At the Board of Regents meeting on May 17, a proposal to build a new facility for the Department of Dance at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance was approved. The new building will be constructed adjacent to the Brehm Pavilion at the Earl V. Moore Building. It will be approximately 24,000 gross square…

  Roger Arnett, sound engineer for the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, received an inaugural University of Michigan Staff Impact Award on May 14. Arnett was one of only six staff members across campus to be honored with an individual award. The individual Staff Impact Award is bestowed on staff members who demonstrate good…

SMTD’s new Wellness Initiative is addressing the unique physical and psychological challenges faced by performing arts students. With the exception of intercollegiate athletics, there is no program at the University of Michigan that is more physically taxing than the study of the performing arts. Instrumentalists, singers, dancers, and actors constantly use their bodies in service to…

A student-choreographed dance about racism at U-M opens eyes and sparks conversation. It is protocol at SMTD’s Collage Concerts for the audience to hold their applause until the end of the performance. This practice ensures that one act morphs seamlessly into the next while maintaining the concert’s trademark element of surprise: early music followed by big…

When Erika Henningsen arrived at Michigan as a musical theatre freshman in 2010, she viewed her classmates Taylor Louderman and Ashley Park—both seasoned sophomores—as the ultimate in cool. Seeing them on stage, she thought: “I just want them to like me, I just want to be friends with them.” Her wish came true: over the…