Associate department chair and head of the dance area Charles O. Anderson has received the prestigious Creative Research Award from The University of Texas at Austin's Office of the Vice President for Research and the University Co-operative Society recognizing his extraordinary creative achievement and scholarship in 2019 as the artistic director of DANCE THEATRE X and the creator of the evening-length dance performance (Re)current Unrest.

Faculty member and Texas Performing Arts scenic studio supervisor J.E. Johnson, along with three other local Austin artists, recently shared his thoughts on the struggles and creative innovations experienced while working during this time. Johnson touched on his hands-on Performance Robots course and how it has shifted due to the pandemic.

The VORTEX Theatre, helmed by producing artistic director and alumna Bonnie Cullum (M.F.A. 1989), recently received a Cultural Division grant of $200,000 from the Texas Commission on the Arts to support the to support the continuation of creative works in the Six Square - Austin's Black Cultural District. Funds will support the Vortex's upcoming production National New Play Network's rolling premiere of Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven by Reina Hardy (M.F.A. 2014). 

In a recent article for Teen Vogue, current student Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel explored the guiding and grounding nature of theatre through interviews with grade school educators and students. Among them was faculty member Katie Dawson, who spoke about how Drama for Schools helps teachers incorporate drama-based teaching styles into their classrooms to foster connections with students.

Revisit the brilliant work of Department of Theatre and Dance and School of Design and Creative Technologies students with this collection of select performances from this year’s Evolution (Virtual Edition) showcase, which exhibited the resilience and adaptability of our students, as well as insight into the process of remote collaboration.

Alumnus Andrew Hinderaker's (M.F.A. 2013) new 10-episode drama Away, which follows an astronaut who must leave her family behind to lead a treacherous, three-year mission to Mars, premiered on Netflix on September 4, 2020. 

Faculty member Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is one of the first commissioned playwrights selected for Lincoln Center Theater's new initiative, The Beaumont New Play Commission Program. As a commissioned playwright, Jacobs-Jenkins will create work for the Broadway and Tony-eligible Vivian Beaumont Theater.

In lieu of a ceremony, this year's Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award recipients, including faculty member and associate department chair Charles O. Anderson, were honored with a video celebrating their success as dedicated educators who continue to go above and beyond, enriching the education of their students.

To celebrate the start of a new academic year, the Theatre and Dance Undergraduate Advisory Council has developed unique online events that will help welcome incoming students to the department. From a game night to virtual Convocation, they are ensuring that our new Longhorns have a chance to make connections and meet their peers as the semester starts.

Undergraduate student Libby Carr recently spoke about their experience attending the National New Play Network's M.F.A. Playwrights' Workshop for their play sad girl hours. Carr shared their inspiration and goals for the play as well as the lessons they learned from working within a collaborative theatre community.

Texas Performing Arts has teamed up with Fusebox Festival to launch a new residency program for Austin-based performing artists. This year's artists consist of faculty members Gesel Mason and Charles O. Anderson, alum Rudy Ramirez and the artists of Frank Wo/Men Collective, many of whom are alumni or current students at the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Graduate students Jasmine Games and Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel have been selected as the two recipients of the 2020 Texas Educational Theatre Association's Founders' Scholarship for Upper Division/Graduate Theatre Students.

Alumna Veronica Boccardo (B.F.A. 2017) holds the lead role in "Ms. Anita," a short film about a dancer who struggles under the weight of her own self-criticism. The film, which has garnered multiple international awards, is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Theatre and Dance students Andrea L. Hart, Anna Skidis Vargas and Zoey Crow created virtual performances for UT Orientation, providing incoming Longhorns with an introduction to the university despite being unable to attend orientation on the 40 Acres.

Faculty member Charles O. Anderson has been selected to receive a 2020 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, an honor recognizing a select number of educators throughout the entire UT System for their dedication to students and the university.

Alumna Christian Henley (B.F.A. 2017), who graduated as part of the initial cohort of the revived B.F.A. in Acting program at the Department of Theatre and Dance, was recently featured as a dancer in Toni Braxton's new music video for her song "Dance." 

Faculty member Leah Cox is a featured dancer and collaborator in Liz Lerman's upcoming work entitled Wicked Bodies. Inspired by the grotesque artistic depictions of women's bodies throughout history, Wicked Bodies will be presented by Jacob's Pillow featuring a discussion with Lerman on August 7, 2020.

Playwright and faculty member Lisa B. Thompson's play collection, entitled Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues, is now available for purchase. Thompson's work touches a variety of themes within the Black experience in America, including family, racial violence and motherhood.

Associate Professor of Practice Rusty Cloyes has been named the recipient of the 2020 Department of Theatre and Dance Teaching Excellence Award, a prestigious teaching accolade recognizing his contributions to student success within the department.

Recent graduate Audrey Loomis (B.A. 2020) has been selected to present her research at Utah Shakespeare Festival's Wooden O Symposium this August. She is one of the few undergraduate speakers chosen to present her thesis, entitled "Unsex Me: Exploring Gendered Adaptations in Shakespeare," at this year's virtual symposium, August 3-4, 2020.