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Harvard Performing Groups

Harvard's performance groups range from the professional American Repertory Theater to ad hoc organizations that put on a talent show every other year. In most cases, the groups are entirely student-run. Much of the contact information for the various groups is taken from the OFA's Practice and Performance page; check there for more information. If you find any information to be inaccurate, let us know!

Note that this listing does not include any musical performance groups, including bands, orchestras, or a capella groups.
Student Performance GroupsHouse Drama SocietiesResident Theater and Performance ProgramsFunding and Support OrganizationsSpecial Theater Events

Student Performance Groups

House Drama Societies

Resident Theater and Performance Programs

Funding and Support Organizations

Special Theater Events

Adams House Drama Society

The Adams House Drama Society maintains the Adams Pool and Kronauer spaces. Students can apply for several slots a semester; apps are due in May for the Fall semester, and in December for the Spring semester.

Contacts: Website, or Jamie Ciocco (drama tutor)

American Repertory Theater

A.R.T. is a professional acting company under the direction of Robert Brustein. The A.R.T. presents five Mainstage productions in repertory each year at the Loeb Drama Center. 1999-2000 productions include Ivanov, The Idiots Karamazov, Full Circle, Loot, and The Winter's Tale. The Ohio State Murders, and We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! will be performed on the A.R.T. New Stages. Student passes available at a discount. The Institute for Advanced Theatre Training is a graduate-level two-year conservatory program for acting, directing, dramaturgy, and special studies. Undergraduates may select from credit courses, most taught by A.R.T. professionals, offered by the Faculty Committee on Dramatic Arts. The A.R.T. also offers internships to undergraduates.

Contacts: ART Website; Box Office at art@fas, (617)547-8300.

Arts First Weekend

The four-day weekend festival run by the OFA celebrates students and faculty in the arts, with an aim to galvanize the university arts community. Highlights include an outdoor stage at Holyoke Center, a parade, a Performance Fair, a barbecue, and several concerts in Sanders Theater. All events take place in and around Harvard yard and are open to the public. All Performance Fair events are free.

Contacts: Website

Asian American Association Players (AAA Players)

The AAA Players seek to encourage students to participate in an arena in which Asian Americans have not been prominent, to expose the larger community to the work of Asian American playwrights, and to present issues of significance to the Asian American community through theater. Since their inaugural production of David Henry Hwang's F.O.B. in the spring of 1994, the Players have presented a diverse slate of productions, ranging from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman to Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (a co-production with Black CAST). The group will perform Wong's Letters to a Student Revolutionary in December in the Loeb Experimental Theatre. Auditions through Common Casting.

Contacts: Flora Kao (fkao@fas) in Mather House

Asian-American Dance Troupe

AADT celebrates Asian and Asian American culture by performing both traditional and modern dances (primarily Chinese). The group performs ribbon, flutter fan, and martial arts dances at cultural festivals, Chinese New Year Celebrations, and ARTS FIRST.

Contacts: Mien Chyi (chyi@fas) in Cabot House, or their website.

Ballet Folklórico de Aztlán

Ballet Folklórico de Aztlán performs traditional dances from northern Mexico and the states of Chiapas, Veracruz, and Jalisco. Practice is held on campus twice a week on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Undergraduates, graduate students, and area residents are welcome each semester. No experience necessary. The group performs at Cultural Rhythms, ARTS FIRST, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and at their annual spring recital.

Contacts: Macarena Correa (mcorrea@fas) in Pforzheimer House or Oscar Ramos (ramos@fas) in Lowell House, or visit their website.

Black Community And Student Theater (BlackCAST)

BlackCAST gives African American students a greater opportunity to be involved in theater and gives students of all races and ethnicities the chance to become acquainted with African American performance. The organization performs student-written, and non-classical pieces, large-, and small-scale productions, as well as a spring pre-frosh fashion show, Eleganza. Black C.A.S.T. has staged For Colored Girls…; Joe Turner's Come and Gone; Trouble in Mind; The Colored Museum; and August Wilson's Fences.

