Dance and Drama

The Department of Dance and Drama expects its faculty members to engage in significant work as artists and/or as scholars of theatre, dance, and film. This means, primarily, producing works which will be seen by audiences: for example, choreography, film-making, designing, screen and playwriting, directing, performing, etc. The Department also values the more conventional kinds of scholarly engagement, such as publications, lectures, presentations at professional meetings, consultations, and the like. The Department encourages its members to participate actively in appropriate professional organizations.

The Department emphasizes that we engage in arts that, by their very nature, require us to collaborate with other artists and that are intended to be performed for audiences. As such, the Department expects its members to create work of a high, professional caliber with Kenyon students and departmental colleagues. We stress that the artistic process of such work done with Kenyon students for Kenyon audiences must involve a process of the same high caliber --- that is, the same degree of preparation, commitment, time, and artistic judgement --- as the best work done in the field.

We recognize the difficulties of balancing the requirements of theatre, dance, or TV/film companies with the demands of a busy collegiate teaching and production schedule, and that such work may not be available solely during college vacations or in the summer. We especially recognize that our artistic work competes in commercial markets which we can neither control nor predict. Nonetheless, the Department expects its members to bring their work before audiences beyond the college community, whether through publications, conference presentations, conducting workshops, juried exhibitions, performances, productions, or other means. The Department tries to support such work with time, office and administrative support, and other means within our jurisdiction.