The Bardic Performing Artist

The performing arts, theatre and dance, are frequently referenced as being 'bardic' but bear the least resemblance to how the bard's abilities traditionally work.

Theatre would include professional actors doing plays (Moliere, Shakespeare (although his plays aren't translated out of English until the 19th c.), etc.) as well as improvisational acts like Italy's Commedia dell'arte tradition.

Dance is complicated.  In 17th c. Europe, we have 'folk' dance traditions, with group and partner styles and we have 'court' dance traditions (minuette, rondo, waltz a little later on, etc.), but ballet is rising to prominence at this time and is one of the hallmarks of the French artistic scene.  Going outside of Europe, each of the tribes of Africa had indigenous dance traditions as part of their religion, just to start.  The dance effects I list attempt to create some sort of singular whole that can accommodate for a variety of foundations for a bardic dancer.

Roll	Acting	Dance
1	The performance is cathartic.  The audience leaves satisfied and happy.  All resistances are slightly improved for 24 hours.	The dance summons spirits of hearth, home, and healing, who bless the dancers and audience.
2	The spectacle presents a great injustice that incenses the audience, who riot from the performance to right the wrong.	The composition embodies the heights of human grace.  In memory of this, the audience's Dexterity increases by 1 for 1 week.
3	The play satirizes a prominent local institution, formenting dissatisfaction with it.  Or the inverse.	The dance invites a non-corporeal entity into the body of the (lead) dancer.
4	The work presents characters struggling with and overcoming personal trials.  Increases number of lvl 0 hirelings available by 20% for 1 week.	The piece is narrative, representing a local myth or legend.  The resultant patriotism increases morale by 2 for a week.
5	The performance uses semiotic ghosting to create a secondary narrative, inviting underworld types and others who play double games to contact the performers.	The piece is an abstraction of a local myth or legend.  Trying to link movement to action forces the audience to think more broadly, increasing Wisdom by 1 for 1 week.
6	The work subtly rewrites recent history.  The local populace will remember the play's version, not the 'real' one.	The movements reinforce the ley currents of the area, bringing good weather and banishing bad.
7	The play is both deeply intellectual and crudely funny.  It dominates all conversation in the area for the next six months, bringing (temporary) fame to the performers.	The work is transcendent, bringing attention to every subtle move the dancers make.  The attention to detail increases experience earned by 10% for 1 week.
8	At the heart of the play lies an old incantation that, when recited to a full audience, enacts a high level wizard spell.	Hidden within the dance are the foundations of martial arts.  The region will see a 10% increase in the number of unarmed fighters over the next 10 years.
9	The play emphasizes a specific character trait.  Repeated works emphasizing the same trait will impart it upon the community.	The dance uses an ancient, potent movement vocabulary, allowing it to expel malevolent forces: all suffering from poison, disease, or compulsion effects receive an additional saving throw.
10	The text is an adaption of a preexisting bardic literary work and may duplicate its effects in full.	The coordination of the dancers is remarkable.  For the next week, characters acting in tandem receive a +2 bonus.