On Saturday, April 12, the Union College Department of Theater and Dance traveled to New York City for a series of acting workshops, dance classes, backstage tours and conversations with prominent figures in the industry, including Broadway lyricist Erik Della Penna.
The biennial trip is an initiative by the department to promote experiential learning beyond the classroom. This year’s visit marked the program’s return following the COVID-19 pandemic and was led by department faculty members Hettie Barnhill, Brittney Belz, Drew Bodd, Laurie Zabele Cawley, Gabriel Thom Pasculli, Jasmine Roth ’14 and Dan Venning.
“It’s important for our students to see theater and dance at the highest professional level in NYC, as well as to meet artists and take classes there,” said Dan Venning, associate professor of theater and dance. “It’s fun for everyone and is a crucial part of supporting the immersive educational mission of Union College—and forging the close connections between students and faculty that are a key part of the small liberal arts college experience.”
Based on their academic focus at Union, students spent the afternoon participating in a range of activities: taking dance classes at the Broadway Dance Center or the Ailey School, attending an acting class at Ripley-Grier Studios, meeting Della Penna and previewing his upcoming Broadway show, Dead Outlaw. Other highlights included a backstage tour of the long-running Off-Broadway show The Play That Goes Wrong at New World Stages, and a visit to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and its Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.
In the evening, dance students attended the Martha Graham Dance Company’s Dances of the Mind at the Joyce Theater, while theater students saw John Proctor Is the Villain, a new play by Kimberly Belflower, at the Booth Theatre.
“I really liked the show,” said Lia Nichols ’27, a theater minor. “I thought it was a little heavy, but it was handled in a very tactful way. I know it is hard to capture how teenagers speak when you’re an older person writing teenagers, but they did a really good job. I definitely learned a lot.”
Nichols added that she wished she had also attended Dances of the Mind, noting, “I did ballet for most of my life, and dance is really close to my heart.”
Armaan Uppal ’26 enjoyed seeing how backstage work translates to the professional level. “It was good to see how the skills we learn at Union might apply to the Broadway stage,” he said. “Even though everything might be on a bigger scale—more speakers or lights—the fundamentals still remain the same.”
The trip was funded by grants from Union’s Internal Education Foundation, which supports learning experiences outside the classroom. Because of the program’s cost, five faculty members jointly applied for this year’s grant.
“It’s a ton of work for all of us, but it is immensely worth it,” said Venning. “I wish we had a dedicated fund for this so we could do it every year, since we aren’t allowed to apply for the IEF annually.”
The department regularly offers opportunities for students to engage with theater and dance beyond the classroom. Each trimester features major departmental productions, including fall and spring theater shows, the Winter Dance Concert and the Steinmetz Dance Concert. Students also travel to see professional productions as part of their coursework.
This year’s trips included Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors in Buffalo and Once on This Island at Capital Repertory Theatre, directed by faculty member Hettie Barnhill. Professors also welcomed guest artists such as Vincent E. Thomas and Robert Battle to their classes. In another unique opportunity, Union students performed alongside the Eisenhower Dance Detroit company onstage at The Egg in Albany.
“It is a privilege to witness the transformational impact that exposure to the arts has on our students,” said Laurie Zabele Cawley, interim director of dance. “It brings me back to the many moments in my own life that were reshaped by powerful artistic experiences—reminders of how deeply the arts can move, inspire and change us.”
The department’s commitment to experiential learning continues to shape meaningful experiences for students, and they highly recommend taking advantage of these opportunities at Union.
