The end of the school year approaches quickly – and it feels like the whole year just flashed before my eyes. With graduation just around the corner, I feel extra sentimental about our cohort of students graduating this year for a multitude of reasons. The class of 2024 began their time at TTU during the early months of the pandemic. These students came into the program wearing masks, constantly sanitizing their hands, partaking in regular COVID testing, and taking classes virtually or in studios taped out to provide enough space to avoid touch. They will graduate with life functioning back to “normal.” So much about our world and our art practices have changed over the last four years.

In 2019, the addition onto the Maedgen Theatre (now known as the SOTD Complex) made for an exciting time to experience our new space while the Maedgen Theatre went dark for renovation. DanceTech was the last in-person performance before the university (and the whole world) went into pandemic lockdown in March 2020. There were many questions and concerns about how we might best serve these students while keeping them safe as we came back that fall. Fall 2020 also welcomed our official first cohort of BFA dance students to our program. Our 2020-2021 production season was fully online – virtual performances edited to be viewed in the privacy of our homes. We had weekly testing for students in performances and Zoom rehearsals, which added additional layers to the already difficult rehearsal process. Students in this cohort performed in dance works filmed outside wearing masks (not ideal circumstances for dancers), while others danced in our online production of A Chorus Line, which indeed could not include an actual chorus line due to space restrictions and safety concerns.

During the past four years, our School has undergone major renovations to our classroom and performance spaces. Last year, renovations for the Maedgen Theatre were completed, and I had the honor to direct and choreograph our first production in the newly renovated theatre – Sweet Charity. The musical included a diverse cast of theatre and dance students, many of whom will graduate this year. Fall Dance Festival was performed for the first time in the Black Box this year, which included both group and solos from BFA and BA dance majors (a highly successful show). One of our main studio/black box spaces in the Creative Movement Studio was renovated over the summer and now has new flooring, new paint, new risers, new lighting equipment, and new curtains. Our spaces have been transformed with state-of-the-art equipment that provide our students with the best opportunities to gain experience and grow. We have also seen new faces within our faculty and staff who have improved the quality and diversity of learning for students, including Assistant Professors of Practice, Melissa Brading and Anthony DeNaro, aka YNOT. Both theatre and dance programs also had their accreditation site visits this year, allowing us an opportunity to reflect about future planning and strategic goals.

To think that this cohort of students has endured so much change and chaos over the last four years speaks to their resiliency and the adaptability of our artform. Our creative skillsets as artists have helped us persist through an extraordinary period in our lifetime. The Dance Program is thrilled to have our first official cohort of BFA dance majors graduating this May – we can't wait to see where they go next! Congratulations to the class of 2024!!!