NEWS & EVENTS 2025-26
Discover what’s happening in Theatre & Dance!
Dance6: Of Earth and Error
Join us for an evening of embodied questions and quiet revelations, where movement traces the fault lines between precision and possibility.
The Colorado College Department of Theatre & Dance proudly presents its annual Dance6 production, Of Earth and Error. This evening of performance features Southwest-inspired choreography by Safos Dance Theater guest artist Yvonne Montoya, two iconic works by pioneering Mexican-American choreogrpaher José Limón of Yaqui heritage, performed by Sam Aros-Mitchell, also Yaqui and enrolled with the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians, and original creations by CC faculty Patrizia Herminjard and Pallavi Sriram.
Drinking Brecht: An Automated Laboratory Performance
Drinking Brecht: An Automated Laboratory Performance
After stealing a hat from the costume collection of famous communist playwright Bertolt Brecht, multimedia artist sister sylvester embarks on a forensic quest to trace the hat’s possible past wearers. Paying homage to Brecht’s “Scientific Theater,” which endeavored to spark revolution, Drinking Brecht is an innovative interactive documentary using microbiology and genetics to merge past and present.
"A documentary that you can drink, the work ingests worn-out scientific narratives and transforms them into a Marxist-feminist ritual and a celebration of science for the people,” says sister sylvester.
Drinking Brecht is a 60–70 minute interactive installation featuring a projected film and three audience-led experiments. Working in small groups, participants complete a hands-on biohacker experiment that ultimately becomes a cocktail, bringing the scientific process full circle in an unexpected and playful way.
The experience is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.
Friday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m.
Fleming Gallery, Robson Arena
Laughing on the Edge
Laughing on the Edge: Staging the Short Plays of Christopher Durang
Join the Theatre and Dance Department for Laughing on the Edge, an evening of three absurdly funny and thought-provoking short plays by Christopher Durang, directed by Shannon R. Davis. With wit and surreal humor, Durang explores the chaos, contradictions, and comedy of everyday life. This production features multiple pieces and interludes.
Performances take place in Cornerstone Arts Center Norberg Studio A
Thursday, Dec. 11, Friday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
Dance6 Info Lunch and Workshop with Visiting Artist Yvonne Montoya
Dance6 Info Lunch & Workshop with Visiting Artist Yvonne Montoya
Please RSVP for lunch: pherminjard@coloradocollege.edu or tschwarzman2025@coloradocollege.edu by Noon, Monday, September 29.
Event Details:
📅 Tuesday, September 30
🕛 12–2:30 p.m.
📍 Cossitt Hall Dance Lounge/Gym
Join us for an “eat and greet” and workshop with Yvonne Montoya, Artistic Executive Director of Safos Dance Theater (Tucson, AZ) and the visiting artist for the Dance6 Mainstage Production Of Earth and Error.
The afternoon begins with an Info Lunch, where you can meet Yvonne and learn more about Dance6. Following lunch, participate in an immersive workshop exploring her creative process and the movement aesthetics of the Southwest—engaging dance, movement, and embodied research.
This year’s Dance6 offers opportunities to:
- Enroll in Dance6 Intensive | DA212 (1.25 units) with Yvonne Montoya during Block 5
- Or join the extended Dance Adjunct (1 unit) rehearsing in Blocks 3–6 with Patrizia Herminjard
Both instructors will choreograph new works for the Block 6 Mainstage Production.
✨ All are welcome—come learn more about Dance6 and get moving!
Please RSVP for lunch by noon, Monday, September 29: pherminjard@coloradocollege.edu or tschwarzman2025@coloradocollege.edu.
Questions? Email theatredance@coloradocollege.edu or follow us on Instagram: @cctheatredancemoving!
How does it feel to look at nothing
Holland Andrews and yuniya edi kwon
Event Details:
📅 Tuesday, September 30
🕖 3:30-5 p.m.
