UM School of Theatre and Dance

UM School of Theatre and Dance Official Page of University of Montana School of Theatre & Dance! Call (406) 243-4051 for tickets

Through their continued mentorship, Associate Professor Brooklyn Draper and Adjunct Associate Professor Mark Plonsky nur...
05/10/2026

Through their continued mentorship, Associate Professor Brooklyn Draper and Adjunct Associate Professor Mark Plonsky nurture and champion our students while amplifying the presence of CAM and the School of Theatre and Dance across campus.

Each year, the Office of Undergraduate Research honors the considerable dedication of UM faculty members who consistently go above and beyond to serve as mentors to students involved in research or creative activities. This year's awards included our very own Brooklyn and Mark.

We celebrate and honor both for the care, artistry, and leadership they bring to this work!

The Dance Program has been celebrating the 2026 graduates all week! Happy graduation day. We are so proud of you! 🎓✨
05/09/2026

The Dance Program has been celebrating the 2026 graduates all week! Happy graduation day. We are so proud of you! 🎓✨

05/08/2026

Cue the lights, set the stage and take a look behind the scenes of Ronnie Avansino, a University of Montana senior about to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from UM’s College of the Arts and Media.

Congratulations to JM Christiansen for receiving his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies this week! 🎊Thesis title: Ghostl...
05/04/2026

Congratulations to JM Christiansen for receiving his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies this week! 🎊

Thesis title:
Ghostly Grieving in Theatre’s Now Also: The Dramaturgy of Perception and the Body in Contemporary American Ghost Plays

2nd photo by Ella Palulis

The School of Theatre and Dance celebrates significant interdisciplinary accomplishments by its students and faculty in ...
04/29/2026

The School of Theatre and Dance celebrates significant interdisciplinary accomplishments by its students and faculty in collaboration with the Franke Global Leadership Initiative. Following the presentation of their GLI Capstone Project, KNOW FEAR, at UMCUR, Morgan Davis, Barrett Clement, Sophie Sproull, Fiona Carson, Cosley Bruno, and Penny Meredyk, in collaboration with faculty mentor Mark Plonsky, were awarded top honors, receiving the Best Capstone Project award. Congratulations! 🎉

We are honored to highlight for completing their Junior Project this semester, choreographing for the School of Theatre...
04/28/2026

We are honored to highlight for completing their Junior Project this semester, choreographing for the School of Theatre and Dances’ adaptation of Alice In Wonderland, titled “ALICE/wonderland” 🩵

Audrey is working toward their Musical Theatre BFA, Pre-Dance Therapy BA, and Dance Wellness Certificate.

Congratulations, Audrey:) We are so proud of you! ⭐️

Photo credits: Molly Woods and Marley Barboeisel

“I knew I wanted to be involved in this unique adaptation of Alice in Wonderland from the moment it was introduced. ALICE/wonderland is loosely based on a young girl in search of something, and she finds out she had it inside of her all along. This is voiced through a large ensemble of actors, musicians, and movers, presented through a contemporary lens. I worked on music with Mark Plonsky in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing cello, and was excited about expanding my actor/musicianship skills through this project. Given my background and growing ambitions in dance/choreography, music, and theatre, this project was a wonderful platform for my junior project in dance. ALICE/wonderland was introduced as a heavy movement based project, and involves new and live music. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to work with fellow students and faculty, and I’m excited to continue learning and growing!”

We are so proud to highlight for her senior choreographic project, which was showcased this past weekend at Dance Under...
04/28/2026

We are so proud to highlight for her senior choreographic project, which was showcased this past weekend at Dance Underground.

Elinor is graduating with a BA in English Literature and a BA in Dance.

Congratulations, Elinor! We cannot wait to see what the future holds for you.💫

📸

“Using the expressive music of George Gershwin, my senior project explores the adaptation of ballet vocabulary to honor and interpret the music through the movements of the dancers onstage. The project uses four Gershwin pieces: Rhapsody in Blue and his Three Preludes. Rhapsody in Blue will be performed by fourteen dancers from Queen City Ballet in Helena, Montana, during Spring Suite on May 2nd at 7:30pm at the Helena Civic Center, and Three Preludes was performed this past weekend by three dancers from the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana during Dance Underground. Within the choreographic process, I placed emphasis on exploring movement in flat shoes and steering away from traditional hierarchical structures that have dominated ballet since it began. When working with the group of fourteen dancers, I aimed to remove hierarchy as much as possible by choosing dancers for new patterns and sections who were most easily available offstage, rather than choosing dancers based on level or assigning leads from the start of the process. This ensured that groupings fluctuated and dancers had time to rest during the lengthy piece. Solos are a recurring motif in both Rhapsody and the Preludes, and were choreographed to emphasize the artistic and technical skills of the performers. With a sense of confidence and love for dance present from the performers in both locations involved in the project, the project serves as a farewell to my time as a dance teacher at Queen City Ballet and as a dance student at the University of Montana. Gershwin’s music offers space to explore different movement qualities, and the split of locations offers space to explore different realizations of the same steps.”

Production costume students learn about mask making using sustainable practices and revisiting elementary school fun. Us...
04/27/2026

Production costume students learn about mask making using sustainable practices and revisiting elementary school fun. Using old Kaimin papers and white school glue, students are creating papier mache masks to decorate and wear to tonight’s Masquer Ball Masquerade!

There is one more night of the first weekend of Dance Underground! Meet us in PARTV in the Open Space, tonight at 7:30.$...
04/25/2026

There is one more night of the first weekend of Dance Underground! Meet us in PARTV in the Open Space, tonight at 7:30.

$10 minimum donation at the door, CASH ONLY🥰

See you there!

photos: and Cassi Evans

We are so proud of our students in the School of Theatre and Dance who presented at UMCUR last week! ✨Shoutout to Tatyan...
04/23/2026

We are so proud of our students in the School of Theatre and Dance who presented at UMCUR last week! ✨

Shoutout to Tatyana Rohrer (BA in History, BA in Russian, Minor in Dance). Check out Tatyana’s research below! 👇

Congratulations, Tatyana! 👏

First photo by

“This project seeks to track the literary lineage of the Spanish Inquisition as a cultural backdrop in Russian literature using Cervantes’ Don Quixote and “Dialogue of the Dogs” as two literary reference points. After a brief background sketch on the history of the Inquisition and its relation to the work of Cervantes, it turns to an analysis of the theme as it manifests itself in Russian literature, beginning with Gogol’s “Diary of a Madman” and extending to Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” chapter of The Brothers Karamazov, where the theme of the Inquisition culminates, becoming a vital backdrop for understanding some of the deeper layers of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest masterpiece. The project aims to situate each work in its historical and political context to explore the interplay of ideas across cultures and to understand on a deeper level how these ideas continue to shape our present-day reality, especially as modern Russian nationalists often draw Dostoevsky’s works to further their own political ends.”

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University Of Montana, School Of Theatre & Dance, PARTV Bldg, 32 Campus Drive
Missoula, MT
59812

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