Theatre Student Works with Professor on Interactive Musical

Junior Theatre major Jonas Higbee has been researching interactive musicals with Associate Professor Alison Dobbins since his freshman year at Michigan State University. Their research is based around Dance Engine, an ever-evolving artistic project that combines dancing, storytelling, improvisation, and audience interaction to build a single-story timeline. For Dance Engine, all audience members are given tablet computers or, in the most recent version…

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At the Forefront of a New Age in Theatre

Alison Dobbins, Associate Professor of Integrated Performance Media Design, is at the forefront of a new frontier in theatre – one that integrates digital media, lighting, and theatrical production to provide magical effects for the stage. A motion graphics artist, Dobbins designs special effects for theatre performances using digital media and state-of-the-art projections. “You are taking a field that is…

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Creating Theatre Magic Through Digital Media

Professor Alison Dobbins works on cueing software for digital media on the set of The Tempest. Step inside the Michigan State University Wharton Center for Performing Arts Pasant Theatre on a Thursday afternoon and you might be surprised by the way in which MSU students are preparing for a production of Shakespeare’s 450-year-old play, The Tempest. There are no actors, no candlelit stage,…

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The College of Arts & Letters Funds Community Projects in Flint

The College of Arts & Letters has funded four collaborative community projects that were proposed by CAL faculty and in which they will collaborate with Flint citizens who served on the Arts and Culture Task Force (one of eight task forces that co-authored the City of Flint’s 20-year strategic plan, Imagine Flint) and/or Flint institutions. The College sought to support faculty efforts…

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