FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The College of Arts and Sciences and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington today formally announced that the Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance will merge with Jacobs, uniting two of the campus’s most celebrated performing arts traditions under a single, expanded school.
In close collaboration with faculty, academic leaders and the IU administration, the department, which has been home to Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance within the College of Arts and Sciences, will begin its formal transition to Jacobs on July 1, with the merger process continuing through the following year. Integration of the Jacobs ballet and contemporary dance programs is already underway; the new Jacobs Dance Department B.F.A. in Dance, with majors in ballet and contemporary dance, will be offered this fall.
“We are beyond excited to gather and strengthen the performing arts at IU and cannot wait to welcome the department’s faculty, staff and students into the Jacobs community,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean of the Jacobs School of Music. “This expanded school will enhance synergies across departments and performances, streamline resources and create the largest, most prestigious public school of music, theatre and dance in the country.”
“The College has long been home to Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance, nurturing and developing the department into a nationally renowned set of programs, defined by extraordinary faculty and students who go on to shape their fields,” said Rick Van Kooten, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “This merger is the logical next chapter and brings the department into an environment where its strengths are multiplied, and positions the performing arts at IU Bloomington to serve the entire campus community.”
Both the Jacobs School of Music and the Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance have over a century of providing national and international leadership in performing arts education. The department’s degrees in musical theatre, acting, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting and design and technology will significantly increase Jacobs’ already robust offerings of over 70 degrees and academic programs across the music and dance spectrums and substantially bolster the school’s roster of 210 faculty experts in residence and more than 1,400 performances each year.
The union will offer almost infinite opportunities for students to explore a range of performance art disciplines, genres and styles that foster educational enrichment, artistic rigor and cross-disciplinary collaboration. While each program within the Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance Department will maintain the deep connection to its cohort of students, the variety of other performers and art-makers will broaden in this new context. This expanded experience of putting skills learned in the classroom or studio into practice before graduation, in addition to the inherently broader artistic network created, will considerably enhance students’ career options and path to success after graduation.
“As incoming chair of Theatre and Drama—and a proud alumnus—I am excited for the possibilities that a merger may hold for Theatre and Drama and the Norvelle Drama Center,” said Ansley Valentine, associate professor of theatre, drama and contemporary dance. “Twenty-five years ago, a new era was ushered in with the construction of this facility. Now we are on the precipice of another.”
As of July 1, Jacobs will embark on a new era of deeper collaboration, broader opportunity and a performing arts community of remarkable range and depth.