Upcoming Performances

Beautiful, Useful, True - a devised piece

Beautiful, Useful, True - a devised piece

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 to Sunday, March 2, 2025

Beautiful, Useful, True Conceived and Directed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Parks February 26 – March 2, 2025 Valborg Theatre

Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble (SADE)

Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble – ADE 50th Anniversary

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 to Sunday, March 30, 2025

Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble  March 26 - 30, 2025Coordinated by Professor Marianne Adams and additional dance faculty members.           Valborg Theatre

Click here to see a special scholarship-giving invitation from former Department Chair Dr. Susan Cole.

susan cole

See more Upcoming Performances

Why Study Theatre and Dance at App State?

We engage you in all aspects of theatre and dance while honoring your distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations and cultural backgrounds. As one of our majors, you're eligible for 16 departmental scholarships at the end of your first year of study.

Our programs reach thousands annually through our co-curricular and community productions, training and education programs and general education coursework. You’ll engage in all aspects of the art form, from the inside out, as a performer, designer, writer, creator, thinker and advocate of theatre and dance.

We focus on pre-professional training while simultaneously ensuring that you acquire highly transferable skills that will boost your employability in a variety of fields. Of those who have graduated since 2012, 91% are employed or are in graduate or professional study. 60% are in the theatre/dance profession or are in graduate or professional training in the theatre, dance or related disciplines.

Our department’s student/faculty ratio is an impressive 8:1, and every one of our courses is taught by a highly qualified theatre or dance professional – not a graduate student. We only offer undergraduate programs, so you won’t compete with graduate students for performance, production roles or creative positions in the co-curricular production program.

Appalachian State University is an Accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) and National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).  

Department's Statement on Diversity Equity, Inclusion and Access

The Department of Theatre & Dance believes diversity, equity, inclusion and access are foundational values in both education and artmaking.  The faculty and staff collectively realize our need to develop new awarenesses and re-examine past practices in order to better manifest these values.  Therefore, we commit to embracing diverse perspectives, re-evaluating our assumptions and lenses, and making responsive change within our department.


University Land Acknowledgment Statement

Appalachian State University acknowledges the Indigenous peoples who are the original inhabitants of the lands on which our campus is located. The Cherokee, Catawba and other Indigenous peoples left their mark as hunters, healers, traders, travelers, farmers and villagers long before the university was established. Today, descendants of these communities, which include citizens of the eight tribal nations in North Carolina as well as others, live and work in this region — an area with settler-colonial policies including those that attempt to disenfranchise, remove and eradicate Indigenous people and their way of life.

This acknowledgment is aligned with our university’s core value of creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive community. We embrace our institutional responsibility to recognize the people, culture and history that compose our App State community. We acknowledge and honor the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this land and share in their stewardship of these mountains and waters. We fully recognize, support and advocate for the sovereign rights of all of North Carolina’s eight tribal nations which include the Coharie, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Haliwa-Saponi, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Meherrin, the Sappony, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and the Waccamaw Siouan. We understand the historical connection our university has with these Indigenous communities and commit to creating spaces for collaboration and strengthening support structures to build a more equitable future together.