The Lewis Center is your Pathway to the Arts! This page offers information for incoming first-year students interested in pursuing the arts while at Princeton. Note: Dates and details below are subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please revisit this page for the latest updates which will be posted as they are confirmed. Undergraduate students with questions about the fall term should explore the University’s FAQ page.
A message from Tracy K. Smith, Chair of the Lewis Center
Replay: First-Year Student Open House
The Lewis Center hosted a special virtual info session for first-year students on Monday, August 17 where program directors and current students provided a brief overview of each program and answered questions. Watch the video above and meet the faculty and learn more about how to enroll in arts courses for the fall!
Fall 2020 Courses and Applications
Lewis Center for the Arts courses are offered in Creative Writing, Dance, Theater, Music Theater, Visual Arts (including film/video), and through the interdisciplinary Princeton Atelier. Certificates are awarded in the areas of Creative Writing, Dance, Theater, Music Theater, and Visual Arts. You will also find additional courses offered by other departments that may be cross-listed with the arts. Review a list of FAQs from students about Lewis Center courses and certificate programs.
CREATIVE WRITING
Creative Writing Courses
Courses are offered at introductory and advanced levels in poetry, fiction, literary translation, and screenwriting. All creative writing courses require an application, which consists of a short writing sample or statement of interest; please see the guidelines. The online application will be available for first-year students beginning August 7, 2020, with a deadline of August 23 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT). Application decisions will be emailed to you along with instructions to immediately select a class section, which are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Explore fall 2020 Creative Writing course offerings and consult this introduction for incoming first-year students for further guidance. Questions about the program? Email Program Assistant Katie Welsh: kwelsh@princeton.edu
DANCE
Come and Experience Dance
The Program in Dance welcomes you to experience dance this year. Dance courses open to first-year students include our new DAN 324: Princeton Dance Festival Re-Imagined: Five Performance Projects, where each section will feature a unique venture into dance and choreographic creation culminating in a live, online Performance Festival. Section 5, taught by Olivier Tarpaga, is reserved just for first-year students and spots are still available in Section 1, taught by Dean Moss. Students will explore the intersections of dance and multimedia performance, digital animation, filmmaking, site-specific theater and art, or music. Dive into dance scholarship, choreography, and physical practice, with acclaimed faculty, guest choreographers, and co-curricular classes. View fall 2020 Dance course offerings.
Join our Virtual Dance Open House on Wednesday, July 29 at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Zoom. To attend the Open House meeting, please email Program Associate Cindy Rosenfeld (cr17@princeton.edu) for the Zoom link.
Interested in taking some dance classes?
Train with professionals outside of course work in co-curricular dance classes, including this summer. Summer classes include Ballet, House Flow, and Yoga with professional instructors. If you don’t yet have your Princeton ID and login credentials, get access to the class Zoom link from Cindy Rosenfeld by emailing cr17@princeton.edu. Academic year classes begin in early September. Co-curricular classes (ballet, conditioning, hip-hop, contemporary, yoga, pilates, and student-led classes) are offered free of charge, on a drop-in basis, to all Princeton students.
Learn about Princeton alum and co-curricular dance instructor Lauren Auyeung ’19’s passion for hip-hop dance and her senior thesis journey in this video:
THEATER + MUSIC THEATER
The Programs in Theater and Music Theater welcome all new students, beginners and experienced alike, to explore theater and collaborate with award-winning professional artists and scholars in the classroom and in production. Performing roles, production and design opportunities are available to all first-year students in a diverse season presented in several innovative formats. Participate in a rapidly changing theatrical world through exciting new media while exploring the timeless arts of collaborative creativity and communication. No experience is required to get started. Interested? Attend our Theater Season Introductory Meeting on August 27 from 12-1:30 PM (EDT) to meet our community, hear about our season and ask questions. Program Directors Jane Cox, Stacy Wolf, and Program Associate Joe Fonseca will also host a drop-in Theater Program Q&A Session for first-year students on September 3 from 4:30-5:30 PM (EDT).
Hear from Jane Cox about opportunities in theater in the video below:
Auditions + Production Opportunities
The Programs in Theater and Music Theater invite students to apply to participate in a diverse season of classic, contemporary, and student created musicals and plays presented in several innovative formats (virtually and otherwise). All students with an interest in performing and production should visit the theater auditions page for more details, to express interest and to apply to participate early in the academic year. Performing roles, production, and design opportunities are available for first-year students — a great way to dive in right away to Princeton’s exciting theater community! This fall, theater director and choreographer Sam Pinkleton will direct a remote project for THR 451, which also counts for course credit. No experience required in any area. Keep your eye on the theater program workshop page for upcoming events and workshops, including a BIPOC student theater makers group that will meet for the first time on Friday, Sept. 4.
Theater Courses
The Program in Theater offers courses in acting, directing, playwriting, design, technology in live entertainment, dramaturgy, theater scholarship and criticism, and special topics. First-year students who are committed to theater are encouraged to take THR 101, an introduction to many different kinds of theater making from a collaborative and multicultural perspective. View fall 2020 Theater course offerings. Most available courses are open enrollment via TigerHub. First-year students interested in acting classes can contact Jane Cox, janecox@princeton.edu, for entrance into THR 201 (Beginning Studies in Acting). THR 451/MTD 451 (Theater Rehearsal and Performance) is by application for all performing and non-performing roles; apply and submit a short video by July 31 (applications will be accepted through Sept. 4). THR 400 and THR 418 are not open to first-year students. Questions about the program? Email Program Associate Joe Fonseca: jfonseca@princeton.edu
Music Theater Courses
The Program in Music Theater offers courses at the nexus of music, theater, and dance, taught by faculty across the University as well as guest artists who teach, compose, write, create, perform, and research music theater’s various forms of music, dance, scripted text, and design. All Music Theater courses are open to first-year students. View fall 2020 Music Theater course offerings. Questions about the program? Email Program Associate Joe Fonseca: jfonseca@princeton.edu
VISUAL ARTS
Immerse yourself in an introductory or advanced course in drawing, film/video, graphic design, painting, photography, sculpture and more in the Program in Visual Arts. Work intimately with stellar contemporary artists and dirty your hands in the trenches of materiality and object-making while exploring and analyzing the structures that form the core of our experience, illuminating the meta questions underlying society, culture, and progress. All 200-level VIS courses are geared towards first-year students and welcome all levels of experience. View fall 2020 Visual Arts course offerings. Questions about the program? Email Program Associate Kristy Seymour: kseymour@princeton.edu
Interested in film/video?
Within the Program in Visual Arts, courses are offered at introductory and advanced levels in film and video production. View fall 2020 Visual Arts course offerings. Questions about the program? Email Program Associate Kristy Seymour: kseymour@princeton.edu
Every fall, junior and senior students open their studios at 185 Nassau to the public for Open Studios. See the artists’ spaces and works-in-progress in this video from Fall 2019:
PRINCETON ATELIER
Unique, one-time interdisciplinary courses are offered, taught by nationally and internationally renowned guest artists focusing on the collaborative creation of new work. In ATL 499, students will investigate Disney’s Fantasia and create a devised dancer/theater production with choreographer Raja Feather Kelly and video artist Laura Snow. Seats are being held in this exciting course for first-year students! Visit the Atelier page to view fall 2020 Atelier course offerings. Please contact Marion Young with questions: youngmf@princeton.edu.
MUSIC
For information on programs of study and courses in music, visit the Department of Music’s website.
