News

Beyond the classroom, TDPS faculty and staff are putting their skills and expertise into practice in the fields of theater, dance, and performance studies. Here's a quick look at where you can find their work in the Bay Area (and beyond) this winter and spring.

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) is sponsoring a campus production of Both Eyes Open, a new chamber opera co-created by acclaimed playwright and professor ...Read more about Philip Kan Gotanda brings new opera to UC Berkeley, Feb. 15–16

Jessica Berman is a dialect, voice, text, and acting coach, as well as a continuing lecturer in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Jessica has worked extensively in the Bay Area and UK, serving as co-head of voice and dialects for Harry Potter...Read more about Faculty Spotlight: Jessica Berman, Voice & Dialect Coach

The TDPS community mourns the loss of Robert W. Goldsby, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Dramatic Art. During his nearly 30-year tenure with the department from 1957 to 1986, Professor Goldsby taught acting courses, directed...Read more about In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Robert Goldsby, 1926–2024

UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) opens its 2024/25 season with Everybody, a play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Performances run November 7–10 at...Read more about TDPS opens 2024/25 season with 'Everybody' by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) welcomes Karina Gutiérrez as an assistant professor as of July 2024.

Gutiérrez’s work focuses on the intersection of politics and performance, with a concentration on how digital interventions, institutionalization...Read more about Theater scholar and director Karina Gutiérrez joins TDPS faculty

The Graduate Group in Performance Studies is delighted to welcome a new cohort of four Ph.D. students beginning in the 2024/25 academic year:Read more about Graduate Group in Performance Studies welcomes 2024 student cohort

The Division of Arts & Humanities continues to experience a period of unprecedented faculty hiring, with 16 new faculty who started in 2023 and additional new faculty incoming for academic years 2024-25 and 2025-26. This growth is supported in part by the division’s...Read more about Timmia Hearn DeRoy, Roshanak Kheshti participate in inaugural 'Advancing Faculty Diversity' program

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) bids a fond farewell to longtime costume director Wendy Sparks, who retired from UC Berkeley at the end of June.

Sparks first studied costuming at Berkeley with Professor Warren Travis in 1991. In that one year, she...Read more about Wendy Sparks reflects on 27 years of crafting costumes for TDPS

Professor Joe Goode will retire from UC Berkeley at the end of June following a 23-year tenure with the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS). Goode is a renowned choreographer, writer, and director who has created...Read more about Renowned choreographer Joe Goode retires from UC Berkeley after 23 years

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) celebrated 70 graduates and 35 award recipients at its annual commencement ceremony in Zellerbach Playhouse on Monday, May 13.

Commencement speaker W....Read more about TDPS celebrates Class of 2024 commencement with guest speaker W. Kamau Bell

When Nathanael Stephen Payne ’23 was developing Wrestle with Jimmy for UC Berkeley’s “Introduction to Playwriting” class, he had no idea where the project would take him. His answer came several years later, when he crossed the stage at graduation as one of two students to...Read more about Kappa Nu alums honor Larry Belling with young writers' award

Alternative Theater Ensemble (AlterTheater) will visit UC Berkeley from April 10 to April 13 to present staged readings of Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) or, A Boarding School Play, written by Blossom Johnson and directed by Daniel Leeman Smith. The readings are the...Read more about TDPS welcomes AlterTheater, playwright Blossom Johnson for inaugural Indigenous Performing Arts Residency

UC Berkeley will refurbish the Bancroft Dance Studio thanks to a generous gift by Daniel Hitchcock ’69, a mathematics and physics alum. Hitchcock provided the crucial funding to make the studio space safer and more accessible. The enhancements will include re-sanded floors, repaired windows, and...Read more about Generous gift will improve Bancroft Dance Studio

In late January, United States Artists (USA) named Philip Kan Gotanda as a recipient of a 2024 USA...Read more about Philip Kan Gotanda awarded USA Fellowship for 'rich contributions to the cultural fabric of the country'

UC Berkeley’s Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) presents Berkeley Dance Project 2024: Pop-Up Dance Exchange from Thursday, February 22 through Sunday, February 25 at Zellerbach Playhouse.

...Read more about TDPS presents Berkeley Dance Project 2024: Pop-Up Dance Exchange

Peter Glazer, an associate professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS), has retired from UC Berkeley as of December 2023. During his 22 years with the department, Glazer taught and mentored graduate and...Read more about Professor Peter Glazer retires after 22 years with TDPS

The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) is proud to welcome six new lecturers in Fall 2023 who will teach in the areas of acting, costume design, scenic design, performance studies, and stage management.Read more about TDPS welcomes six new lecturers in Fall 2023

Beyond the classroom, members of the TDPS community have been making their mark on stage, online, and in print over the past year. Read on to learn about some of their recent performances, publications, and accolades.

Nancy Carlin...Read more about Summer 2023 highlights from faculty, staff, and graduate students

The UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) will present five dynamic productions in its 2023/2024 Season, offering an exciting array of theatrical genres and dance forms. With mentorship from faculty, staff, and professional guests artists, students will gain...Read more about Announcing the TDPS 2023/2024 Performance Season