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Department of Performing Arts

The Department of Performing Arts at Salve Regina provides students with individualized attention in the creative disciplines of music, theatre and dance. We offer majors and minors in music and theatre arts, as well as a minor in dance and an extensive program in music education, which leads to Rhode Island teacher certification in grades K-12 for music.

For students interested in music, we foster an understanding and appreciation of a wide variety of music through study, instrumental and vocal training and performance. With a traditional liberal arts education as its foundation, our program teaches students to appreciate the rich heritage of musical arts while providing them with comprehensive musical training.

Our students participate in a wide range of vocal and instrumental ensembles on campus and throughout Newport, allowing them to hone their teamwork and problem-solving skills and learn to become critical listeners and accomplished performers.

Students interested in theatre arts explore the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of theatrical productions through both analysis and performance experience. Our talented professors shape hybrid artists with a top-level theatre education designed for success in the boardroom, the courtroom or the greenroom.

Students in the dance program have the opportunity to study jazz, ballet and modern technique. By graduating dance minors who are triple trained, our program prepares students for any graduate school or dance company they wish to join.

Outside the classroom, we offer an array of opportunities to further develop students' interests and skills, including our premier dance company, Extensions, and our vibrant student-run theatre company, StageFright.

Whether they pursue their interests professionally or recreationally, our graduates possess the creative, collaborative and analytical skills necessary for success in whatever career they choose. Our programs leave students well prepared for professional training programs, graduate studies and careers in such fields as education and social services.


												Photo of Stagecraft

Featured Course

Stagecraft
Department of Performing Arts
This course provides practical study of the fundamentals of stage carpentry, including training in the proper use of tools and various scenic materials. The course is designed as a studio course in which students work on individual projects and on the construction of scenery for main stage and laboratory productions.

Faculty Spotlight


												Photo of Peter Davis and Michael Johnson
Peter Davis and Michael Johnson
Chair/Adjunct Professor

Peter Davis and Michael Johnson have been playing music together since high school. The two perform with the MSD Quintet, a local jazz group. Both musicians know that jazz can be challenging and a little daunting but it also gives them a sense of incredible freedom.

Did you know?

Rossi has Hollywood background
Rossi has Hollywood background

Salve Regina’s makeup instructor Joe Rossi headed the makeup department for Disney’s production of “Underdog.” Other work includes “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” “Shutter Island,” “War of the Worlds,” “Shallow Hal,” “Me, Myself and Irene,” “Meet Joe Black,” “Thirteen Days” and Showtime’s “Brotherhood.” Rossi has also provided makeup services for the Clintons and Al Gore.

Related Groups and Organizations

  • StageFright and Seahawk Down
    The student-run theater club, StageFright, produces at least one show per year in the Megley Theatre, offers workshops and classes on specialties like stage combat and plans field trips to local professional and university theaters. Seahawk Down is Salve Regina's student improv troupe.