Noteworthy guest artists, rigorous academic programs, significant national recognitions, and unparalleled alumni and student success highlighted the 2010-2011 Academic Year within the Department of Theatre and Dance. The Department continues to be the largest and strongest theatre/dance programs in Indiana by offering students immeasurable academic and artistic opportunities at the undergraduate level. Further, our faculty members bolster our growing reputation through their artistic and scholarly achievements at the regional, national, and international level. Ball State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance is clearly among the strongest and most respected undergraduate programs institutionally, regionally, and nationally.
While the Department enjoyed several success stories this past year, the two highlights were having multiple Tony Award winner Sutton Foster on campus for the second straight year and welcoming back distinguished Hollywood producer and Ball State alumna Martha De Laurentiis. Ms. Foster visited campus for one week in September and conducted master classes with students in the BFA Acting and Musical Theatre programs. In addition, Ms. Foster was once again critically important in the evolution and development of the Department’s NY Showcase through her immeasurable contacts and connections. Ms. De Laurentiis spent four days on campus in November sharing tremendously valuable insights with our students in the directing and acting areas. Further, she continued her support of our LA Showcase through her visibility and her hosting a dinner after the event at her home in the Hollywood Hills. The Department is thankful for these two individuals who continue to have a major impact on the visibility and evolution of our programs.
Other significant accomplishments from the past academic year included junior Theatre majors Justin and Christopher Swader winning the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s Scenic Design Competition (this marks the seventh straight year the Department has sent a student to Washington, DC through KCACTF), successful showcases in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago for our graduating students within the BFA programs in Acting and Musical Theatre, the Department’s first ever staging of the classic ballet The Nutcracker, and countless alumni achieving success across the country within the theatre and dance disciplines.
We hope you will visit our website at www.bsu.edu/theatre and “catch up” on all the exciting events happening this coming academic year. Most notably, the Department will hold an Alumni Reunion from September 30th through October 2nd for all Theatre and Dance graduates between 1990 and 2010. We hope you will consider visiting campus during this time as we celebrate the past, present, and future of Theatre and Dance at Ball State University.
Sincerely,
Bill Jenkins, Chair
Department of Theatre and Dance
Ball State University
William Jenkins, Chair