While Dartmouth is a small school, it has a generous range of arts facilities. The campus boasts countless organizations dedicated to the arts -- too many to cover here. This article and the College's orientation activities can give you a brief overview of arts on campus, but the best strategy is to dive in and pursue your passion. You'll be surprised at the depth of the offerings -- and if you're exploring uncharted waters, it's easy to create your own opportunities.
When you first arrive, you'll be dragged to a number of information sessions, seminars and the like. Your best tactic, though, is to explore on your own time, tapping the resources of professors and students who have free time before classes start and schedules become hectic.
Here's a general look at how some common sectors of the arts landscape are represented at Dartmouth.
Film & Television
Film is one of the most popular artistic undertakings on campus -- the Hopkins Center's quarterly film circular is a common wall decoration among even the most casual moviegoer.
For the more cinematically inclined, there's the Dartmouth Film Society. The DFS is responsible for the Hop's movie schedule each term, but they also arrange special events and bring celebrities to campus via the annual DFS award. Johnny Depp and Ang Lee have been among the recent visitors.
Television has a fledgling but ever-increasing presence. The film & TV studies department offers a few television classes that take an academic look at the medium. If you want to get into production, head to Robinson Hall and knock on DTV's door, where you can create and edit your own show for broadcast to fellow students.
Drama
Those of you enamored with the spotlight should have no trouble stepping into it. The mainstage production produced by the drama department is the biggest theater event of each term, but there are smaller productions, too.
Your first stop should be Shakespeare Alley, located in the hallway to the drama faculty's offices near Moore Theater in the Hop. Here you'll find the bulletin board where casting calls for Hop drama productions are posted.
Another reliable way to get your name in lights is to make friends with a drama major. It won't be long before you're asked to star in the latest mandatory class exercise -- those small roles have a peculiar way of opening up at the last minute.
Music
If you're a singer, you may be in trouble. The prospects are limited, especially for a capella. The Aires, The Cords, Final Cut, The Decibelles, The Rockapellas, The Subtleties, The Dodecaphonics, X.ado and Kol Koreh Bamidbar are among the only groups on campus!
If you somehow manage to make the cut into an a capella group, congratulations. For those vocalists who aren't so lucky, you can try the classical route -- The Chamber Singers and the Handel Society. There's also the Gospel Choir and the Glee Club, a popular staple at special events like Winter Carnival and commencement.
Instrumentalists will find a home in the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Symphony, the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble or a reliable favorite, the Marching Band. If you prefer to go solo, individual instruction is available for a wide variety of instruments -- feel like taking up the organ?
Dance
Of course, you might want to get more physical. The dance options at the College include the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble, which stages contemporary modern works each Spring term in addition to other shows throughout the year; Sheba, the student-run hip-hop troupe that invariably has to turn away stragglers hoping to attend already-packed shows; and Fusion, the dance group which attempts to fuse ballet, jazz, and modern dance. Steppin' Out is the tap troupe, and Ujima choreographs African-inspired pieces.
Studio Art
If you're not a studio art major but still have the desire to express yourself in more tangible media, Dartmouth's student workshops are a great way to spend your free time. Look for orientation schedules at the beginning of each term. You can fire a pot, craft a bracelet for your empty-nest-stricken mother or make that spice rack you've always wanted.
The best advice may be clichd, but it's true -- get involved. Explore your present interests, and discover new ones. You have four years to become the next Rembrandt; you'd better get started now.
