Theatre and dance are performing arts that present imaginative worlds to the senses. Because they invite us to create, shape, and communicate our understandings of identity and value, they also help us make sense of the world around us. And because they involve us as individuals and as a community in ongoing journeys of making and sharing, forming and performing, viewing and reviewing, theatre and dance also have the power to change lives. As a faculty, we are committed to sharing the joys of discovery, the rigors of craft, and the insights of criticism. We believe in making performances that are both challenging and entertaining for our students and for the greater community.
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The Department of Theatre and Dance broadly educates future theatre and dance artists and educators. The Department also provides artistic experiences for the wider Gustavus community. Within a supportive liberal arts context, theatre majors acquire foundational skills in acting, design, and directing while dance majors study dance composition as well as ballet and modern dance technique. Both theatre and dance students examine the history, theory, and literature of their disciplines and work to develop their own identities as artists. Through classes and production, non-major students also develop as performers and experience the richly varied ways in which theatre and dance artists interpret life. All members of the Gustavus community - students, faculty, and staff - enjoy the diverse, challenging, entertaining series of plays and dance concerts produced by the department each year.
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Both the theatre major and the dance major consist of a sequence of courses culminating in a senior project. The theatre major is intended to produce insightful interpreters, skillful collaborators, and expressive creators of theatre art; it lays the foundation for graduate studies and beginning level work in theatre or such allied fields as broadcasting, communications, arts management, and human services. The dance major is intended to produce technically skilled, articulate movers, who use dance as a way to perceive, discover, create and communicate. In addition, the department offers minors in both theatre and dance. Majors and minors are strongly encouraged to consider a professional internship or international study program. Such programs are arranged individually, based on the interests and skills of the student.
75 percent of Gustavus students ultimately decide to attend graduate or professional school.
