Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

"What Are The Chances?" Choreographic Process, Kloey Monthei, Janet Strzelec, Tricia Zweier

2025 Student Academic Showcase

My Senior Capstone Project for the Lindenwood Dance Program's Spring Concert explores the balance between randomness and planned structure in dance creation. Inspired by choreographer Merce Cunningham, who pioneered using chance methods (like flipping coins or rolling dice) to determine aspects of dance, I'm creating an original performance that blends intentional design with unexpected elements. This research-based project adapts Cunningham's innovative approach by developing my own system of randomization to generate movement combinations that I might not discover through traditional choreographic methods. Rather than following a linear narrative, the dance emerges through this experimental process where some elements are deliberately …

Sensory Inclusion In The Dance Classroom, Hannah Shafer

2025 Student Academic Showcase

Dance has historically been inaccessible to individuals with unique sensory perceptions of the world. Throughout this research project, viable ways of accommodating for these perceptions will be explored. This will be done through research and the testimonies of individuals who currently live with a unique sensory perception. Unique sensory perceptions are not limited to just neurodivergent individuals (those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, and more), but also for those who do not have the ability to use one or more of their senses. While the information is curated with the intent for dance classrooms, it can …

Spring Dance Concert, April 24-26, 2025, Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for the Spring Dance Concert, April 24-26, 2025.

Proper Stance, Kassie Lane

Playwriting Contest

Setting: An unoccupied park at midday. Honking, people, and other city sounds can be heard in the background. Bianca and Timothy are walking towards the spot under the railroad bridge that goes over the park, where the rest of their small dance troupe is waiting.

Actors: Jamiya Haynes; Nicholas Washington; Matthew Sagols

Stage Directions: Hannah Grimm

Scorpion, Breane Barrios

Playwriting Contest

A young couple struggles with an unwanted intruder.

Director: Corinna Rodriguez

Actors: Chrissy Graham; Jimmy Kalal

Stage Director: Ryan Cosillo

Resilient Wild Violets, Bee Bishop

Playwriting Contest

Characters:

LESLIE is butch woman around late fifties/early sixties and is the owner of a local floral arrangement shop “The Green Carnation” that has been running since 1969.

DOROTHY is a frantic woman in her late teens/early twenties looking for some gardening help

Director: Morgan Erickson

Actors: Maddie Poorman; Lexi Schiro; Ethan Diaz

Stage Directions: Ethan Diaz

Her Hair, Avery Smith

Playwriting Contest

SETTING: Inside Keira’s bedroom. A door on the left side, a twin-sized bed in the back corner, and a desk with a full-body mirror on the right side of the room.

Director: Bre Auriemme

Actors: Sophia Marino; Ross Dumont Snider

Stage Directions: Neela Lugo

Dance Partner, Basil Jaber

Playwriting Contest

Setting: A modest, cozy living room with a TV.

Director: Ashley Chavez

Actors: Elyse Byron, Taylor Baird

Fitness Instructor/Stage Directions: Katrina Spencer Fenner

Volume 16, Maggie Duncan, Madeline Little, Alicia Hoffman, Megan Livesay, Gabrielle Quaresma, Serenity Allen, Laina Pfountz, Ainslie Allred, Sabrina Robles, Nicholas J. Duellman, Trinity L. Deguzman, Melissa H. Savage, Margaret Dudley, Jocelyn Escobar, Olivia Hildreth, Olivia Hopkins, Benjamin Gettier, Lee Kassay, Jade Riddle, Ashley Seiders

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Amorette Barber, Director, Office of Student Research

From the Editor Dr. Hannah Dudley-Shotwell

Artist’s Statement Maggie Duncan

On Mentoring Dr. Lee Millar Bidwell

The Hujum Campaign in Uzbekistan and its Consequences by Madeline Little

Wet Cupping Compared to Dry Needling for Treatment of Patients with Low Back Pain: A Critically Appraised Topic by Alicia Hoffman and Megan Livesay

Optimization of eDNA Air Sampling Via 3D Printed Fan by Gabrielle Quaresma

Beyond the Classroom: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Attrition and Retention by Serenity Allen and Laina Pfountz

The Treatment of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome with Platelet-Rich plasma Injections Verses …

"Nunsense" Promptbook, Peyton H. Mccarthy

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Peyton Helene McCarthy's promptbook submission for her Senior Project in stage management (SM): SMing UMW Theatre's fall 2024 production of "Nunsense" by Dan Goggin

NOTE: SM documentation templates and formatting included in Peyton's promptbook were directly provided and/or inspired by Brandon Prendergast's professional paperwork and intellectual property.

A Special Little Guy, Amelia Emory

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Amelia Emory’s Senior Project for UMW Theatre’s production of Matilda the Musical.