Contacts: Black Cast by E-mail, or Felicia Bell (bell@fas) in Pforzheimer House.

Calling It Rape

A troupe that addresses sexual assult issues through performance in local high schools and other community centers

Choreographers’ Ink.

Choreographers' Ink., OFA, directed by Radcliffe Dance Program Senior Instructor and Artistic Director Emerita Claire Mallardi, is a company of choreographers and dancers from her weekly choreography class (lab). It provides professional guidance to students of all levels as they compose dances through assigned studies and improvise in an encouraging environment. These studies form the basis from which fully-realized dances emerge and may culminate in a spring concert. Students are introduced to elements of dance performance, including costumes, stagecraft, props, lighting, and stage presence. Registration for all Radcliffe Dance Program courses is September 15-17 in the Gilman Room of Agassiz House, Radcliffe Yard. Participation is at the discretion of the Dance Program based on commitment, development of new choreography, and contribution to the concert.

Contacts: Dance Office in Agassiz House lower level, 495-8683, or Susan Larson (larson@radcliffe)

Chun-Sa Dance Troupe

Chun-Sa Dance Troupe performs ancient Korean court dances and shares knowledge of this sector of Korean folklore with the H-R community as well as the surrounding community. Performances include Cultural Rhythms, the Korean Association Culture Show, and several community events. Chun-Sa fosters community partnership and cultural awareness by performing for Korean children adopted by non-Korean parents.

Contacts: Guemmy Kim (grkim@fas) in Eliot House

CityStep

CityStep takes H-R students to Cambridge public schools twice a week to inspire fifth- and sixth-graders through dance and other creative arts. The program culminates in an original performance choreographed, designed, and composed by CityStep members and danced by the children. More than 100 undergraduates are involved in composing, designing, choreographing, and teaching as well as fundraising, publicity, special events, community outreach, and production.

Contacts: CityStep E-mail or Website

Crimson Dance Team

Crimson Dance Team combines contemporary jazz, funk, and athletic dance. CDT competes at the NCA National Collegiate Competition and the NCA Northeast Regional Competition. The team is nationally ranked 13th, and placed second at Regionals in 1998. CDT also performs during half-time at men's and women's basketball games and locally in performances such as the Mainly Jazz show, the ARTS FIRST Dance Festival, and its own show, Crimson Dance Team in Concert.

Contacts: Dance Team website or by e-mail (cdance@hcs)

Dunster House Opera

The Dunster House Opera sponsors one large musical each year in the Duster Dining Hall.

Contacts: Website

Eat Your Heart Out

A troupe that addresses eating disorders through performance in local high schools and other community centers

Expressions Dance Company

Expressions Dance Company (Expressions) is a student-run group of roughly 30 students who perform a variety of styles, including jazz, modern, hip-hop, reggae, and African dance. All pieces are student-choreographed. Major performance events include Apollo Night, ARTS FIRST, Cultural Rhythms, Eleganza, and a full-length Expressions performance each semester.

Contacts: Maryvonne Neptune (neptune@fas) in Leverett House or Manuela Arciniegas (arcinieg@fas) in Mather House

Fantastik Musical Theater Company

Fantastick Theatre Company, formed in 1997, produces and promotes musical theater in the H-R community. Named after its debut production, The Fantasticks, the Company welcomes anyone with an interest in musical theater, from actors to directors to techies. Past performances include a community partnership building benefit for HARMONY, and a cabaret show celebrating women on Broadway.

Contacts: Fantastick by E-mail

Freshman Arts Program (FAP)

The Freshman Arts Program is held before school starts, and allows the incoming freshman class to meet their new classmates, get to know Harvard a bit better, and work on a variety of arts activities, including a theater production.

Contacts: Alan Symonds (symonds@theater), (617)495-8675

Freshman Musical

Every April or May, this organization produces an original musical written, directed, produced, designed, and acted by freshmen. Usually in the Agassiz Theatre.

Contacts: Freshman Musical Website

Freshman Theater Program

Freshmen Theater Program provides first-year students an opportunity to collaborate as a class with professional guest artists on a production in late October. The class of '03 will present Good by C.P. Taylor in the Agassiz Theatre.

Contacts: Director of the Program Eric Engel at 495-4918 or by E-mail

Harvard Capoeira Group

Harvard Capoeira Group meets weekly with a capoeira mestre and performs at ARTS FIRST, Cultural Rhythms, and parties. Created by escaped slaves in Colonial Brazil, capoeira combines martial arts, dance, acrobatics, and music into an Afro-Brazilian cultural tradition that has spread to the United States in recent decades.

Contacts: Wally Carlo (carlo@fas) in Mather House or Sarah Grillo (grillo@fas) in Quincy House.

Harvard Early Music Society

The Harvard Early Music Society seeks to promote the appreciation and performance of early music repertoire in the Harvard community, defining early music as written before the 19th century or performed with attention to historical performance practice. The Society puts on concerts, operas, and workshops; the highlight of the 2004-05 academic year will be a historically informed performance of the first great opera, Monteverdi's Orfeo of 1607.

Contacts: Website, Group E-mail, Michael Givey at mgivey@fas.

Harvard Foundation Grants

Harvard Foundation Grants enable student organizations to pursue projects that facilitate the understanding and sharing of racial, ethnic, and cultural perspectives. Past events supported by the Foundation include Nou Rooz, the Persian New Year Festival; a visit by international filmmaker Haile Gerima, writer, director and producer of Sankofaa; and a reading by Asian American writer R. Zamora Linmark. Applications due in October and February.

Contacts: Call or drop by the Harvard Foundation Office (harvfoun@fas), Thayer Hall, Room B-7, Harvard Yard, 495-1527

Harvard Phillipine Forum Dance Troupe

Harvard Philippine Forum Dance Troupe learns Filipino folk dances for fun and performance. The troupe teaches candle balancing, bamboo pole hopping, and other "vital" social skills. Performances include Cultural Rhythms, intercollegiate conferences, and area events.

Contacts: Mark Farrales (farrales@fas) in Leverett House

Harvard-Radcliffe Ballet Company

performs both classical and contemporary ballet once a semester. HRBC offers weekly company ballet classes taught by visiting artists of the Boston Ballet to all company members and apprentices. Performances are usually held at Lowell Hall or the Rieman Center for the Performing Arts. HRBC often appears with other companies such as Mainly Jazz and also participates in the Dance Festival of the ARTS FIRST celebration. Auditions held each semester.

Contacts: website.

Harvard-Radcliffe Ballroom Dance Club

HRBDC encourages and supports social and competitive ballroom dancing. HRBDC offers classes and sponsors activities and outings for social ballroom enthusiasts. The Harvard Ballroom Dance Team (HBDT) is a subdivision of HRBDC; team members participate in local and national collegiate competitions. No partner or experience is necessary to participate in club or team classes or activities. The introductory meeting and dance camp are tentatively scheduled for September 25 and October 3.

Contacts: Gwyneth Card (card@fas) or Tzyy Yeh (tyeh@fas) in Eliot House, or visit their website.

Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company

Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company, the oldest student-run dance company on campus, is devoted to the composition and performance of modern dance. The company sponsors a weekly class with live music taught by professional choreographer Brenda Divelbliss, and guest-choreographer workshops. Two performance weekends each year showcase student-choreographed works as well as professionally commissioned pieces. Auditions held in September.

Contacts: Noel Norcross (norcross@fas) in Winthrop House or Sally Sadoff (ssadoff@fas) in Lowell House

Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC)

Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) is a resource organization for theater at Harvard. HRDC produces 15-18 shows a year in the Loeb Drama Center (HRDC's home base), holds workshops with professionals, publishes a bulletin detailing productions all over campus, and runs Common Casting, an open audition for approximately 30 shows each semester. HRDC has an electronic newsletter which reaches 700-800 members, notifying them of opportunities in theater, workshops, special events, shows needing staff, auditions, grant deadlines, and news of interest to the theater community. Each year HRDC produces four student shows on the Loeb Mainstage and sixteen in the Experimental Theatre. The HRDC office, located in the Loeb Drama Center, maintains a student "interest list" detailing each student's specific interests in theatrical activity, e.g. acting, directing, and designing. It also keeps an Open Book where members can record their questions and ideas relating to campus theater and a list of current HRDC board members who are available to answer questions. HRDC also oversees Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theatre, which stages three shows in the Experimental Theatre, and the Sunken Garden Children's Theatre, which performs in Radcliffe's Sunken Garden in early May. Membership open to anyone interested in theater. Some HRDC productions for 1999-2000 include Jesus Christ Superstar, Simpatico, A Man for All Seasons, Reckless, and Dr. Faustus.

Contacts: (617)496-3030, by e-mail (hrdc-board@hcs) or Website

Harvard-Radcliffe Playwright's Society

Harvard-Radcliffe Playwright's Society is dedicated to workshopping, producing, discussing, and publicizing original works for performance. The Playwright's Society has sponsored Fait Accompli by Barbara Matteau and the annual Festival of New Works in Progress. The group holds weekly workshops, staged readings, full productions, and festivals of one-minute plays.

Call Barbara Matteau (barbara_matteau@harvard), 496-3242, or 547-5122

Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players (HRGSP)

Gilbert and Sullivan Players (G&S) will present HMS Pinafore this fall and another production in the spring. HRG&SP perform with a full pit orchestra in Agassiz Theatre, producing one of the largest shows on campus each semester. Each show presents opportunities for student singers, actors, pit musicians, conductors, directors, choreographers, and technical folk to get involved and work together with a talented cast, crew, and staff. Singers and actors audition at Common Casting. Interviews for stage and music directors and producers take place in December and May. Techies, musicians, and all others are welcome to join.

Contacts: (617)496-HRGS, by E-mail or Website

Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theater (HRST)

The student run summerstock company that produces three shows during the summer in the Loeb Ex. Student producers apply each March/April with an entire staff and proposed season to the HRDC Board. Auditions take place in April.

Contacts: (617)496-3030, or website

Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV)

arvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV) is a television, film, and multimedia production organization that premieres a new program once a week. HRTV has a dramatic series, game show, newsmagazine, film department, and more. HRTV sponsors the Media Jobs and Internships Fair, where students learn about careers from media company representatives and guest panelists. Other events include the Ivy Film and Television Festival and the Ivy Motion Picture Awards.

Contacts: HRTV Website, Adam Kosberg (kosberg@fas) or Jonathan Vatner (jvatner@fas) in Leverett House

Harvard Theater Advisory Group (HTAG)

A consortium of Harvard theatrical organizations organized by the Technical Director & Advisor for Harvard theatre. It meets to solve common problems and to suggest policies beneficial to Harvard theatre as a whole. All interested undergraduates welcome.

Contacts: Website, Alan Symonds at (617)495-8675, and by E-mail

Harvard Theater Collection

Harvard Theatre Collection, Pusey Library, Main Floor, Harvard Yard; Monday-Friday, 9 AM-4:45 PM. The collection is the oldest of its kind in the country and one of the oldest and largest in the world. Its holdings document the history of theater and the performing arts and include collections of rare books and editions of play texts, original documents, including manuscripts, prompt books, letters, portraits and designs, and large collections of historic prints, playbills, posters, photographs, and music. The extensive clipping file is often used for production research. The Theatre Collection has traditionally served as the repository for records and papers of all university performing organizations, and it has a large Harvardiana collection contributed by alumni, student organizations, and academic departments. The collection mounts several large exhibitions each year, which are open to the public without charge. The Harvard Theatre Collection Reading Room may be used freely by any scholar or researcher, regardless of academic affiliation. It is advisable to call in advance to make an appointment. The Theatre Collection also employs student collection assistants to help to process and organize the collection and to supervise the Reading Room.

Contacts: Curator Fredric Woodbridge Wilson (htc@harvard), (617)495-2445, or fax: (617)496-2786, website

Harvard University Arts Committee on AIDS (HUACA)

A group that addresses the partnership between the arts and AIDS-related issues.

Contacts: (617)495-8676 (OFA)

Hasty Pudding Theatricals

Hasty Pudding Theatricals (HPT), the country's oldest theatrical organization, produces an annual undergraduate-written musical comedy in its own historic theater on Holyoke Street. The organization is renowned internationally for its Man and Woman of the Year awards. Past recipients have included Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, and Julia Roberts. Their annual production runs from mid-February to the end of March, and culminates with a two-week tour to New York City and Bermuda. While the cast is all-male, women are welcome in other production aspects, such as business, tech, and band.

Contacts: (617)495-5205, by E-mail or Website

Hillel Drama Society

Hillel Drama Society carries the dual mission of bringing theater to the Jewish community and bringing Judaism to Harvard theater. This year Hillel Drama will present its first musical, Children of Eden by Stephen Schwartz and John Caird, in the Loeb Experimental Theatre. Multiple drama-themed events at Hillel, and a spring project are in the works. Auditions through Common Casting.

Contacts: (617)495-4695, or Website, David Levy (dlevy@fas) in Adams House or Tova Serkin (serkin@fas) in Kirkland House

Hyperion Theater Company

Hyperion Theater Company, Harvard's first and only Shakespeare performance company, presents one indoor show in the fall and a springtime Shakespeare in the Park-style performance in Harvard Yard during ARTS FIRST weekend. The company fosters community partnership by featuring an interactive learning community service program between production seasons. Initiations for high-school level education in Shakespearean language and imagery are also planned for the internet in 1999-2000.

Contact: E-mail (hyperion@hcs or Website

Immediate Gratification Players

Immediate Gratification Players become men this year, celebrating their 13th year in the H-R community. You might see the gawky, braces-wearing, prepubescent IGP wandering around campus, and if you do, please wish him mazel tov. It is true that a superpower is required for membership in IGP. However, "likes performing free improv comedy for the H-R community and beyond" counts as a superpower in their book.

Contacts: Website, or Justin Krebs (krebs@fas) or Matthew Kotzen (kotzen@fas) in Mather House

Industrial Theatre

Industrial Theatre is a professional theater troupe started by Harvard grads that produces some plays in Leverett's Old Library.

Contacts: Chris Scully '94, Artistic Director
Elisa Leone '96, Managing Director
Telephone: (508)823-9323
e-mail: itheatre@concentric.net
web site: www.industrialtheatre.org

Israeli Dance Troupe

Israeli Dance Troupe enjoys participating in the rich heritage and culture of Israel through dance and choreography. The group participates in arts and music festivals all over campus, including Cultural Rhythms, and ARTS FIRST. No experience necessary. All members of the H-R community are welcome.

Contacts: Website, or Michal Engelman (engelman@fas) or Dorothy Weiss (dweiss@fas) in Kirkland House

Leverett House Arts Society

The Drama Society manages the Leverett House Old Library, which is used to stage student productions, to host professional theater groups such as Industrial Theatre, and to host exciting House functions such as the Coffeehouse.

Contacts: by e-mail or Website

Lowell House Opera

A yearly opera held in Lowell House Dining Hall.

Contacts:

Mainly Jazz Dance Company

Mainly Jazz Dance Company is a student-run dance company that produces one show each semester, as well as performing in ARTS FIRST and other dance festivals. Mainly Jazz features original student choreography, primarily jazz dance, but also including hip-hop, modern, and tap. A Boston-area professional teaches a mandatory company class and choreographs one piece for the whole company.

Contacts: Fabiana Kepler (kepler@fas) in Winthrop House

New Opera Theatre Ensemble (N.O.T.E.)

New Opera Theatre Ensemble (N.O.T.E.), a professional music theater company in residence at Adams House, is dedicated to the use of improvisation in creating new music theater. N.O.T.E. offers workshops in improvisation, including the Living Music and Poetry Forum, in which participants transform their favorite poems into songs. Open to all poets and/or musicians.

Contacts: Roland Tec '83, (617)266-6669 (fax: (617)262-7626)

Office For the Arts (OFA)

Jointly sponsored by Radcliffe and Harvard, the OFA supports direct student involvement in the arts to integrate creative thinking and expression into the undergraduate educational experience. Students are encouraged to take OFA classes in the Radcliffe Dance Program, at the Radcliffe Ceramics Studio, in technical theater at Radcliffe's Agassiz Theatre, and in Figure Drawing at the Currier House Art Studio. The OFA also provides Grants for innovative projects and runs the Music Lesson Subsidy Program; students can locate teachers in the Music Teacher Referral File. Through the Learning From Performers, Jazz Artist in Residence, Visiting Artist in Public Art, and Peter Ivers Visiting Artist programs, students meet with artists in master classes, seminars, workshops, collaborative projects, and informal discussions. As the arts information center at the University, the OFA publishes Practice and Performance: The Guide to the Arts at Harvard and Radcliffe, and a monthly newsletter, Arts Spectrum. It also manages Radcliffe's Rieman Center for the Performing Arts and provides oversight of the Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall Complex. The OFA headquarters located at 74 Mt. Auburn Street houses OFA administrative offices, Harvard Box Office Management, Studio 74 (dance rehearsal studio), and the Harvard University Band and Jazz Band.

Contacts: Call 495-8676, or visit the website

Office of Career Services

Office of Career Services (OCS), 54 Dunster Street, maintains information about employment, internships, and education opportunities in the arts, including Media and Arts Competitions, Film/Commercial Arts, Museum Administration, Arts Administration, Performing Arts, Residencies, and Art and Design Catalogs. OCS also publishes ARTWORK: A guide to job hunting and resources in the arts.

Contacts: Call or visit OCS, 495-2595

Office of Government and Community Affairs

The Office of Government and Community Affairs publicizes theater events through a semi-annual newsletter and other outlets.

Onion Weavers Puppet Theater

Onion Weavers Puppet Theater, now in its eighth year, combines visual and performance media to create puppet theater. Past productions have included both original and adapted shows, such as Elvis: A Rockumentary in Puppets, Aristophanes' The Frogs, the Star Wars trilogy, The Magic Flute, George Orwell's Animal Farm, and West Side Story.

Contacts: HRDC, 496-3030, Elizabeth Holt (eholt@fas) in Leverett House

On Thin Ice

On Thin Ice (OTI) is Harvard and Radcliffe's oldest improvisational comedy troupe that performs sporadically throughout the year. Performances include shows on campus and at other schools, hosting a cappella concerts, and professional off-campus gigs. Modeled after Chicago's Second City, OTI takes suggestions from the audience and incorporates them into improv games. No experience necessary; weekly rehearsals. Auditions held at Common Casting.

Contacts: Michael Roiff (roiff@fas) in Lowell House or Marisa Echeverria (mechever@fas) in Mather House

Radcliffe Dance Program

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Ela Ekiert, 495-8676. For more info call 495-8683, Monday-Friday 1-5 PM e-mail ekiert@radcliffe.edu.

South Asian Dance Organization

South Asian Dance Organization (SADO) is a student-run dance group that strives to keep classical, folk, and modern South Asian dance styles alive at Harvard. Currently, instruction in Kathka, a classical-style dance influenced by Mughal rulers, is offered through a professional teacher. Instruction in Bharat Natyam and Kuchupudi, two South Indian classical styles, may be offered. Group members also choreograph folk pieces to perform at events such as the South Asian Association's Ghungroo, Cultural Rhythms, and ARTS FIRST. No experience necessary.

Contacts: Treeny Ahmed (tahmed@fas) in Quincy House or Harini Reddy (hreddy@fas) in Lowell House

Sunken Garden Children's Theater

A children’s theatre company that performs in Radcliffe’s beautiful sunken garden the first weekend in May. Primarily run by HRDC members.

Undergraduate Council

Undergraduate Council (UC) Grants fund a broad range of projects that contribute to campus life or improve the well-being of students.

Contacts: website or call 495-9390

Last updated: Mon Aug 16 10:44:36 2004
Copyright 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College