The University of Akron School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration

10/18/2022

We relaunched our Instagram! Follow us at to keep up to date with all things DTAA!!!

10/14/2022

Happy Opening Night to our two theatre students, Brandon and Jaevion, in Rubber City Theatre’s production of The Agitators! Head to their page for ticket information!

10/11/2022

We love seeing UAkron College of Arts & Sciences professors collaborating with one of our companies in residency!

Join us this Friday for a panel discussion featuring Dr. Philathia Bolton, a professor of African American Literature and Culture at The University of Akron and Professor Brain Chandler, a professor of Theatre Arts at The University of Akron and the director of The Agitators as they discuss themes of the play, its historical significance, and why it is important today.

https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100289?fbclid=IwAR3FYVxBiJUWUJHfdoBe8YkY7WyVWDxzGorxyIFMQSskgGokrZ4_GixEBa8

10/10/2022

Check out our cast of A Street Car Named Desire during their first read through! Performances are November 4-6! https://commerce.cashnet.com/cashnetg/static/storefront/DTAA/catalog/DTAA%20EVENTS

10/03/2022

This Fall NCCAkron and The University of Akron School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration welcome Alexandra Barbier (Urbana, IL) to campus as this falls Community Commissioning Residency Artist.

The Artist Selection Committee chose Alexandra Barbier for her refreshing perspective and exploration of q***r Black dance vernacular such as twerking, waacking, and voguing. During her time on campus, Barbier will work alongside university students within their regularly scheduled classes such as ballet and jazz to explore the above mentioned movement vocabulary and will also offer a dance class outside the program for the general public.
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Ideas in Motion is a joint initiative supported by NCCAkron, The University of Akron, The
University of Akron Foundation, and the Mary Schiller Myers Lecture Series in the Arts.

Photo by Todd Collins

09/26/2022

Mimi Vanderhaven | Whether you’re just getting started or want to explore a career in…

Interested in dance? Dance Institue is ready for you!

Since 1967, The Dance Institute at The University of Akron has been training and preparing students for careers in both professional dance and dance education.…

09/22/2022

Congratulations to the Cast of of our Fall Mainstage Production of A Streetcar Named Desire!

09/22/2022

One of our dance students, Larry White, is featured in this!

We are ALL about opportunity at the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Akron 🦘.

Check out UA's latest commercial featuring two of our College's current students: Owen Pinion (The University of Akron School of Communication) and Larry White (The University of Akron School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration).

➡️ http://ow.ly/EPm050KPtzq.

09/14/2022

Exciting things are happening for the Arts at UA!

The Polsky Building at The University of Akron will be transformed into a downtown cultural and academic attraction with the help of a $20 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Read more: ➡️ http://ow.ly/VOON50KJB0v

09/12/2022

20 Questions with Colleen Barnes

Get to know Assistant Professor of Dance, Colleen Barnes!

This Assistant Professor of Dance enjoys all forms of dance as well as dance choreography. She's an avid fan of Taylor Swift and has an irrational fear of s...

08/30/2022

A few of our Grad students attended The University of Akron Fall Kick-Off Party! And of course, we couldn't resist a photo-op with Zippy!

08/30/2022

This Wednesday, August 31st, we will hold our fall University of Akron Dance Company and Choreographer's Workshop Auditions at 4:00 PM in Guzzetta 194. The audition order will go as follows:
Faculty: Christine, W***y, Jen
Students: Kennedy, Rachel, Zeecei, Marisa, Lisa, Maggie

If you cannot attend the auditions and want to be considered for any of the pieces, please send a video of you dancing in the styles of contemporary and jazz. Videos are due by Wednesday at noon.

07/31/2022

Two of our Arts Administration students have been interning with the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival! Great work Cennidie and Spring!

Meet our dance festival interns, Spring Healy and Cennidie Hall. They assist the director with everything from creating beautiful new branding on our social media, to providing the dancers with water and ice backstage. They register students for classes, sell t-shirts, and digitize our life by creating QR codes, improving our website, and so much more. We don’t know how we ever got along without them! Thank you Spring and Cennidie, and thank you also to the Ex[L] Center for Experiental Learning at The University of Akron, for making this possible!

Akrondancefestival.org

City of Akron Recreation and Parks
City of Akron, Ohio - Mayor's Office

07/22/2022

We love seeing former student’s work in the community! Nim Brother studied Theatre while at UA and is now the Space Man for the Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture!

Check out “Three Countries, One Mother” July 22 to August 14!

