College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the appointment of Mya Brown to the position of Assistant Professor of Theatre–Acting/Directing Generalist.

Brown comes to UNC Greensboro from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego where she is an Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing. Previously, she was a Visiting Instructor of Acting at West Virginia University. She has presented workshops on voice for the actor, improvisation, and audition techniques at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival-Region 2, New York State Theatre Education Association, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Northeast Theatre Festival, and SUNY-Oswego Dramafest.

Brown’s primary areas of focus include acting, directing, voice & diction, and Shakespeare. She has led study abroad trips to London, focusing on the murders of Jack the Ripper, the magic of Harry Potter, and the monsters presented in Shakespeare’s plays and the West End theatre.

She is an Open Education Resources (OER) instructor and has created her own OER, the Shakespearean Monologue Database, which is available through LibGuides, the content management system used by libraries worldwide. At West Virginia, she served as a recruiting specialist creating a program that toured the state sharing the impact of theatre with underrepresented student populations. She also worked with that school’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which allowed her to present works in collaboration with the National Institute of Science and Health, Center for Disease Control (WV).

Brown has professional acting credits with the NuBlack Arts West Theatre (Seattle, WA) for The Colored Museum, Atlantic Beach Theatre (Atlantic Beach, FL) for Laundry and Bourbon, and West Virginia Public Theatre (Morgantown, WV) for Elvis the Musical-staged reading, Romeo and Juliet, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

She holds an MFA in Acting from West Virginia University and a BFA in Theatre with a Film Minor from Jacksonville University in Florida.

Please join us in welcoming Mya Brown to the CVPA faculty!

Duane Cyrus is a Professor in CVPA’s School of Dance. Cyrus teaches studio-based courses — repertory, choreography, and technique — and he says those are challenging courses to teach online:

“The Performing Arts are all about human interaction. They involve bodies moving together in the same space.”

Cyrus says that although there is no substitute for face-to-face teaching, he’s found ways to make Zoom work for his students. The gallery views allow them to work “together”, and it’s been a good platform for the students to have discussions and support each other.

In this visit to the Virtual Classroom, Cyrus shares his and his students’ successes, obstacles, and art.
Photo: Zoom session from Cyrus’s undergraduate choreography class, DCE 253

This story is part of an ongoing series, The Virtual Classroom, in which we highlight the way CVPA has pivoted to online classes during this time of social distancing. If you have a story to share, from either a teaching OR learning perspective, please send your information to [email protected] with The Virtual Classroom in the subject line.

Congratulations to all of the CVPA students who participated in this year’s 14th Annual Carolyn and Norwood Thomas Undergraduate Research and Creativity Expo! Thanks also go to all of the faculty mentors who advised these research projects. If you would like to sample the research of our undergraduate students, just click on the project title for the YouTube link to the project:

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In a virtual ceremony this spring, CVPA recognized five faculty members and one staff member who are retiring this year.

Collectively, James Fisher, David Nelson, George Dimock, Robert Hansen, Gregory Carroll, and Jeff Gillis have contributed 159 years to the life of UNC Greensboro.

Watch the presentation here.

Yophi Bost says that majoring in music education was a pretty predictable path for her:

“My mom is an Actors’ Equity Assocation actress, so my younger sister and I were pushed into professional musical theatre as toddlers. I was singing before I learned to talk, and music has always been my passion. On top of that, all the role models I had growing up were educators, including my grandmother and great aunt who hold PhDs in education. This inspired me to want to teach and to teach something that I’m passionate about. Arts education changed my life, but coming from an impoverished rural area in Georgia, I was deprived of it until high school. Majoring in arts education is my way of ensuring that I can provide that experience to others.”

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