For a lot of high school and college students, the thought of getting on stage to sing, act or dance is completely terrifying. But if you're among those who love theater, movement or vocal performance, the stage can feel like a second home – and you may be considering turning your performing arts skills into a career.

Summer is a great time for performers to focus on their creative pursuits outside school, and it’s also a perfect opportunity to seek scholarships in their field. If your idea of the perfect summer involves Shakespeare in the park or if your perfect college looks a lot like the movie "Pitch Perfect," check out these scholarship opportunities.

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A handful of national programs provide awards across the spectrum of performing arts. No high school performer should miss the YoungArts competition, presented by the National YoungArts Foundation.

Formerly known as the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the organization selects around 700 scholarship recipients each year in dance, music, film, theater and other creative disciplines. With awards ranging up to $10,000, and prestigious alumni like actress Viola Davis and rapper Nicki Minaj, this is a must-apply for artists in 10th to 12th grades. You have until Oct. 17 to apply for the 2014 award cycle.

As you’d expect, performing arts awards are available from a few well-known names of the past and present. The Donna Reed Foundation, named for the Oscar-winning actress, offers scholarships in a variety of artistic disciplines.

Past winners include actors, dancers, singers – including half of the pop duo Karmin – and other musicians. Applications are currently closed, but typically open in the fall.

Actor Kevin Spacey’s namesake foundation awards scholarships for actors and other theater majors at Pace University in the U.S. and Regents University London in the U.K. The Princess Grace Foundation offers grants to actors, dancers, choreographers and playwrights who are nominated by their college or company. Applications reopen in January for these prestigious grants.

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You may not be familiar with the name Irene Ryan, though you probably remember her most famous character: Granny, the family matriarch on "The Beverly Hillbillies." Though Ryan died in 1973, her foundation is still providing the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships more than 40 years later.

Scholarships are awarded to outstanding performers in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, in amounts ranging from $500 regional awards to $3,000 national scholarships, given out at the annual festival in April.

Singers looking for scholarships can also turn to a famous name from the past. The Mario Lanza Institute, established after the great tenor died in 1959, awards four annual scholarships to opera singers between the ages of 21 and 28. You’ll need to apply by Oct. 4 and attend a live audition in Philadelphia on Oct. 13 and 14 if you’re interested.

Classical singers should also look into the Williams Chorale’s Bacardi Fallon Performing Arts Competition, which invites high school vocalists and instrumentalists to compete for a $5,000 top prize. Auditions for this program are held at the chorale’s Massachusetts home each spring.

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Thanks to American Harlequin Floors, dancers can now apply for scholarships much closer to home. The World Dances is a unique scholarship competition that allows dancers to compete for $250 scholarships each month just by uploading a performance video.

Two monthly winners are chosen by popular vote, and two more by a committee of judges. July’s competition is open now, and new contests start each month.

For more traditional scholarships, dancers can turn to a couple of other programs. The Hall of Fame Dance Challenge provides scholarships up to $1,000 to graduating high school seniors who’ve performed in a Hall of Fame competition. The Monsters on the Move program offers studio and college tuition awards to young dancers ages 8-25.