Spring Dance Concert, MFA Design Portfolio Review, plus great news about arts on campus!
Monday, May 3, 2021

We are rounding the corner to the end of the semester! Our virtual Spring Dance Concert is coming up at the end of this week, so be sure to tune in (see the details below). We also have our annual MFA Design Portfolio Showcase coming up on Tuesday, May 18, which will take place online for the second year. Don't miss this chance to see the amazing work of our graduate designers!

Huge congratulations to associate professor Jared Mezzocchi on being featured in the New York Times for his work on live, digital theatre. It was great to see how his work and our school is being recognized for innovation in live theatre.

President Pines announced at his inauguration ceremony the new UMD Arts for All initiative, which will provide increased opportunities for students to expand the arts on campus and integrate their work with other disciplines. In addition, TDPS' collaborative project, "Subject to Change," was featured during the inauguration festivities. The feature shows how our school pivoted to a digital approach creating work inspired Virginia Woolf's novel "Orlando." See the full video below!

Finally, commencement is coming up! The campus-wide ceremony will take place in-person on Friday, May 21. Check out the details below. There will also be opportunities to celebrate with the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the College of Arts and Humanities. Stay tuned for details about those celebrations!
 In this newsletter:

  • Upcoming events
  • Feature stories
  • News
  • Opportunities
Upcoming events
Spring Dance Concert
Patrik Widrig, director

Online
May 7 & 8, 7:30PM

In this varied, vibrant and celebratory dance presentation, the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies offers new works of art in motion. The performance consists of a selection of undergraduate and graduate dance student choreography and works by artist-in-residence Marielis Wentworth Garcia and guest choreographer Chuck Wilt, artistic director of UNA Productions based on the west coast.

Register for free tickets here.
MFA Design Portfolio Review

Online
May 18
One-on-one interviews 9AM-3PM
Open house 4-7PM

Please join us for our MFA Design Digital Portfolio Showcase!

At the end of each academic year, our MFA Design candidates present their design portfolios for review by faculty and local design professionals. This year, the portfolio review will take place on Zoom. Design portfolios include studio projects as well as fully realized academic and professional scenic, costume, lighting or projection designs.

Check out the MFA Design portfolio website here.

RSVP here.
End-of-Semester Showings

If your class is presenting a public showing of end-of-semester work, please email Bobby Hunter at rhunter1@umd.edu with your course title, the date/time of your showing, and the access link (Zoom or otherwise). We are compiling a list so that folks can sign up and attend the showings.

The following showing has been confirmed:
  • First Year Dance Graduate Cohort with faculty Kendra Portier and Sam Crawford - Monday, May 10, 1-2:15PM
  • DANC109: Improvisation with faculty Sara Pearson - Tuesday, May 11, 11:15AM-12:15PM

If you would like to join a public end-of-semester showing, please email Bobby Hunter at rhunter1@umd.edu or Kate Spanos at kspanos@umd.edu to get access to the Zoom links.
Spring 2021 Commencement
The University of Maryland will be holding its campuswide Spring 2021 Commencement in person on Friday, May 21, 2021. In order to accommodate all graduates while practicing safe physical distancing, the ceremonies will be held at 11AM and 4PM at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. More details here.

Our TDPS celebration will take place on Zoom on Thursday, May 20 at 10AM. In addition, the College of Arts & Humanities (ARHU) will present a celebration of this year's graduates on Thursday, May 20 at 1PM. Stay tuned for more details about how to participate!
Have an event you want to share?
Please email tdpsmarketing@umd.edu
Feature stories
Broadening the Arts Umbrella
In case you missed it, President Pines announced UMD's new Arts for All initiative at his inauguration ceremony two weeks ago.

“The goal is that every student at Maryland would have a meaningful arts engagement while they’re here,” said Bonnie Thornton Dill, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU). The initiative aims to improve student experience by “addressing what we see as growing demand and interest of integrating the arts into life both within and beyond the curriculum, and providing opportunities to combine arts interests with other fields,” she said.

Read the full article here and check out the new Arts for All portal.
See how students and faculty in UMD's School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies collaborated on a dance film, "Subject to Change," inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel "Orlando" that pivoted the production from stage to film. This video was featured as part of President Pines' inauguration festivities. Congrats to all involved in this project!
How a Multimedia Whiz Seized Digital Theater’s Big Moment
Associate professor Jared Mezzocchi was recently featured in the New York Times for his work over the past year on creating live, digital theatre. He says:

"If an audience feels like it’s important that they’re there and listening, they’re going to listen differently. And if the performer knows there’s an audience listening in a particular way, it’s going to be different."

Read the full story here. Congrats, Jared!
Podcasting the Humanities
Check out this feature article about how TDPS graduates students are reaching a wider audience through podcasts related to the arts and humanities. Ph.D. student Jordan Ealey and M.F.A. dance candidate Cyrah Ward attended a virtual residency at the National Humanities Center to learn the technical side of podcasting, as well as approaches to collaboration, project management and accessibility.