The Wedding Singer, Parkland College

Parkland Theatre

Book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy
Music by Matthew Sklar
Lyrics by Chad Beguelin
Based upon the New Line Cinema film
Written by Tim Herlihy

Director: Jacob Deters
Music Director: Caitlin Richardson
Choreographer: Whitney Havice
Stage Manager: Chandra Galloway
Scenic Designer: Molly Ilten-Fullan
Lighting Designer: Nick Shaw
Costume Designer: Sheri Doyle
Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Logan Dirr
Properties: Cindy Adamek
Wigs and Makeup Design: Michael Steen

April 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, May 2, 3 at 7:30pm
April 27, May 4 at 3pm
Spring 2025

To view images from this production, visit The Wedding Singer (2025).

Le Genre En Jeu : Le Corps Sexué Socialement Construit Dans La Dispute De Marivaux, Aubrey Lewis

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

La Dispute de Marivaux est avant tout une comédie en prose écrite pour explorer des thèmes tels que la vanité, la psyché humaine et l'amour-propre. Dans cet essai, j'explorerai un aspect souvent négligé de cette pièce—le genre et le sexe—en soutenant que le jeu délibéré de Marivaux avec le langage, l'intrigue et les enjeux de la pièce sont des interventions directes dans le discours sur le genre en tant que construction sociale. S'inspirant de l'ouvrage de Judith Butler "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution : An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory,” cet essai analyse La Dispute de Marivaux non seulement …

38. Protest 2025. United Faculty [Article]

LGBTQIA+ Archive Class Projects

Citation: NI Staff. (2025, April 9). United Faculty cements opposition to higher education bills in statement. Northern Iowan, 3.

Winter's End: Stopping The Rite And Reclaiming Spring, Jessica Wilson

Theatre & Dance ETDs

This dissertation examines intersections of patriarchy, feminist movements, and the recurring theme of women’s sacrifice, through an artistic lens. Using The Rite of Spring as a central subject, I explore the societal expectation of women’s sacrifice and its persistent representation in art. By analyzing two pivotal interpretations, Vaslav Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) and Pina Bausch’s Das Fruhlingsopfer (1975), within the chronological context of feminist waves in the United States, I investigate how these works reflect and critique cycles of violence against women. Four core patterns emerge as focal points: tradition, autonomy, witnessing, and betrayal. Additionally, my choreographic reinterpretation …

Becoming Effie White: A Journey Of Evolution, Aniya Thompson

Honors Theses

This thesis paper is a reflection of Aniya Thompson’s process playing the role of Effie White in the Western Michigan University School of Theatre and Dance production of Dreamgirls. The Dreamgirls’ book and lyrics are by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. This story is of a young Black female trio whose story brings light to the challenges of the music industry. As their fame grows, they face heartbreak, a shift in loyalty, and blatant exploitation while exploring themes of race, beauty standards and perseverance. Aniya reflects her artistic journey of stepping into Effie’s shoes emotionally, vocally, and …

The Mediation Dance Of Choreography Copyright, Kassandra Sopko

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Despite its societal presence and pervasive benefits for both performers and observers, dance remains a low-paying field with limited career longevity. While dance choreography copyright protection is an option for artists to monetize their work long-term, there are significant barriers due to legal complexities, financial burdens, and lack of awareness regarding copyright protections. The limitations of the copyright landscape burden choreographers who do seek to take advantage of their intellectual property rights, and many of the current suggested solutions for protecting choreography either prove inadequate or involve negative consequences. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), particularly mediation with BATNA/WATNA incentives, presents a …

Composing The Music For Iphigenia Among The Taurians, Johnathan Hodges

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This poster session outlines the music composition process for Pepperdine’s production of Iphigenia Among the Taurians, Jan. 28-Feb. 1, Dr. Bradley Griffin, Director. My presentation focuses on the challenges I had to overcome, my goals and objectives, and finding the right sound for the score.

Meadow Brook Project: Lighting Design, Ava Bell

24th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2025)

In theatre, artists come together for collaborative storytelling. Through meetings, discussions, rehearsals and tech, designers, technicians, actors and directors decide how a story is going to be told and how they can support one another during the process. Lighting design is a crucial element of that theatrical storytelling, telling the audience where to look, when to look there, and how to feel about it. Meadow Brook Theatre's production of Ella: First Lady of Song, a musical following the life and discography of Ella Fitzgerald, was brought to life through lighting. This research allowed for the creative and technical exploration of …

Expansion Of Pilot Project: Sanctuary — A Site-Specific Dance Amplifying Worship Spaces, Kaleigh Estby

24th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2025)

A noticeable gap exists in dance designed for architecturally robust worship spaces. This research project, Sanctuary, significantly contributes to the lacking intersection of site specific dance and faith. Our research expanded Sanctuary from a 25-minute 2021 pilot to an approximately 40-minute work, priming it for future commissions and residencies. The research focused on creative processing through four steps: 1) Assess and develop pilot choreography 2) Create contrasting material 3) Integrate new material with pilot 4) Document the new material with archival video. Professor Hanson and student Kaleigh Estby developed a completed 40-minute adaptable work that equally incorporated the pilot and …