Full Name:
Chrissy Shackelford
Major/Year:
Theatre & Dance/4th-Year
Favorite class in Theatre & Dance and why:
My favorite class in the Theatre & Dance department thus far has been Languages of the Stage with Rebecca Rossen. In that class we read plays and saw dance performances and analyzed them from different aspects of Theatre - costume design, scenic design, playwriting, acting, etc. It was really useful and creatively fulfilling to be able to expand outside your comfort zone while still relating to Theatre and Dance. Next semester I will be taking Empowering Your Voice with Barney Hammond and have heard nothing but amazing thing. Hopefully that class will make the list as one of my favorites.
Favorite thing about Austin:
Words cannot describe how much I love Austin, to name a few things would be Barton Springs, Alamo Drafthouse, the Greenbelt, all the local theatre, Ballet Austin, Magnolia Café, South Congress, and the list is so long and always growing. But I think my absolute favorite thing would be Black Swan Yoga. Black Swan is a little yoga studio on 5th street and it's such a nice place to relieve stress and calm down. The yoga classes are so open and the teachers’ always have great playlists during the practice. It's a good stress-free environment away from campus.
Favorite place to study:
Fine Arts Library, hands down. It's secluded from the rest of campus so it's not overpopulated and brewing with stress like other big libraries on campus. You can focus while studying and not go crazy in there.
Brief biography (including projects, awards, accomplishments):
I grew up in Dallas, Texas where I attended First Baptist Academy. In the summer of 2007, I attended the U.S. Performing Arts Camp hosted at the University of Texas and from there made the decision that UT was for me. While at UT, my work with the Department of Theatre and Dance has been in The 2009 Cohen New Works Festival production of Funky Snowman, “Juniper” in the operetta The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Assistant Choreographer on The Fantasticks 50th Anniversary, Assistant Choreographer and performer in Trying to Remember: A Portfolio of Theatre Songs by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, where I got the pleasure of singing alongside Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, “Claire” in an M.F.A. Directing production of PROOF, “Elf Ellen” in Junie B. Jones: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells in conjunction with The Paramount Theater directed by UT Professor Steven Dietz, and as “Betty” and the dance captain in The Threepenny Opera. My work within the Austin community has included performing as “Mabel” in The City Theatre Company’s production of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, and as “Helga” and the dance captain in Summerstock Austin’s Cabaret. I currently assist UT dance faculty Natasha Davison at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in choreographing their upper school musicals. Last year I got the pleasure of working on one of my favorite musicals West Side Story and this upcoming fall will work on A Chorus Line. Within the past year I have also begun working with The Paramount Theater’s outreach program Literacy to Life.
Current projects/research/interests:
This summer I am taking an acting class with Scott Kanoff, continuing to take dance classes at Ballet Austin, working with Natasha Davison on choreography for A Chorus Line, taking class at Black Swan Yoga, teaching at The Paramount Theater’s summer camps and choreographing their camp musical theatre showcase in July, working as the Student Coordinator for the incoming freshman program Camp Texas sponsored by The Alumni Center and the Texas Exes in August, and just generally enjoying Austin in the summer. In the fall, I will be performing in the UT mainstage production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde directed by M.F.A. directing candidate Daria Davis, trying to start and finish my senior year and working with St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, as well as keeping up on my reading, singing, dancing, and Facebooking.
