Every other year, students and faculty from the Departments of Dance, Music, and Theatre collaborate to present a musical theatre production. This project is one of the major interdisciplinary events in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The effort brings together over 80 students, faculty and staff to teach and learn while bringing quality musical theatre to the New River Valley.

Every spring, the percussion ensemble presents a spring concert which always features a multidisclipinary component. In recent years, they have combined forces with students and faculty from other disciplines within the college to create some very provocative and cutting-edge productions. These performances provide a multi-sensory environment using electronics and theatrics to engage the audience in new and exciting ways.

The Department of Music recently joined forces with the Department of Dance to present a unique version of Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck. Long a standard in European opera houses, Radford University's Opera Ensemble updated this treasured classic to the 1950s. This production was also a part of the statewide Minds Wide Open initiative.

The RU Ballet Theatre’s magical Nutcracker production is an interdisciplinary highlight of the college, including a full live orchestra and international guest artists. The production always involves artistic partnerships across the disciplines as we integrate the talents of our dancers, visual artists, musicians, choreographers and designers.

Sounds of Stories Dancing is performed in the Albig Studio Theatre. Choreographer Deborah McLaughlin collaborated with Appalachian cultural consultant, Dr. Theresa Burriss, utilizing her Appalachian oral histories as seed material. Visual artist, Suzanne Stryk created an original set, and RU musicians, Bud Bennett and Don Hall composed music for the dance.

In the Department of Art, faculty member Eloise Philpot  is pursuing a project entitled “The Labyrinth: As Calendar and Seasonal Marker.” This interdisciplinary project unites research into solar patterns, classical studies of astronomy and astrology, and visual iconography, along with her own artistic image-making.

The School of Dance & Theatre frequently uses students from the other disciplines to support their productions in terms of technical theatre and public relations. The Department of Theatre has a long history of teaming with graphic design students who represent the production in publicity and advertising.  The Department of Dance often calls upon the fashion design students to create and construct costuming for dance choreography.

Nutcracker 2010

Sounds of Stories Dancing 2011

Students from Theatre, Music, and Dance come together to perform the musical theatre production Pippin.