Whether you’re interested in dancing or acting, plays and playwriting, choreography, directing or design, we invite you to learn and create with us.
Naveen Choudhury, Jeff Jean Philippe, Raffeal Sears, Eleanor Goudie-Averill, and Jungeun Kim have joined the Department of Theater and Dance!
All Department Faculty
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive department. Majors and non-majors, first-years and upper-class students, and Five College students all work together to produce our season of theater and dance. There are lots of opportunities -- extracurricular and curricular -- for all students.
Information for New Students
All Theater & Dance shows are free, unless otherwise noted.
All Events
The Theater and Dance major provides an interdisciplinary foundation in the arts of theater and dance, and in their history, theory and literature.
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This program pools dance offerings from Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the UMass Amherst, creating one of the largest dance programs in the nation.
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Our students produce a full seasons of shows alongside accomplished faculty, learning by doing while showcasing our students' talents and achievements.
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We have two theaters, equipped with modern lighting and sound technology, a scene shop, a costume shop, an audio lab and four studio workspaces for performance, rehearsal and design.
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Our alumni—a collection of vibrant actors, writers, scholars, educators and designers—work all over the world in film, television, theatre, education and arts administration.
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Together, Amherst’s dynamic arts programs foster a lively environment for the multidisciplinary study, creation and presentation of the arts.
Learn MoreA first college-level course in the fundamentals of acting, with an emphasis on the connections between dramatic action and character. Students learn how to analyze dramatic texts and bring them to life through a collaborative process, and by using body, voice and imagination.
This is a studio course in collaboration leading to completed theatrical creations. Students produce a portfolio of short projects. Readings, writing, and class discussion are devoted to the shared practices of acting and directing, and to individual problems and approaches.
A workshop for writers who want to complete a full-length play or series of shorter plays with an emphasis will be on bringing a script to a level at which it is ready for the stage.
Emma Ratshin '22E's senior thesis "Bad Jews" was performed last weekend, providing a provocative and dark examination of family, religious identity, and community. (Photo by Emma Ratshin '22E)
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