Read the full story here.
“Making information accessible is hard work,” Ealey explained. Ward added, “For both of us, podcasting is about talking to multiple audiences at once and empowering everyone to contribute to social change.”
News
  • Congratulations to Lindsey Kasabian (BA Theatre '03) on being named senior vice president of casting for Freeform. Working closely with Freeform president Tara Duncan, Kasabian will be responsible for identifying and helping to select the acting talent for all ongoing series and pilots at the cable net.

  • Congrats to MFA design candidate Andrés Poch on being interviewed for this great LiveDesign article, "Word. Sound. Power. 2021, An Interactive Hip-Hop Concert At BAM," The article is about creating interactive and *live* virtual performance with ViDCo, a TDPS-based collection of designers who are innovating new ways to tell stories and create communities online.

  • TDPS alum Agyeiwaa Asante (BA Theatre '18) received the Ollie New Play Award, one of the 2021 Idea Awards from the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation. The award is bestowed with a $30,000 prize. She will also start the MFA program in playwriting at the University of California at San Diego in the fall. Congrats, Agyeiwaa!

  • TDPS alum Noelle Roy (BA Theatre '16), now a publicist at Wolf, and fellow UMD alum Sophie Yan '10 were involved in Oscar-winning film, “If Anything Happens I Love You." The short film won Best Animated Short Film last weekend for its moving depiction of grief in the aftermath of gun violence. Read more about their contributions to the project in Maryland Today.
Have news you want to share?
Please email tdpsmarketing@umd.edu
Opportunities
  • NEW Brant Lake Camp and Brant Lake Dance Camp in the Adirondack mountains of New York is seeking college age counselors for this summer. If you are interested in this opportunity, you can visit the Brant Lake Dance Camp website or email Richieg@brantlake.com.

  • NEW Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is accepting submissions from non-union performers, age 18+, for the upcoming outdoor summer production The Adventures of Pericles. Submit self-tape video by Wednesday, May 5, 5PM ET. Callbacks will be held via Zoom, exact time to come. These are paid positions. See details about the submission process here.

  • Join co-instructors Michael Olmert (English professor) and Jonelle Walker (TDPS PhD candidate) for ENGL409M/THET428E: Special Topics in Advanced Theatre and Performance; Literature, Art and Architecture in London this summer. This course will be a virtual visit to London and some of its surrounding towns and villages important to the study of literature, history, archaeology, architecture, and art. Class will meet from June 1 to 18 five days a week, three hours per day. This is a Global Classrooms course; learn more here or email Jonelle Walker at jwalke15@umd.edu.

  • The DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative is seeking summer interns to assist with school partnerships, education programming, program assessment, social media, and more. A community-based partnership organization, now more than 120 members strong, the DC Collaborative works to promote quality arts and humanities education for all DC public and public charter schools. Learn more here.

  • The Paul Taylor Summer Intensive in Northern Virginia is now accepting applications for this year. The intensive will take place on August 2-3 in Chantilly, VA. Limited Availability. Learn more and apply here.

  • Camp Rim Rock, an all-girls overnight summer camp located in West Virginia, is hiring Performing Arts staff for Summer 2021. They are seeking camp counselors who have an outgoing personality, a good sense of humor, strong teaching skills in your activity area, good leadership ability, and experience in supervising and instructing children. Campers range in ages from 6 to 15, and all age groups work towards a short performance at the end of a two-week session. In addition to Dance, Drama, and Chorus counselors, there are positions available in Arts & Crafts, Photography, Horseback Riding, Sports, Waterfront, and as a General Counselor. For more information, job requirements, and to apply please visit www.camprimrock.com or email assistant director Shana Ferguson at shana@camprimrock.com.

  • Bates Dance Festival is seeking administrative interns and technical and site-specific production interns for 2021. Learn more about the internships and apply here.

  • $1,780,000 in Grants for Black Artists provides a list of best grants for Black filmmakers, painters, game developers, dancers, designers, musicians, photographers, and artists of all kind. Subscribe for Artizen updates and see the full list of opportunities here.

  • The Joffrey Ballet School is offering 2021 summer internships. Find out more on their website.

  • Studio Theatre has opened applications for next year's apprenticeship program. As a respected midsized theatre, Studio is both ambitious enough to provide invigorating programming and small enough to allow its apprentices unique access to the theatre’s artistic and administrative leadership. The work is rigorous and rewarding; apprentices have a full schedule, and work together with the staff to meet the demanding deadlines of the field. Night and weekend hours are sometimes required. Learn more about the apprenticeship program here and apply here.
Have an opportunity you want to share?
Please email tdpsmarketing@umd.edu

 Do you have something you want to share with the TDPS community?
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The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
advances and transforms the research and practice of the performing arts
through a commitment to excellence and innovative education.

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Kate Spanos, Coordinator of Marketing & Communications