Behind the Curtain

A behind-the-scenes look at particular musical compositions and performance styles.

TED-Ed’s commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Within TED-Ed’s growing library of TED-Ed animations, you will find carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between talented educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed website (ed.ted.com).

The secrets of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” - Joshua Borths.
Why should you listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"? - Betsy Schwarm.
The history of African-American social dance - Camille A. Brown.
The origins of ballet - Jennifer Tortorello and Adrienne Westwood.
The battle of the Greek tragedies - Melanie Sirof.
Rhythm in a box: The story of the cajon drum - Paul Jennings.
A different way to visualize rhythm - John Varney.
Getting started as a DJ: Mixing, mashups and digital turntables - Cole Plante.
Music and creativity in Ancient Greece - Tim Hansen.
Kabuki: The people's dramatic art - Amanda Mattes.
The emergence of drama as a literary art - Mindy Ploeckelmann.
How to read music - Tim Hansen.
Beatboxing 101 - BEAT NYC.
The physics of playing guitar - Oscar Fernando Perez.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Hobart Shakespeareans.
Beach Bodies (in spoken word) - David Fasanya and Gabriel Barralaga.
A tap dancer's craft - Andrew Nemr.
Music as a language - Victor Wooten.
How Benjamin Button got his face - Ed Ulbrich.
How architecture helped music evolve - David Byrne.
Music and emotion through time - Michael Tilson Thomas.
Embrace the remix - Kirby Ferguson.
The arts festival revolution - David Binder.
A cinematic journey through visual effects - Don Levy.
A choreographer's creative process in real time - Wayne McGregor.
The art of creating awe - Rob Legato.
Trusting the ensemble - Charles Hazlewood.
A whistleblower you haven't heard - Geert Chatrou.
The art of asking - Amanda Palmer.
The true power of the performing arts - Ben Cameron.