Alumna Josy Miller (PhD, performance studies, ‘15) returns
to UC Davis in fall 2023 as guest artist to direct William
Shakespeare’s classic comedy As You Like It.
The 180 Series of courses provide exciting practical instruction
and participation in all aspects of theatrical and dance
production. Whether you are exploring these courses as a
Theatre & Dance Major, Minor, or are simply an interested
non-affiliated student, you will find passionate people working
to create art and tell stories on stage. We invite you to
join us at this link.
Emile Rappaport (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘19) works in
video production for the Los Angeles based Zach
King Team which specializes in making short, high
concept videos that are shared onto Tik Tok, Instagram, and
YouTube, though Rappaport originally arrived in L.A. to
pursue an acting career.
We are dismayed at the recent racist violence, and murders, in
Atlanta, and across the country, against Asian and Asian-American
people and women in particular. We recognize that this is part of
an ongoing regime of racism and violence and denounce it.
We stand in solidarity with those working against racism in
our communities, workplaces, government, and cultural
environment.
As Artists and Educators in Theatre, Dance, and Performance we
unequivocally condemn the historically rooted and pervasive
racist murders of African Americans and other people of color by
police in the United States and globally. We acknowledge these
most recent examples are not unique. We acknowledge this plague
is systemic and extends beyond the police. We cannot function as
a society, nor as a learning institution, in a context where
people of color cannot walk, jog, drive, talk, or even sleep in
their homes safely without fear of being murdered by the state.
We certainly cannot teach our craft, which is by its very nature
a living and breathing engagement with all people, without
denouncing this violence, and the hateful rhetoric that fuels it.
Alumna Raissa
Simpson (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘16), artistic director of
PUSH Dance Company, and
her company have won an Isadora Duncan Dance Award in
the category of Outstanding Achievement in Performance Ensemble.
The recognition came for the work Expedition, directed
and choreographed by Simpson and performed outside in
front of 447 Minna Street, San Francisco.
Alumna and instructor Jennifer Grace (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘21)
starred in an acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Our
Town in 2009 that Barbie director Greta Gerwig drew
inspiration from as she wrote the screenplay for her breakout
film Lady Bird. Gerwig shared that insight with film
legend Francis Ford Coppola in a November 2017 Q&A for
Interview magazine.
Alumnus and winter 2024 Granada Artist-in-Residence Dahlak
Brathwaite (B.A., English and theatre and dance,
’08) recently directed the original play Yankee
Bajan at Errol Barrow Center for Creative Imagination,
Walcott Warner Theatre, University of the West Indies,
Barbados.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will hold auditions for a
vocalist/performer for the role of Amiens in the fall quarter
production of As You Like It. The auditions will be held
Sept. 26 in the Arena Theatre, Wright Hall, 6:30-8 p.m.
Open to all UC Davis students, the casting for this role is not
gender specific but the creative team is looking for someone who
can sing. Please sign up for an audition slot at the link above.
“All the world’s a stage,” when the Department of Theatre and
Dance presents William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like
It. The classic opens the department’s 2023-2024 season
on Nov. 16 in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
Triggered by a hate crime which brought attention to
the lack of hate crime laws nationwide, The Laramie
Project is a riveting contemporary drama that
challenges the inhabitants of a rural American community.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presents the play Feb. 22,
23, 24, 29 and March 1 at 7 p.m. and March 2 at 2 p.m. in the
Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop,
internationally acclaimed hip-hop performer/creator and alumnus
Dahlak Brathwaite (B.A., English and theatre and dance, ’08)
returns to UC Davis for a five-week hip-hop workshop of a new
musical theatrical performance piece in winter quarter.
Performances developed in the workshop project are March 7, 8 and
9 at the Wyatt Pavilion Theatre and begin at 7 p.m.
This timeless drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s
Corners, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is an American
classic. The Department of Theatre and Dance presents the
play May 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 at 7 p.m. and May 25 at 2 p.m.
in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present the spring 2023
dance concert June 4-6 in the Della Davidson Performance
Studio, Nelson Hall. Performances begin at 7 p.m.
The program features new works created by student choreographers
under the direction of Doria E. Carlson, visiting professor,
theatre and dance.