📍 Celeste Theatre, Cornerstone Arts Building
rformer whose work focuses on the abstraction of operatic and extended-technique voice to build soundscapes encompassing both catharsis and dissonance. They have two sound installations featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial exhibition and will be part of the Biennial's performance program. Andrews is a Guggenheim Fellow, Creative Capital Awardee, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Awardee and United States Artists Fellow.
yuniya edi kwon (she/her)- (www.yuniya.net) is a violinist, vocalist, and interdisciplinary performance artist based in New York City. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, Creative Capital Awardee, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Awardee, Arts Fellow at Princeton University, Civitella Ranieri Fellow, and United States Artists Fellow.
What is War?
Created and performed by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui
📅Friday, October 3, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
📅Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
📍 Norberg Studio A, Cornerstone Arts Center
825 North Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
About the Artists
Wen Hui (b. 1960) is a Chinese performer, choreographer, and filmmaker currently working in Europe. She grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution.
Eiko Otake (b. 1952) is a Japanese performer, choreographer, and filmmaker based in New York who grew up in post-war Japan.
About the Work
In January 2020, Otake visited Hui in China for a month. The pandemic forced their collaboration to continue across distance, leading to the creation of the award-winning feature-length documentary No Rule Is Our Rule. In that process, the artists began examining the personal memories they carry in their bodies, a practice that eventually brought them together in the U.S.
The result is What Is War? — a commissioned performance work for the Walker Art Center, CAP UCLA, Jacob’s Pillow, and Colorado College’s Theatre & Dance Department. Through a tapestry of language, movement, and video, Hui and Otake share intimate memories tied to war. Their interwoven stories invite the audience to reflect on their own relationship to war, both historically and personally.
Content Advisory:
This performance contains nudity and addresses themes of war and violence.
Additional Info
Admission: This event has limited seating. To attend, you must reserve tickets in advance and provide the name of each person in your party. Reserve your spot HERE
Courses to Check out!
In this hands-on course, students will explore the art and practice of costume design—an essential part of any production. Through script reading, music, movement, and visual research, you’ll learn how to generate design questions and experiment with a variety of 2-D rendering techniques. The course includes sewing and pattern-drafting skills, plus opportunities for hands-on learning with garments from Colorado College’s extensive costume collection. Class discussions will also consider fashion history and analyze current trends in media and performance.
📅 Block 2
🕘 Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
📍 CAC Costume Shop 403
👩🏫 Instructor: SB Parks
👥 Enrollment limited to 10 students
TH217 / EN286 Playwriting
What can a play do? This course investigates that question through a series of writing exercises designed to reveal and nurture the writer’s voice. Students will explore the elements that comprise a script — including dialogue, monologue, subtext, character, structure, action, language, and imagery — all in service to imagination, intentionality, and expression meant to be realized in performance.
📅 Block 3
🕘 Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
📍 Cornerstone 302
👨🏫 Instructor: Giovanni Ortega
👥 Enrollment limited to 25 students
New Faculty and Staff
Theatre Faculty
Shannon Davis joins us as Assistant Professor of Theatre. Davis is a director, storyteller, and educator whose work blends ancient texts, devising, satire, and puppetry to uplift underrepresented voices.
Kate Aronson brings more than 25 years of professional experience as an actor, director, writer, and teacher. She has taught in professional training programs, directed a wide range of plays, and co-founded several performance groups.
Sean Verdu is a Colorado Springs–based performing artist and fight choreographer. With training from East 15 Acting School in London, Sean has performed internationally and brings over 17 years of experience in fight choreography.
Dance Faculty
Adam Dickerson ’13 is a Colorado native, CC alum, and founder of Fooju Dance Collaborative. His career includes work with Graham 2, H.T. Chen & Dancers, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and teaching in studios across NYC and LA. He now returns to Colorado Springs to continue blending dance, fitness, and community.
Aoi Koenig (née Funakoshi) trained in classical ballet in Japan and earned her BFA in Dance from the University of Cincinnati. She has toured with international dance companies and now teaches in Colorado Springs while performing with Ormao.
Staff
Tawni Schwarzman recently joined the department as Academic Administrative Assistant. Tawni supports departmental operations, budgets, event planning, and student engagement.