When reason no longer exists, we can find solace in the familiarity of ritual. The act evokes our muscle memory and finds order and safety inside ourselves. It doesn’t have to make sense. It can just be.
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06/27/2022

A huge congratulations to Second Year Graduate Student, Chloe Redman and Interim Coordinator of the Arts Administration Program, Arnold Tunstall on winning Arts Alive Awards through Summit Artspace! We are so proud to have these talented artists within our program!
UAkron College of Arts & Sciences

04/23/2022

Romeo & Juliet cast play William Shakespeare or Taylor Swift❓🎵 with Josh O'Connor and Jessie Buckley

It’s William Shakespeare day! What a perfect day to catch the Theatre workshop’s class of Macbeth Tonight at 7:30*! Can’t wait until then? Here’s a fun video deciphering Taylor Swift lyrics from Shakespeare quotes!
https://youtu.be/TTDOoC4arSQ

*Seating IS limited and is on a first come first serve basis!!! https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

Think you can tell your William Shakespeare lines from your Taylor Swift lyrics? It's much harder than you'd think, as the cast of the National Theatre's Rom...

04/22/2022

It's opening night and the witches of Macbeth have a message for you!✨
https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

04/20/2022

Often referred to by actors and crew members as “The Scottish Play,” and a number of other euphemisms, it is supposed that Macbeth is a cursed play, and actors avoid saying the name when in the theatre!
It is said that the superstition started with the play’s first ever performance in the early 17th century, when the boy cast as Lady Macbeth suddenly fell ill and died right before going on stage, and Shakespeare himself had to play the role instead.
It doesn’t end there. Macbeth has a morbid history of death and violence, both at its performances and in its actors.
Why is the play cursed? Some say that witches in attendance were furious that Shakespeare used incantations, and they cursed the play forevermore as retribution. Others believe that Shakespeare himself cursed the play after King James I forbade it from ever being performed again.
Whether it’s a coincidence, or it truly is cursed, we promise, we’ve been careful not to say the ‘M’ word!

The theatre workshop production of Macbeth opens in two days.

Have you purchased your tickets? https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

04/19/2022

Members of the Macbeth Ensemble braved the cold to check out the specialized Macbeth flavor “Double Double, Toffee Trouble” crafted by ! We are SO thankful for their partnership and delicious contributions to promoting our show!

04/18/2022

With the Theatre Workshop Class Production of Macbeth opening on Friday, you may be wondering just WHERE is Varian Studio (28)? Follow Arts Administration Graduate Assistants Cennidie Hall and Riley Olsen as they virtully navigate you through the Halls of Guzzetta to Varian Studio!

Link to tickets: https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

04/14/2022

The displays are up, the cast is entering tech, and the stage is set. Macbeth opens just ONE week from tomorrow. Will we see you there?

https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

04/13/2022

Meet The Ensemble of Macbeth! A semester-long culmination, Macbeth is produced by UA's Spring Workshop In Theatre Class led by Adjunct Faculty Dane Leasure. The show runs April 22-24! https://ci.ovationtix.com/34890/production/1100278

04/10/2022

A huge congratulations to Anna-Jeannine Kemper Griesacker, a former Arts Administration student, for accepting the position as the Administrative Director for The Center of Applied Drama and Autism! We cannot wait to see the wonderful things you do here!

04/09/2022

We are so excited for our very own Arts Administrator Rachael Reynolds’ Exhibition “Emboldened” opening TONIGHT at Kink Contemporary. Congrats Rachael!

Emboldened is a project that I approached McKenzie and Anna with almost two years ago. I knew I was pursuing a curatorial career so I focused my efforts on museums and galleries. I wanted to write my MA thesis on women’s representation in the arts. My program at gave me the option of doing a project-based thesis where I could tangibly execute a project and write a scholarly paper in conjunction.

As all women have, I have experienced gender-based discrimination in the workplace and the arts—everything from “smile more” to sexual harassment. I don’t know a woman who hasn’t had these experiences. Before moving to NEO, I was confronted by someone who felt they had power over me and called me an “emboldened liberal who can’t keep her mouth shut.” Speaking up for yourself as a woman was radical to this individual, and liberal was…well, you get the picture. Wasn’t it just so sweet of them to so succinctly summarize my personality? Rather than take it as an insult, as it was intended, I owned the word. Of course, I am emboldened to make change where it needs to be made.

When representing women and other underrepresented groups in gallery and museum spaces, change needs to be made. I found my thesis topic; I began researching online and through word-of-mouth whom I could have in the exhibition, and all of us were going to be emboldened to effect change if I had anything to say about it.

The written portion of my thesis first evaluates the statistics revolving around women’s representation in the arts, the sale of works by women, the women in leadership of arts institutions, and the women who pursue art in higher education compared to how many make it a career. I discuss the barriers women have faced in society concurrently with struggles in the art field and significant gaps in research contributions to art history.

Tomorrow, I will talk about the last two chapters of my thesis, which evaluate best practices for the inclusion of women and other underrepresented groups and how they were executed in the curation and design of Emboldened.

Check out the stories this afternoon for more details on statistics of women in the arts!

04/07/2022

Swords are being drawn in Scotland. Tensions will build til Birnam wood shall come to Dunsinane.

