Northwestern State University is located in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Natchitoches (also known as the City Of Lights) is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase (1714), and home to the famous playwright Bobby Harling, author of the play/screenplay Steel Magnolias (the film was shot in Natchitoches). The community of approximately 25,000 is a one hour drive north of Alexandria, LA and an hour’s drive south of Shreveport, LA.  New Orleans, Dallas, Little Rock and Houston are all about a four hour’s drive.

Northwestern State University is a student-oriented institution of higher learning that serves more than 10,000 students on its main campus in Natchitoches and at satellite campuses in Shreveport, Alexandria, Leesville and Jonesville. The university is a pioneer in distance and electronic learning, offering on-line classes to students from several states and reaching overseas.

Northwestern’s main campus stands on property that was used as a convent and school until an act of the Louisiana Legislature in 1884 established the Louisiana State Normal School for the preparation of teachers. Prior to the Civil War, a portion of the campus was owned by the Bullard family of Natchitoches. Three of the four columns that once supported the Bullard mansion still stand and often serve as a symbol of the university.

From 1885-1915, the Normal School offered two-year programs for teacher training. Baccalaureate programs were inaugurated and in 1921, the school became Louisiana State Normal College. In 1944, the state Legislature recognized the school’s broader role in education and changed its name to Northwestern State College of Louisiana. In 1954, Northwestern offered the first master’s degree program in education and began offering the specialist in education degree in 1966.

On June 18, 1970, the legislative act was signed to change the school’s name to Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Ten years later, the old campus quadrangle was entered into the National Register for Historic Places under the title Normal Hill Historic District.

Today, Northwestern offers more than 100 student organizations, including Greek organizations, honor societies, clubs and service groups. NSU has a strong Division I athletic program whose student athletes score above the national average of the NCAA academic progress report.

Northwestern Theatre and Dance is one of the four programs within the Northwestern State University, Mrs. H.D. Dear, Sr. and Alice E. Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts. The Theatre/Dance program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre and has been designated a “Center of Excellence” by the University of Louisiana System. The program offers a BFA in Dance, BFA in Production and Design, and a Bachelor of Science in Theatre with concentrations in Musical Theatre, and Performance and Directing. A Theatre Minor and Dance Minor are also available.

The Theatre and Dance program has approximately 130 theatre/dance majors and minors taught by fifteen faculty members. Housed within the A.A. Fredericks Fine Arts Building, the program has a

• 1400 seat proscenium stage (A.A. Fredericks Auditorium)
• 125 seat thrust stage (Theatre West)
• 60-75 seat black box theatre (The Wann Theatre)
• large dance studio with a sprung dance floor
• tap dance studio with a sprung tap dance floor
• large classroom for lecture classes
• large computer lab/design studio
• scene shop, costume shop, light shop, sound shop, and paint shop
• large storage area for costumes, set and props

The program also provides students with hands-on experience with state of the art theatre technology including

• Three digital light boards (ETC Element, ETC Ion, and ETC Express 48/96)
• Four Varilite VL1000 TS Moving Lights
• Eight Altman LED Spectra cyc lights
• Costume Dye Lab
• Design lab containing seven computers and digitizer tablets, Photoshop and Adobe Suite, Lightwright 4, Vectorworks, AutoCAD, Sketch-up, and a 42” color plotter.

Northwestern Theatre and Dance produces four to six full stage productions each semester. The typical season includes one or two stage musicals, one or two “straight” shows, a dance concert, an outreach performance, and a classical theatre selection. All NSU or BPCC@NSU students are allowed to audition for the productions. Theatre/Dance students not cast in productions are asked to involve themselves in the productions in other capacities such as backstage assignments, box office, front of house, etc. The program also produces two or three performances during the summer to provide those students staying in town during the summer performance/production opportunities. Theatre/Dance students are required to maintain a 2.5 grade point average to participate in productions. A detailed description of the Northwestern Theatre/Dance casting policy can be found by clicking here.

Theatre and Dance scholarships are available to theatre and dance majors and minors.  Scholarships are given based on an audition and/or portfolio review and interview. Students are required to reapply for their scholarship at the end of each school year. Those students showing improvement in their college careers may be given scholarship increases. Those students dropping below a 2.5 GPA and/or showing little improvement may have scholarships reduced or taken away. Out of State Tuition Waivers can be offered to out of state students receiving theatre/dance scholarships. Students interested in setting up a scholarship audition, should refer to the Scholarship Audition section of the Theatre and Dance homepage.