The Performing Arts Department (PAD) at Washington University in St. Louis is dedicated to teaching the disciplines of drama and dance. The PAD believes that the practice and study of theater, dance, and performance provide crucial interpretive windows into history and culture. The department offers majors in dance and drama as well as minors in drama, dance, and world music, dance, and theatre. Master’s level studies can also be completed in two fields: dance and theater and performance studies.

The dance program offers a variety of opportunities for students particularly interested in dance performance and choreography. In the fall, students may audition for Washington University Dance Theatre (WUDT), a student company that presents annual concerts. Each year a dance choreographed for WUDT and a student work are sent to the regional American College Dance Conference.

Each year, the department hosts a number of productions for student drama students, and the department’s playwright-in-residence produces the annual A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Competition each spring, which is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University. In the fall, A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival winning plays are workshopped with a professional dramaturge and read publicly.

There is a strong network of PAD alumni including: Barbara Thomas (formerly Senior Vice President and CFO of HBO Sports), Russell Schwartz (Senior Vice President for Business and Legal Affairs at Starz Media), Michael Shamberg (producer), Peter Sarsgaard (a 2004 Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actor), and Marisa Wegrzyn (winner of the Wendy Wasserstein Playwright Award).