Partnerships and Affiliations

The Department of Theatre and Dance enjoys academic, artistic and professional relationships with a variety of related programs that enhance our students' education.

American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA)

Dance Repertory Theatre (DRT), the Department's student dance company, is an annual participant in the South Central Regional American College Dance Festival. A biennial event, the National College Dance Festival showcases works selected from each regional conference. DRT is regularly been selected to perform at the national ACDFA gatherings at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The UT Department of Theatre and Dance was the host of the 2006 South Central American College Dance Festival.

Harry Ransom Center (HRC)

The Harry Ransom Center (HRC) is home to one of the world's pre-eminent humanities archives. Students in the Department of Theatre and Dance make use of the HRC in many ways, from researching costumes in its film archive to taking classes that make use of its play collection, to assisting as curators on major HRC exhibitions. The HRC's collections include, among many others, the archives (including papers, original photographs, etc.) of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Stella Adler, Harry Houdini, Terrence McNally, Harold Pinter, Lillian Hellman, David Hare, Steve Martin, and Doris Lessing, and Gordon Conway.

The James A. Michener Center for Writers (MCW)

The Department of Theatre and Dance playwriting program has a formal relationship with the James A. Michener Center for Writers (MCW). The MCW is an umbrella organization for creative writing programs at UT, sponsored in part by donations from James A. Michener. The MCW provides fellowship support for student writers, as well as program support for visiting writers, residencies and workshops. Each year, several Department playwriting students hold MCW fellowships. The MCW has also developed an interdisciplinary M.F.A. degree in writing, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance, Department of Radio/Television/Film, and the Department of English.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF)

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities, nationwide, that has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents. In particular, final playwriting projects are adjudicated by the Playwriting Awards program of the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival. Many of our departmental productions have received honors at KCACTF.

New Play Development Workshops

The Department hosts workshops of major new material targeted at young audiences in affiliation with major children's theatre companies. "The Yellow Boat," which was co-produced by Metro Theatre Company of St. Louis and Childsplay, was developed with Department direction, dramaturgy, lighting design and graduate student performers. The finished production played in residence and also toured. "The Wolf Child" (Seattle Children's Theatre) and "Time Again in Oz" (Seattle Children's Theatre) are other examples of new works that the Department has produced in conjunction with major children's theatre companies as part of this program.

University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA)

The Department has held a long relationship with the University/Resident Theatre Association. U/RTA encourages the professional training of artists, and of future teachers in the performing arts for all levels of education. Department faculty regularly attend the annual U/RTA auditions and interviews.

United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT)

Faculty and students regularly participate in research and design presentations as part of the annual national conference of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology.