Building on this foundation, students who are interested in pursuing a career in the field are well prepared for further work at the graduate or conservatory level. Pre-professional training, while important, is only one of our objectives. We are also committed to teaching theater as a liberal art in the context of a traditional liberal arts college. This means that our students learn how to think critically and creatively about a major art form, and how to give those thoughts artistic and scholarly expression. The study of theater at Bates is both theoretical and practical.
Students test concepts in creative practice, and demonstrate their skills in performance.
They explore their talents as individual scholars and artists, and as members of a group creating a production. This provides an intellectual and emotional wholeness not readily available in many other fields of study. While students can earn academic credit for work in production, participation in theater and dance can also be purely extracurricular. These will include old plays, new plays, and non-plays in the performance art tradition. Students also will encounter choreographic work ranging across the whole spectrum of modern dance.