Dear Fine Arts Community,
After a competitive national search, I’m so pleased to share that Peter Carpenter will be joining our college as the new chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. He’ll step into this role on July 1, and he will hold the Z.T. Scott Family Chair in Drama. We’re delighted to welcome Peter into our community.
I want to thank Megan Alrutz, who has ably served as interim chair this past year while we conducted the search for this important leadership position.
I deeply admire Peter’s work, both as an administrator and as an artist scholar. His work emerges from deep research efforts and substantial community engagement. He’s showcased his dances across a range of platforms—from regional theatre to experimental dance venues and film festivals. His choreography balances intellectual rigor with creative playfulness to achieve truly remarkable works of beauty and insight.
Peter Carpenter has been active as a choreographer since 1992, and during that time he has honed a distinctive approach to blending complex dance vocabularies with politically charged text and meta-theatrical conventions. His work as a choreographer for theatre include engagements with Steppenwolf Arts Exchange, The Goodman, Strawdog, National Pastime, Roadworks, 29th Street Repertory and Street Signs. He choreographed and co-produced the 2012 short film Fanfare for Marching Band, directed by Danièle Wilmouth and featuring music by the band Mucca Pazza, which enjoyed international screenings.
Peter has received robust support for new commissions by Lucky Plush Productions (Chicago), The Dance Distribution Project (Memphis, Tennessee), The Ashland Art Museum (Chapel Hill, North Carolina), Robin Lakes/ROUGHDANCE (Chicago), Project|Motion (Memphis) and SPDW Dance Theatre (Chicago). He’s received grants to create new works, including the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Grant, Chicago Artists Assistance Program Grant and DCASE Individual Artist Grant. He’s also received a Joseph Jefferson Citation, a Ruth Page Award and two nominations for the Alpert Award in Dance.
He regularly teaches as a guest artist in college dance and theatre programs including DuPaul University, Ferris State University, Georgetown, Illinois Wesleyan College, Northwestern, Ohio State University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Alaska–Anchorage and Fairbanks, University of California–Los Angeles, University of Colorado–Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Memphis, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and University of Southern Mississippi.
As an educator, Peter finds opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange across lines of artistry and scholarship. In his most recent leadership role as director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida's College of the Arts, he oversaw significant curriculum revisions and developed a number of producing and educational relationships, including partnerships with New York Live Arts, Pinck Productions and Saudade Theatre. He was previously on the Dance faculty of Columbia College Chicago, where he also served as president of the Faculty Senate (2013–2015) chair of Dance (2015–2018) and interim chair of Theatre (2016–2019).
He holds a B.S. in Theatre from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in Dance and a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance from the University of California Los Angeles.
With his deep experiences in leadership, arts administration and creative research, I’m confident that Peter is the perfect fit to help us build upon and elevate the excellent work happening in the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Peter as he steps into this leadership role.
Sincerely,
