A VIBRANT ARTS LANDSCAPE The 2022-23 performance season embraced the transformative power of collaboration. UNCSA’s five highly ranked arts schools united talented students, renowned faculty, celebrated guest artists and esteemed institutions to push creative boundaries and showcase diverse perspectives. This tapestry of artistic voices, spanning traditional to contemporary, enriched our worldview and fostered a vibrant arts landscape.
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1. The schools of Dance and Design & Production revived Merce Cunningham’s “Travelogue,” set to John Cage’s “Telephones and Birds,” with design by Robert Rauschenberg. Through the partnership between UNCSA, the Merce Cunningham Trust, John Cage Trust and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, a new generation of artists paid tribute to the collaborative nature of the original production.
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3. In a groundbreaking collaboration, the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and the School of Design & Production reimagined Joseph Haydn’s opera “Orlando Paladino” in outer space. Taking cues from “Thor: Ragnarok,” Stage Director Steven LaCosse and Design & Production students crafted a one-of-a-kind universe filled with heroism and comedic brilliance.
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Live or Livestream: Discover inspiring performances at uncsa.edu/performances.
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4. Winston-Salem State University School of Health Sciences and the UNCSA School of Filmmaking partnered to integrate virtual reality (VR) into the training curriculum for nursing students. This collaboration demonstrated the impact of arts in education by providing students with immersive technologies that strengthened clinical judgment and increased knowledge retention. 5. “The Nutcracker” remains a cherished holiday tradition, uniting hundreds of students from the schools of Dance, Design & Production and Music. The 2022 production featured a record number of dancers performing with the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra under acclaimed Guest Conductor Jiannan Cheng. The performance was further elevated by the ingenuity of talented student artisans, who brought the magic to life with sets, props and lighting.
Photos by Garrett Garms, Allison Lee Isley, Peter Mueller and Wayne Reich
2. The schools of Drama, Design & Production and Music collaborated to bring Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus” to life. Helmed by Drama faculty member Quin Gordon and conducted by Music faculty member Mark Norman, who worked alongside students to develop the score from 67 excerpts of Mozart’s work, the production featured student musicians performing in period costumes onstage.
