The Department of Theatre & Dance is excited to welcome Abi Walls back to Colorado College as our Block 2 Alumni Resident, Sept. 21-Oct. 5!

Walls is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist based in New York City with roots in Colorado and California. Their work as a playwright explores memory, history, speculative fiction, fear and grief, and the ways we care for one another and the planet. Their work is informed by a queer, disabled lens and often examines themes of complacency, survival, resistance, and imagining alternatives to oppressive systems.

Walls studied writing for performance at CC with Idris Goodwin and Monica Sanchez and has since built a wide-ranging career as a

playwright, performer, lighting designer, stage manager, producer, dramaturg, and literary collaborator in New York's new-work theatre and dance community.

As part of the department's Alumni Residency Program, Walls will return to campus to reconnect with the Theatre & Dance community, share their professional experience with current students, and spend focused time developing their own creative work.

Stay tuned for more information about a staged reading of Walls’ new work during their residency!

Performers spend countless hours developing their craft, but what about the physical and mental tools that make that work possible? The Artist’s Instrument, led by guest artist and scholar Larissa Kelloway, is an experiential workshop 

designed for performers in theatre, dance, and music.

Through alignment, body awareness, mindfulness, and psycho-physical practices, participants will explore practical ways to cultivate greater presence, freedom, responsiveness, and self-care in performance. Kelloway brings experience as a conservatory-trained performer, director, vocal director, educator, and specialist in singing voice, bodywork, and performing arts health.

Sept. 29 | 1-3 p.m. | Cornerstone Flex Space

The Department of Theatre & Dance welcomes Casey Avaunt back to CC for You Dance You: Choreographing Your Autobiography, a contemporary dance workshop.

Avaunt is a dance artist-scholar and Assistant Professor of Dance and Movement Studies at Hamilton College whose work explores

contemporary dance, choreography, Asian and Asian American performance, and the role of culture in shaping movement. After graduating from CC, she earned an MFA from Taipei National University of the Arts and an MA and PhD from UC Riverside.

During the workshop, participants will investigate choreographic strategies for representing and performing their culturally coded selves while developing an autobiographical solo.

Friday, Oct. 9 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Cossitt Hall Gym

What exactly is TH202: Theatre Think Tank and Play Reading Group? Think of it as part play-reading club, part dramaturgical advisory team. Students discover new and classic plays, choose what they want to explore, and consider work that could be a fit for future CC Theatre & Dance seasons. It's casual, collaborative, low-pressure, and open to students regardless of theatre experience.

Come to the Think Tank Planning Lunch to meet the group, learn how it works, and enjoy lunch while you're there!

RSVP to Ryan Platt at rplatt@coloradocollege.edu.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 | 12:15-1 p.m. | Cornerstone 308

What happens when creative practice becomes part of how we think about health and well-being? In DA200: The Power of Arts for Health and Well-Being, students will explore that question through daily movement, discussion, and hands-on creative workshops with health professionals.

The course reaches beyond dance, 

connecting arts and health with fields including psychology, education, economics, and the health sciences. Students will bring those experiences together in a final creative project in an art form of their choice, whether that's dance, theatre, music, visual art, writing, or something else.

A raised fist. A handshake. A protest march. The way a politician moves across a stage. DA200/PS203: Embodied Politics: Gesture, Movement, and the Construction of Power asks students to look at politics through something we don't always think about: the body.

Bringing together dance and political science, students will explore how movement and gesture can communicate power, build

solidarity, influence public perception, and challenge authority. They'll approach those questions through five ideas shared across both disciplines: collaboration, deconstruction, repetition, reaction, and listening.

Looking for a way to be more active during the week without adding another trip to the gym? Dance Studio and Physical Conditioning courses let you build strength, balance, coordination, and physical skills while earning academic credit.

DS103: Introduction to Ballet  | Aoi Koenig
No dance background? Start here. Learn the fundamentals of ballet while developing balance, coordination, alignment, flexibility, and body awareness. No prior dance experience required.

Mondays and Wednesdays | 2:30-4 p.m.

DS214: Ballet  | Aoi Koenig
Already have some ballet experience? Keep your body active while building technique, coordination, alignment, and a stronger connection between music and movement. Designed for intermediate to advanced dancers.

Mondays and Wednesdays | 4-5:30 p.m.

DS206: Contemporary Dance | Adam Dickerson
Get your whole body moving while building strength, balance, coordination, and new physical skills through floorwork, inversions, rhythm, and spatial exploration.

Tuesdays and Thursdays | 3:15-4:45 p.m.

TH200: Stand-Up Comedy | Christie Buchele
Try your hand at writing and performing stand-up while learning joke structure, stage presence, delivery, and how to develop your own performance persona. Already have material? Bring it. Never tried stand-up? That's okay too. All experience levels are welcome.

Tuesdays and Thursdays | 3-4:30 p.m.

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903