Check out Macbeth performed by UA students and other community members. This April 22nd-24th In Varian Studio in Guzzetta Hall

04/05/2022

“Something wicked this way comes”

UA Theatre Students with the support of Rubber City Theatre present Shakespeare’s Macbeth. April 22-24! Tickets are limited so get them before they’re gone!

https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/macbeth-event-page

04/02/2022

Don’t miss out! Join the party and come see “Emerge” tonight at 7:30pm at Daum Theatre. We love this jazz kick line piece, “One Last Party,” by Senior Dance major, Lauren Ferster. Get tickets and more information on our website. https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

04/02/2022

There’s one more chance to see our spring dance concert, “Emerge,” TONIGHT at 7:30pm at the Paul A. Daum Theatre! These dancers, student choreographers, and dance faculty have put together a fantastic show that you won’t want to miss. Featured here is a contemporary ballet piece choreographed by Senior Dance major, Carolyn Lott. Visit our website for tickets and more information https://www.uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

04/02/2022

Did you miss tonight’s performance of “Emerge,” UA’s spring dance concert? That’s okay! Get tickets for the show tomorrow - Saturday, April 2nd at 7:30pm and see what our dancers and faculty have been working on, like this piece, “the space between” by faculty member Christine Howe! Tickets and more information available on our website. https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

04/01/2022

Come and see “Emerge,” UA’s spring dance concert TONIGHT and tomorrow, April 1-2 at 7:30pm. Tickets and more information on our website. https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

03/31/2022

Load-in is happening for The University of Akron Steel Drum Band! They are accompanying a piece in our spring dance concert, “Emerge,” happening this Friday and Saturday April 1-2 at 7:30pm. Get tickets and more information from the link in our bio!

03/30/2022

Having fun during tech week for “Emerge,” our spring dance concert! Friday & Saturday, April 1-2 at 7:30pm. Here’s a peek of Senior Dance major, Abbey Boenig-Dombek’s piece. Check our website for tickets and more information! https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

03/29/2022

We’re in the theatre rehearsing for this weekend’s spring dance concert, “Emerge,” Friday and Saturday, April 1-2 at 7:30pm. Here’s a peek of UA Dance faculty member Colleen Barnes’ piece, “Etude No. 2,” which will be accompanied by percussionists from The UA Steel Drum Band! Get tickets and more info from our website https://uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

03/25/2022

Akron theater hosts master from Italy for workshops, performances

Akron's Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture (CATAC) is hosting a residency with Thomas Richards and members of his team from Italy that will include workshops and performances. Take a look at this article from the Akron Beacon Journal for more information.

If you haven't yet, check out CATAC's website and go see a show!
https://www.catac-akron.com/

Akron's Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture brings renowned theater artist Thomas Richards and his team from Italy for three-week residency.

03/25/2022

Rubber City Theatre, University of Akron form new partnership with professional residency

We are so excited about Rubber City Theatre's residency with us. Check out this lovely article from the Akron Beacon Journal!

Rubber City Theatre announces two-year residency at University of Akron, where students will get hands-on experience, company will give tech support.

03/19/2022

Tickets sales are live for the UA spring dance concert, “Emerge.” The show will be April 1 & 2 at 7:30pm in the Paul A. Daum Theatre. Get your tickets and more info on our website!
https://www.uakron.edu/dtaa/performances/event-pages/2021-2022/emerge-event-page

03/17/2022

Congratulations to Rachael Reynolds, one of our second-year Arts Administration graduate students, on this exciting next step!

Congratulations to Emily Davis Gallery Graduate Assistant Rachael Reynolds on her announcement that she will be pursuing her Ph.D. in Art History at Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia after the completion of her MA in Arts Administration here at The University of Akron!

Rachael Reynolds will complete her MA in Arts Administration this Spring, with a chosen emphasis on women’s representation in the arts. In addition to her role here at Myers, Rachael was a research intern at The Cleveland Museum of Art under the direction of Barbara Tannenbaum, Ph.D., Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, and Curator of Photography. Before pursuing graduate work, Rachael served as a high school educator in the Phoenix Valley of Arizona.

Rachael is a graduate of Hillsdale College in Michigan, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art with Honors in Art. She also studied photography and art history at the Florence University of Art in Florence, Italy. In addition to her concentration on photography and art history, Rachael is classically trained in sculpture, painting, and drawing. Rachael intends to pursue further graduate work in art history, taking a particular interest in the history of photography and 19th and 20th-century modern art, specifically the role of women in these histories.

Next time you stop into the Emily Davis Gallery, be sure to congratulate Rachael yourself! 🎉

03/17/2022

It's time for Rubber City Theatre to Rise.

We’re so excited to have Rubber City Theatre in residence at UA. Check out their 2022 season!

RCT is proud to announce our 2022 Season! Head to https://www.rubbercitytheatre.com/ for more information!

03/16/2022

It’s that time of year again! We’re gearing up for the UADC spring dance concert, “Emerge.” Featuring the choreography of UA dance faculty and students, the show will be April 1-2 at 7:30pm at Daum Theatre in Kolbe Hall. Stay tuned for more info and sneak peaks!