Work and play collide in the lives of students in CU鈥檚 , where self-expression is the primary driver of professional development.
Not only do undergraduate students in BA and BFA programs in Theatre and Dance have the chance to explore nuances in performance, theory and design, but they also become leaders in their chosen fields. The department hosts 4 to 6 performances each semester that incorporate the artistic vision of faculty, visiting artists and students. Undergraduate students have the opportunity to build props and set the stage for CU鈥檚 main season performances鈥攁nd even learn to run the whole show.听
Connie Lane, the department鈥檚 production coordinator, teaches a hands-on course in stage management that introduces students to multiple aspects of production.
鈥淪tage managers serve the director鈥檚 vision on each specific show,鈥� explains Lane.听
Student managers maintain a performance鈥檚 artistic integrity by involving themselves in production every step of the way. In preparing rehearsal sets to reciting cues, stage managers often work around the clock weeks ahead of a show to ensure all of its elements smoothly fall in place on opening night.
Lane鈥檚 goal, she says, is to instill 鈥渢ransferable skills鈥� in her students that propel them forward in their desired professions. But there are 鈥渋ntangible鈥� qualities that exist beyond the capabilities of her instruction, among them: instinct, compassion and organization.
Two of Lane鈥檚 former students, seniors Sarah Baughman and Jamie Holzman, exemplified those skills early on and became stage managers over the course of their academic careers at CU.
Baughman, a 22-year-old psychology and theatre major from St. Louis, began her career in theatre during middle school where she worked behind the scenes in technical design and production. She helped manage her first play in the 8th grade. Her responsibilities increased throughout high school and she learned to lead entire shows while at CU.
As a freshman, she served as the assistant stage manager in The Loft, a small experimental black box space, and now oversees plays at the University Theatre, says Lane.
Baughman led 础听Broadway Christmas Carol and Jesus Christ Superstar this year and helped build stage sets and props along the way.
鈥淭he shows are amazing and during [technical rehearsal] when they come together, I think, is the best part,鈥� says Baughman. 鈥淵ou finally have ownership of what you鈥檝e been working up to.鈥�
Taking the lead in the production of was her biggest accomplishment yet. Twenty-eight performers and more than several crew members and design teams coordinated with her in preparation for the show, which ran for eight consecutive nights.
鈥淪he鈥檚 communicating to 12 people through the course of every show to tell them when to do their cues,鈥� explains Lane.
Baughman called over 400 cues鈥攊ncluding musical notes鈥攆or cast members and design technicians, a skill she鈥檚 honed through practice night after night in rehearsal. Her dedication and interpersonal skills that made that work at CU possible are leading her toward a career in theatre. She has applied for a stage management internship after graduation at The Julliard School in New York, a private performing arts conservatory in frequent connection with CU鈥檚 faculty and students.
Like Baughman, 21-year-old Delaware-native Holzman took strides as an undergraduate to become a leader among her peers. She manages shows hosted by while pursuing a BFA in dance performance. After assisting on the set of a master鈥檚 student performance, Holzman studied the ins and outs of stage production throughout her freshman year. Open Space, an annual student dance concert hosted by CU Dance Connection, was the first performance she led as a sophomore.
鈥淚 really love that it鈥檚 active, hands-on work and everyday is different,鈥� explains Holzman, who also managed the student-choreographed show FRESH.
CU鈥檚 Dance Program offers ten technique classes ranging from jazz to aerial dance. BFA students focus in areas such as movement analysis, performance and pedagogy. As seniors, they choreograph a shared concert with other BFA students. In February, Holzman engendered 鈥淭he process the ritual,鈥� and wrote an honors thesis examining her creative process.
Communicating her artistic vision to other dancers and formulating ways to represent those ideas on paper was the most difficult task she faced in her time at CU, she says. 鈥淐hallenge is a great opportunity.鈥�
Holzman managed the largest production of her career, The Current, during the same week Jesus Christ Superstar premiered. The 7-piece experimental performance exhibited works by CU dance faculty and guest artists.听
鈥淚 really enjoy it because I am a dancer first and a performer first, so it鈥檚 easy for me to see cues and to anticipate music,鈥� she says.
To help foster management skills in artists like Holzman, Lane teaches students how to work with different personality types. Holzman says she learned more about herself in sending those techniques into practice.
She plans to travel through Europe after graduation and, later, create workshops for workers in high-stress environments that involve dance somatics 鈥攁 field she aspired to pursue while at CU. Somatics courses at CU teach dancers how to become more aware of bodily sensations and prevent injury.
鈥淚 never even dreamed that I would be dancing in college,鈥� says Holzman. 鈥淚t just seems like there鈥檚 endless possibilities and CU鈥檚 dance program teaches us to believe that.鈥�
Photo:听Theatre & Dance鈥檚 Amateur production of Jesus Christ Superstar on April 15, 2015.
