Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Performance artist to street performer

A performance artist already meets 56% of what the street performer role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From performance artist
56 % overlap
Partial match
To street performer
20 You already bring
9 Still to learn
39 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

52.6/ 100

1 How much of what a street performer is expected to do is already part of a performance artist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the street performer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A street performer role treats 14 of its required skills as things a performance artist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • analyse own performance
  • art history
  • attend rehearsals
  • ensure health and safety of visitors
  • follow time cues
  • gather reference materials for artwork

What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A street performer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a performance artist background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held self-promote communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held ensure health and safety of visitors assisting and caring
  • already held perform dances communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held interact with fellow actors communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held perform live communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held analyse own performance management skills

All 20 carried skills, including the 14 the street performer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 19 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 6 required, 9 supplementary
  • still to learn enable audience participation required
  • still to learn use public space as a creative resource required
  • still to learn act for an audience required
  • still to learn maintain an artistic portfolio required
  • still to learn perform in a public space required
  • still to learn work independently as an artist required
  • optional, not held engage the audience emotionally optional
  • optional, not held manipulate object to create illusions optional
  • optional, not held perform for young audiences optional
  • optional, not held play musical instruments optional
  • optional, not held practice humour optional
  • optional, not held select music for performance optional
  • optional, not held tell a story optional
  • optional, not held use declaiming techniques optional
  • optional, not held follow directions of the artistic director optional
02 management skills 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn show professional responsibility required
  • optional, not held handle petty cash optional
03 arts and humanities 1 required
  • still to learn street art history required
04 assisting and caring 1 required
  • still to learn work with respect for own safety required
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a street performer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 20 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held analyse own performance skill
  • already held art history knowledge
  • already held attend rehearsals skill
  • already held ensure health and safety of visitors skill
  • already held follow time cues skill
  • already held gather reference materials for artwork skill
  • already held interact with an audience skill
  • already held interact with fellow actors skill
  • already held keep up with trends skill
  • already held manage feedback skill
  • already held perform live skill
  • already held self-promote skill
  • already held study roles from scripts skill
  • already held work with an artistic team skill
  • already held develop artistic educational activities skill
  • already held develop educational resources skill
  • already held keep personal administration skill
  • already held participate in artistic mediation activities skill
  • already held perform dances skill
  • already held sing skill
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held engage the audience emotionally optional
  • optional, not held manipulate object to create illusions optional
  • optional, not held perform for young audiences optional
  • optional, not held play musical instruments optional
  • optional, not held practice humour optional
  • optional, not held select music for performance optional
  • optional, not held tell a story optional
  • optional, not held use declaiming techniques optional
  • optional, not held follow directions of the artistic director optional
  • optional, not held handle petty cash optional
21 held skills the street performer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role adapt artistic plan to location skill
  • not needed by the target role adjust the performance to different environments skill
  • not needed by the target role assess conservation needs skill
  • not needed by the target role contextualise artistic work skill
  • not needed by the target role create an artistic performance skill
  • not needed by the target role create digital images skill
  • not needed by the target role define artistic approach skill
  • not needed by the target role define artistic vision skill
  • not needed by the target role develop artistic project budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role discuss artwork skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure safety of exercise environment skill
  • not needed by the target role intellectual property law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role labour legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage artistic project skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor art scene developments skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor sociological trends skill
  • not needed by the target role participate in music studio recordings skill
  • not needed by the target role perform costume changeovers skill
  • not needed by the target role plan art educational activities skill
  • not needed by the target role plan health and safety procedures skill
  • not needed by the target role present exhibition skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn street art history required
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a performance artist become a street performer?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A performance artist already covers 56% of what a street performer is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 14 of which the street performer role treats as required.

What skills does a performance artist need to become a street performer?

9 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is enable audience participation.

How hard is the move from performance artist to street performer?

Its learning distance is 52.6 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.