'62 Center for Theatre and Dance

Williams College, one of the foremost institutions of higher education in the United States, engaged THE OFFICE to design a professional performing arts program for its ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance, integrating professional productions into the academic life of the community. We collaborated with students, faculty, and administrators to create a scalable model, which focused on the concept of integrated programming, a strategy we developed to incorporate the professional companies coming to campus into professors’ curricula and to use art as a catalyst for scholarship and ideas. Artists included in the program include Akram Khan, 600 Highwaymen, Tero Saarinen, Dada Masilo, Philadanco, Toshi Reagon, Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, Taylor Mac, Batsheva Dance Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, SITI Company, Elevator Repair Service, Nora Chipaumire, Ping Chong, Lucinda Childs, and many others.The CenterSeries supports the college’s mission to provide students with an open, creative, and adaptive education by highlighting diverse modes of inquiry in the arts. While keeping the objectives of academic involvement in sharp focus, the ’62 Center maintains the highest ambitions for presenting work on a par with the world’s great cultural institutions, while remaining responsive to an evolving cultural landscape. As an arts center that consistently presents challenging and enlightening work of great distinction, the ‘62 Center is a vital resource for the entire Williams learning community: students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding region.