWOT matrix. The results revealed that the competitive strategy which emphasis on products variety is the best strategy for promoting performing arts in Isfahan. The competitive strategies presented are as follow: the necessity of producing works of art based on custom and public interests and considering traditional performing arts; creation of a situation in which private section invests; supporting performing art groups financially to put them out of government control, creating a healthy and open competitive atmosphere among the formal and informal art groups; granting permission to display without objection; integration of both traditional and modern performances and presenting mutual works between artists of both styles.