Post-MFA Fellowship in Applied Performance
Virginia Tech, 2021-2023
Laura did an amazing job at making sure the class was a welcoming environment and opened the doors to explore creativity in a way I was not used to. Her feedback continued to make me feel encouraged and made me want to keep going and creating in class.
—Student Feedback, Spring 2023
Through this two-year teaching fellowship, I was on faculty in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech. I taught Introduction to Acting and Introduction to Applied Collaborative Techniques, two courses offered as a part of the university’s “Pathways” general education curriculum. I was also a Faculty Fellow with the Center for Communicating Science. For the Center, I designed and led workshops that support scholars to communicate their research to non-academic audiences.
Check out the following articles that were published when I began:
“New Post-MFAs Bring Energy, Enthusiasm to Campus” (Center for Communicating Science Newsletter, 25 September 2021)
“Virginia Tech’s newest theater teacher takes stage” (Collegiate Times, 26 September 2021)
Museum Theatre
I designed a new museum theatre unit in my Introduction to Applied Collaborative Techniques course. In a partnership with the Moss Arts Center, students collaborated in groups to devise an original performance that is in conversation with one of the gallery exhibits at the Moss. Groups then performed their pieces in the galleries for a class and public audience. Through this project, students engaged with the work of Namwon Choi, Shin-il Kim, Steve Locke, Craig Drennen, Anne Samat, and Yanira Collado.
“The Daily Practice of Coping” created and performed by Ava Bueno, Kyle Marchak, Carson Blackburn, Elizabeth Hill, and M. Farooq Zahid. This performance was created in response to Steve Locke’s exhibit “The Daily Practice of Painting” (Fall 2022).
“She teaches towards growth instead of teaching towards perfection. She wants us to be creative and work off a minimal rubric and I learned so well because of it. The concepts are there, the heat, the heart, tableaux, and mastery of silence, as well as collaboration, respectfully telling a story, and being more in tune to yourself. She celebrates the growth and offers feedback to understand the concepts better which creates a wonderful learning environment.”
Students perform an open scene (Fall 2021)
Class collage of values and beliefs (Spring 2022)
Students perform Stiletto Envy by Eliana Pipes (Spring 2022)
I-ACT students present at the International Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conference (Summer 2022)
Abortion Day of Action Installation – I provided directorial support for the street theatre performance. (Fall 2022)
Students "swimming in a sea of chairs" in the final day of Introduction to Applied Collaborative Techniques (Fall 2022)
Students pose with Anne Samat's sculpture at the end of their museum theatre performance (Spring 2023)
Final class reflection in Introduction to Applied Collaborative Techniques (Spring 2023)