Department of Theatre & Dance

 Welcome to the WKU

Department of Theatre & Dance!

From aspiring actors to dedicated dancers to imaginative designers, the WKU Theatre & Dance program offers specialized training that launches students forward on their artistic paths. As a collaborative family, the Theatre & Dance department provides students the best in training and creative opportunities in order to inspire and captivate audiences within our own college community, out in the world of show business, and across the globe.

 

What distinguishes WKU Theatre & Dance?

 

We love to work!

Each year we produce five MainStage shows, including at least one or two plays, two musicals or a musical and an opera, and two major dance concerts. Other performance and design opportunities include our children's series, student-directed studio series, student-choreographed dance concerts, and every other year, a New Works Festival. In a typical year we'll produce 20 to 30 different shows and around 75 individual performances. And that's not even counting the shows by Happy Gas, our local improv troupe!

We love to create!

Of course we study the classics and produce well-known favorites, but we also create our very own pieces. Today, performance artists must know how to craft their own opportunities, and students learn this crucial skill on our stages every day. Our students are the writers, devisers, choreographers, directors, designers, performers, stage managers, dramaturgs, and technical directors for completely original works. Through unleashed imagination at every stage of the creative process, we are a part of the living, evolving worlds of contemporary theatre and dance. 

We love to learn!

As an artist, you never stop learning and exploring. Our faculty shares this enthusiasm for discovery, carrying with them experiences from every level of academia and around the world. Our students, alumni, and faculty alike are forever studying, adventuring, creating, and carving out their own remarkable journeys. 

 

We want to help you find your passion,

then transform that passion into reality.