Close faculty mentorship, a wide range of courses and performance opportunities, generous scholarships, and a supportive creative community are among the reasons students engage with the Department of Theatre & Dance at Richmond. And UR is the perfect place to continue your growth as an artist.
The Department of Theatre & Dance mounts several productions each academic year with auditions open to majors and non-majors alike. The stage awaits!
The University of Richmond Department of Theatre & Dance believes in the power of theatre and dance to build community through art, and that access to the arts should not be limited in any way. The UR Free Theatre & Dance initiative was created to remove economic barriers and make theatre and dance accessible to everyone.
University Dancers/DANC 306 is an auditioned student dance company of UR in the Department Theatre & Dance founded in 1985. Auditions are held at the beginning of the fall semester, and students earn academic credit as they study such dance and movement techniques as African, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, modern, and non-traditional partnering in company classes (three per week), master classes, and rehearsals. Open to majors and non-majors alike.
Located in the Modlin Center for the Arts, the Department of Theatre and Dance offers its students access to the highest-quality spaces to learn, practice, and perform.
Extended time with guest artists offers students a meaningful opportunity for engagement with the arts, creativity, and possibility.
Jennifer Jones Cavenaugh, professor of theatre and dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, published “Reclaiming Narrative Authority: Gendered Violence and Feminist Reauthorship in Sharon Pollock's Saucy Jack” in Frame, Journal of Literary Studies.
Robby Williams, lighting and sound supervisor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, received the University of Richmond 2026 Outstanding Service Award. The award recognizes staff from across campus who have made a unique difference to the University of Richmond community.
Maja White was promoted to professor of theatre & dance. She is a lighting and sound designer and has designed lighting for opera, theatre, and dance nationally and internationally. Her research falls in the study of how sustainable equipment and the evolution of technologies are changing the aesthetic of the live entertainment industry.
Emmy Weldon, assistant professor of theatre & dance, was awarded at the 32nd Annual James River Short Film Showcase for As You Liked It! A Reflection on Waste Culture, a documentary short film about the play performed at University of Richmond and its creative set design.
Mailing address:
Department of Theatre and Dance
Modlin Center for the Arts
453 Westhampton Way
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Phone: (804) 289-8592
Fax: (804) 287-1841
Box office: (804) 289-8980
Department Chair: Maja White
Administrative Coordinator: Rhonda Jackson