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  • Avery Trufelman stands at a podium in front of a large seated crowd.

    Podcaster and radio producer Avery Trufelman gives an artist talk for Perspectives on Performance.

  • Amy O'Neal demonstrates movement to dancers in a studio.

    Dancer, choreographer, curator and educator Amy O’Neal works with dancers in their VDIP Movement Workshop. PC: Brooke Trisolini

  • Rodney Cottier speaks to a students.

    Students participate in a Shakespeare masterclass with Rodney Cottier, head of the Drama School division at LAMDA

  • Megan Metcalf speaks to an audience

    Curator and art historian Megan Metcalf gives a Perspectives on Performance artist talk.

  • A panel discussion in the SOCH Cinema with Tanya Wideman-Davis, Thaddeus Davis, and Rosemary Johnson, moderated by LROD.

    Tanya Wideman-Davis, Thaddeus Davis, Rosemary Johnson and LROD in discussion onstage as part of a VDIP artist conversation.

A cornerstone of TDM’s mission is to provide concentrators and TDM students with direct exposure to leading artists in the fields of theater, dance and performance-based media. In addition to the Production Studios led by teams of professional artists, TDM hosts artist talks, workshops, class visits, small group discussions, and intimate performances. By attending these events, students learn about not only the ideas and aesthetics driving so much of contemporary performance, but also the nuts and bolts of how artists make their work and how they build careers in their respective fields.

Artist Talks, Master Classes, Workshops

These one-off events range from public talks and panel discussions to intimate, hands-on workshops with artists. Previous guests include costume designer Machine Dazzle, puppet artist Kate Brehm, playwrights Celine Song and Young Jean Lee, and cabaret legend Joey Arias. Open to the Harvard community.

Open Seminars

TDM Open Seminars opens up TDM's classrooms to the wider Harvard community for conversations with guest artists and speakers in intimate settings. Past guests have included writer and director Tina Satter to Live Art from Archival Sources: Devised Theater Workshop (TDM 161), interdisciplinary artist Jonathan Gonzalez to Playwriting: Intersecting Americas (TDM 165H), and dancers Wendy Whelan and Brian Brooks to Art and Empathy (TDM 182A). Open to the Harvard community.

Perspectives on Performance

Perspectives on Performance is a series that invites prominent artists and academics working at the edges of their disciplines to speak about their work in and on interdisciplinary performance. Past talks have included playwright Annie Dorsen on algorithmic theater; poet Patricia Lockwood on the communal mind; performance artist Narcissister on the body in performance; and documentarian Alison S.M. Kobayashi on archival performance. Open to all.

Career Chats

Students learn from recent graduates or seasoned professionals about how to navigate careers in theater, dance, and media. Past topics have included audition techniques, graduate programs, working in different cities, and sustaining your career by diversifying your income. Open to Harvard students.

BIPOC Play Discussion Group

TDM’s BIPOC Play Discussion Group meets once a month to discuss plays by Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color playwrights, whose works are all too often left off of the syllabi at institutions of higher education. Plays are available through the New Play Exchange, accessible with HarvardKey. Past play discussions have included works by Larissa FastHorse, Jordan E. Cooper, and Octavio Solis. Open to Harvard students and faculty.

Copies of the script are available on the New Play Exchange website. HOLLIS provides free access to the New Play Exchange script database with your HarvardKey.

Upcoming Events