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  • Uproot Aesthetics Class Presentation

    Discover

    Theater, Dance & Media courses immerse students in the theory, history, and integrated practice of these performing arts

  • The Owl Answers Production Photo

    Design

    Professionals in the field guide students throughout their design, rehearsal, and learning processes

  • Young Joo Lee Workshop

    Practice

    Workshops using new media technology provide students with key learning, transferable to the classroom and stage

  • Learn

    Students work directly with practicing artists in a professional setting

  • Farkas Hall

    Performance

    Farkas Hall houses a state-of-the-art theater, a studio, seminar room, prop and electrical shops

Mission Statement

Theater, Dance & Media (TDM) combines the study of theater, dance, and media practices with the histories and theories of expressive and embodied culture. TDM’s mission responds to both the Report of the Task Force on the Arts’ demand “to make the arts an integral part of the cognitive life of the university,” as well as to the consistent appeal from students over many decades to have an interdisciplinary performing arts concentration. Drawing on the many resources already dedicated to the performing arts at the university, including the American Repertory Theater, the Harvard Theatre Collection of Houghton Library, the Office for the Arts, the Harvard Dance Center, the Harvard Music Department, and the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, this new concentration offers students the opportunity to investigate the myriad ways that live and digital arts have been used to convey the breadth of stories about the human experience.

THEATER

Students in TDM have the opportunity to take theater courses including dramatic literature, directing, theater history, acting, dramaturgy, design, and playwriting. The concentration combines theory and practice, emphasizing both academic research and production in a range of theaters on campus.  As the professional theater of Harvard University, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) plays a central role in the TDM concentration. Students take courses with professional artists at the A.R.T., and have opportunities to participate in internships that immerse them in the work of the theater and engage them with leading practitioners from around the world.

DANCE

Dance studies in the TDM interarts concentration are rooted in tradition, and committed to innovation. Courses support studies in dance composition, improvisation, performance, choreographic design and history of dance with an emphasis on collaboration and trans-disciplinary inquiry.  Opportunities to perform wide-ranging repertory, commissioned work, and installations are a focal component of coursework, and digital technology is leveraged to devise new methods for making and capturing the form. Guest artist faculty teach master classes, courses, hold residencies and create original work each academic year, fostering exceptional opportunities for students to work with luminaries and innovators who engage diverse and dynamic perspectives in the field and in disciplines linked to dance.  

MEDIA

As new media technology becomes an increasingly integral part of the theater and dance experience, students in TDM will investigate a wide range of questions about the possibilities of media in live performance.  How can live camera feeds be used on stage?  What different personalities and perspectives does new media technology offer on stage?  How can live performers relate to and interact with live feed and previously recorded material?  How do video, live sampled audio, projected text and other forms of media help tell stories on stage?  TDM students explore these questions through hands-on experience in classes, workshops, and performance.

Farkas Hall

Farkas Hall

Farkas Hall, the ancestral home of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and named in recognition of the generosity of alumnus Andrew L. Farkas ’82, is the home for the concentration in Theater, Dance & Media. This historic building on Holyoke Street houses a state-of-the-art theater, a studio and large seminar room, prop and electrical shops, production offices, and TDM concentration offices.

Virtual Tour of Farkas Hall

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