Performing Arts

Mission

The Performing Arts Department at SOTA is committed to providing pre-professional training which imaginatively balances theory and practice, and is based on a quality liberal arts foundation.  Through classroom study, studio preparation and productions and performances, students are encouraged to pursue a commitment to individual excellence and collaboration, a passion for their discipline, and to develop a firm grounding in all aspects of live and mediated performance.  Students seeking professional careers, preparing for university degree programs or pursuing non-major study of the arts participate in the performing arts program encompassing new, modern and classic works interpreted to confront and illuminate the diverse concerns of contemporary life. 

Performance is an essential and integral part of the department’s educational mission.  Students at SOTA, both majors and non-majors, are provided with a variety of opportunities to gain experience and develop creative and collaborative skills both before and behind the scenes.  In the selection of works, the department seeks to reflect vital contemporary issues, personal and public, in varied and challenging forms, both new and classic, thereby creating a forum for cultural and social concerns.  The department actively pursues the development of new works and collaborations with Tacoma’s arts and educational institutions.