Performing Arts
Performing Arts
Whether it’s dance, theater, or musical performance, the Harvard community hits just the right note on all of our campus stages, creating vibrant, innovative experiences for patrons in our neighborhood and around the world.
Curtain call
These Harvard performers bring their talents to our stages, dance studios, and theaters.
Julia Riew
Julia arrived at a crossroads two years into her College career; she was on the pre-med track, while also exploring her long-held love of musical theater.
Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg
Benjamin’s opera “Nighttown” simultaneously reimagines James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and Homer’s “Odyssey,” creating a haunting existential parable that explores the complexity of modern relationships.
Kerry Thompson
Kerry Thompson, a Harvard alum, uses dance and the arts to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities through her nonprofit, Silent Rhythms.
Latonya Wright
Latonya Wright has played the cymbals with the Harvard University Band at more than 22 Harvard Commencements.
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD) make captivating beats using tubes, trash cans, buckets, cups, brooms, basketballs, spoons, and more.
Ayodele Casel
As a Radcliffe Fellow, Ayodele brought the forgotten history of women in tap dancing into the spotlight.
The art of inclusion
Harvard’s metaLAB and Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society are collaborating to develop a set of guidelines for lawmakers and performing arts organizations that would address the accessibility concerns of digital performances.
Kick, ball, changing minds
The Harvard Dance Center hosted the AXIS Dance Company, comprised of disabled and non-disabled dancers working together to challenge misconceptions about the art form, for a virtual master class.
Kick, ball, changing mindsSpotlight on the unsung
The Harvard Theatre Collection explored the influence of immigrants on early American theater.
Exploring a movement
In the course “Hip Hop Dance,” students learned about the geography, history, race, gender, and culture behind some of their favorite moves.
Drag history at Harvard
The archives of celebrated drag queen Joey Arias were recently acquired by Harvard Theatre Collection, documenting 40 years of drag, cabaret, and performance art.
Broadway’s representation problem
Professor Derek Miller pushes students to think critically about the race and gender of who gets cast for which role on Broadway.
A performance for everyone
Mikey Krajnak from A.R.T. explains how the theater made “Jagged Little Pill” and many other productions accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
A.R.T. through the years
Founded in 1980, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a leading force in American theater, producing groundbreaking and thought-provoking theatrical experiences. As the professional theater on campus, the A.R.T. focuses on building community with audiences, artists, students, staff, and neighbors across the Greater Boston area.
At its heart, the A.R.T is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of theater, always including the audience as a partner.
All the campus is a stage
Explore the groups on Harvard’s campus—and the spaces where they perform—that bring the arts to life.
Even before the launch of the Theater, Dance & Media concentration in 2015, performing arts have been an integral part of the Harvard community. The Harvard Band recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, a cappella groups have been a vibrant part of campus life since the 1940s, and the American Repertory Theater has been expanding the boundaries of theater since 1980.
A celebration of movement can be found at the Harvard Dance Center where they are advancing dance literacy on campus and around the world.
All across Harvard’s Schools and centers, choirs, bands, orchestras, and ensembles are exploring, performing, and advancing music in all its forms.
Behind the scenes, many of our staff members share their performing art talents in our annual Harvard Staff Art Show.
And on Harvard’s many stages, from the Loeb Drama Center, home of A.R.T. and Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club; to Farkas Hall, home of Hasty Pudding Theatricals; to the recently proposed research and performance center in Allston, Harvard students, faculty, and staff are bringing new ideas and perspectives to these disciplines.
Harvard Arts Medal
Explore some performing artists who have received the Harvard Arts Medal, an award for Harvard alumni and faculty members who have achieved excellence in the arts and have made a contribution to education or the public good.
