Nudity in live performance, such as dance, theatre, and performance art, include the unclothed body either for realism or symbolic meaning. Nudity on stage has become generally accepted in Western cultures beginning in the 20th century.
Nudity is employed to convey symbolic expressions as well as a means to allow more freedom of movement and in some cases to accentuate the characteristics of the body. In contrast to the traditional norm of separating nudity from sexuality nudity has evolved to being used in the 21st century to convey sexual meaning and expression or to arouse.