Performing Arts
Performing Arts
Whether it’s dance, theater, or musical performance, the Harvard community hits just the right note on all of our campus stages, creating vibrant, innovative experiences for patrons in our neighborhood and around the world.
Curtain call
These Harvard performers bring their talents to our stages, dance studios, and theaters.
Julia Riew
Julia arrived at a crossroads two years into her College career; she was on the pre-med track, while also exploring her long-held love of musical theater.
Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg
Benjamin’s opera “Nighttown” simultaneously reimagines James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and Homer’s “Odyssey,” creating a haunting existential parable that explores the complexity of modern relationships.
Kerry Thompson
Kerry Thompson, a Harvard alum, uses dance and the arts to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities through her nonprofit, Silent Rhythms.
Latonya Wright
Latonya Wright has played the cymbals with the Harvard University Band at more than 22 Harvard Commencements.
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD) make captivating beats using tubes, trash cans, buckets, cups, brooms, basketballs, spoons, and more.
Ayodele Casel
As a Radcliffe Fellow, Ayodele brought the forgotten history of women in tap dancing into the spotlight.
The art of inclusion
Harvard’s metaLAB and Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society are collaborating to develop a set of guidelines for lawmakers and performing arts organizations that would address the accessibility concerns of digital performances.
Kick, ball, changing minds
The Harvard Dance Center hosted the AXIS Dance Company, comprised of disabled and non-disabled dancers working together to challenge misconceptions about the art form, for a virtual master class.
Kick, ball, changing mindsSpotlight on the unsung
The Harvard Theatre Collection explored the influence of immigrants on early American theater.
Exploring a movement
In the course “Hip Hop Dance,” students learned about the geography, history, race, gender, and culture behind some of their favorite moves.
Drag history at Harvard
The archives of celebrated drag queen Joey Arias were recently acquired by Harvard Theatre Collection, documenting 40 years of drag, cabaret, and performance art.
Broadway’s representation problem
Professor Derek Miller pushes students to think critically about the race and gender of who gets cast for which role on Broadway.
A performance for everyone
Mikey Krajnak from A.R.T. explains how the theater made “Jagged Little Pill” and many other productions accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
A.R.T. through the years
Founded in 1980, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a leading force in American theater, producing groundbreaking and thought-provoking theatrical experiences. As the professional theater on campus, the A.R.T. focuses on building community with audiences, artists, students, staff, and neighbors across the Greater Boston area.
At its heart, the A.R.T is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of theater, always including the audience as a partner.

"1776"
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made
Informed by their own research and input from scholars, the female, nonbinary, and trans cast are able to bring fresh perspectives to "1776," which depicts the Second Continental Congress struggling to draft the Declaration of Independence. This A.R.T./Roundabout co-production played on Broadway in winter 2022 and is touring the US in 2023.

"Life of Pi"
Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
The theatrical adaptation of Yann Martel's award-winning novel about a zookeeper's teenage son stranded on a lifeboat features large-scale animal puppets. The production begins its Broadway run in March 2023.

"Jagged Little Pill"
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva
A musical adaptation inspired by the iconic '90s album by Alanis Morissette premiered at the A.R.T. in 2018. The production went on to earn a record 15 Tony Award nominations and is touring the US in 2023.

"Alice in Rainbowland"
Photo by Carven Creative Media
This retelling of "Alice in Wonderland," Lewis Carroll's classic 1865 novel, offered a perfect vehicle for Queer Bodies in Motion's first artistic endeavor.

"Macbeth in Stride"
Photo by Lauren Miller
Part of an ongoing A.R.T. series examining the challenges faced by heroines in five of Shakespeare's plays, "Macbeth in Stride," saw the world through the eyes of Lady Macbeth, a woman whose ruthless ambition drives her mad, but not before she urges her husband to commit a few murders along the way.

"Ocean Filibuster"
Photo by Maggie Hall
"Ocean Filibuster," a musical theater production at the A.R.T., examines the intimate relationship between nature and humanity. The play was commissioned and developed through a collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

"Dragon Cycle"
Photos by Gretjen Helene Photography
This three-part one-woman show traces the lives of a Filipina immigrant, her queer daughter, and an embattled granddaughter. Created by Seattle-based actor and writer Sara Porkalob, the series documents the different challenges faced by each of these three women.

"We Live in Cairo"
We Live in Cairo tells the story of the youth who lived through the 2011 uprising in Egypt in the age of social media. Harvard professor Tarek Masoud collaborated with its writers in advance of the show’s 2019 world premiere.

"Waitress"
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva
Featuring music and lyrics by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, this uplifting musical celebrates friendship, motherhood, and the courage it takes to pursue a dream. Since premiering at A.R.T. in 2015, it has played on Broadway, in London, Japan, and across the US.
All the campus is a stage
Explore the groups on Harvard’s campus—and the spaces where they perform—that bring the arts to life.
Even before the launch of the Theater, Dance & Media concentration in 2015, performing arts have been an integral part of the Harvard community. The Harvard Band recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, a cappella groups have been a vibrant part of campus life since the 1940s, and the American Repertory Theater has been expanding the boundaries of theater since 1980.
A celebration of movement can be found at the Harvard Dance Center where they are advancing dance literacy on campus and around the world.
All across Harvard’s Schools and centers, choirs, bands, orchestras, and ensembles are exploring, performing, and advancing music in all its forms.
Behind the scenes, many of our staff members share their performing art talents in our annual Harvard Staff Art Show.
And on Harvard’s many stages, from the Loeb Drama Center, home of A.R.T. and Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club; to Farkas Hall, home of Hasty Pudding Theatricals; to the recently proposed research and performance center in Allston, Harvard students, faculty, and staff are bringing new ideas and perspectives to these disciplines.
Harvard Arts Medal
Explore some performing artists who have received the Harvard Arts Medal, an award for Harvard alumni and faculty members who have achieved excellence in the arts and have made a contribution to education or the public good.
John Lithgow
Tracy K. Smith
Rubén Blades
Matt Damon
Fred Ho
Tommy Lee Jones