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Alumni, Connect 
Curating Community

Michelle Maasz Brouwer ’14 connects audiences and artists as director of programming at Irvine Barclay Theatre By Diana Kalaji At Irvine Barclay Theatre (IBT), Michelle Maasz Brouwer curates experiences that bring together students, artists and audiences, strengthening the creative connection...
Alumni, Faculty, Student, Connect 
UCI Arts 2025 Year in Review

Reflecting back on a year of exceptional milestones  The past year marked a significant moment for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, coinciding with UC Irvine’s 60th anniversary and the continued celebration of the 25th anniversary of the naming of the school. Together, these milestones...
Alumni 
Dance Alumni Receive Honors at Dance City Festival Chicago

M.F.A. Dance graduates Yinqi Wang and Maggie Liang recognized for their choreographic work A Touch of Sin UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts Department of Dance alumni Yinqi Wang, M.F.A. ’24 and Maggie Liang, M.F.A. ’24, co-founders of the ensemble Omnivore Dance, have been honored with...
Alumni, Faculty, Connect 
A Legacy Worth Celebrating

Anniversaries of UC Irvine and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts offer a moment of reflection and possibility By Christine Byrd Every day, UC Irvine students and visitors walk by Claire Trevor’s Oscar and Emmy awards outside the theater named in her honor — golden reminders of that rare...
Alumni, Faculty, Student 
Growth and Experimentation: The UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts (2000-2025)

by Peter Lefevre  It’s the turn of the millennium. We’ve escaped the mortal threat of Y2K. Beanie Babies are the next big thing.  And the UC Irvine School of the Arts is launching itself into a new and transformative era.  It started with a new name.  Orange County resident and Oscar-winning...
Alumni, Faculty, Student 
Origins and Evolution: The UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts (1965-1999)

by Peter Lefevre  Six decades. 25 Guggenheim Fellows. More than 1,000 students every year, producing hundreds of performances and exhibitions.  Numbers don’t tell the whole story of the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, but they’re a revealing snapshot of the outsized impact the school...
Alumni 
UCI Dance Alumni Represented in SoCal Ballet Scene: Ballet Festival 2025

Eight graduates bring their training and artistry back to Irvine for performances at the Barclay Theatre This Saturday, September 13, 2025, the annual SoCal Ballet Scene: Ballet Festival 2025 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre showcases the artistry of several UC Irvine Department of Dance alumni....
Alumni, Connect 
Answering the Call to Lead

Dante Puleio (M.F.A. ’17) reflects on his path from student to artistic director of the José Limón Dance Company By Diana Kalaji  If dance showed Dante Puleio how to move, the José Limón technique taught him how to move through life.  “When I discovered dance, I woke up,” said Puleio. “But when...
Alumni 
Alumni Appreciation Month Spotlight: Radhanath Dasa Thialan ’20 builds a career in dance and education

UC Irvine Department of Dance alumnus now serves as associate artistic director at Yaya Dance Academy From Kuala Lumpur to California, Radhanath Dasa Thialan (B.F.A. ’18, M.F.A. ’20) has transformed a lifelong passion for dance into a thriving career. Thialan now serves as associate artistic...
Alumni 
August is UCI Arts Alumni Appreciation Month

August is Alumni Appreciation Month at the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Join us as we honor and express gratitude for our talented alumni. Throughout August, we will spotlight the remarkable achievements of our former students on our social media channels. Each week will be dedicated...
Alumni 
Rebuilding 'Little Women Ballet'

Emma Andres returns to the Pasadena Playhouse with a reimagined production after the loss from the Eaton Fire: A Q...
Alumni, Connect 
Dancing for Generations

Sakina Ibrahim’s (M.F.A. ’14) journey from dance scholar to advocate for sustainable change By Diana Kalaji A glance at Sakina Ibrahim’s resume reveals a few things: She is a scholar of dance, an NAACP Image Award-nominated author, and a nonprofit founder. Yet woven through it all is a quiet,...
Alumni 
Emma Andres '20 creates ballet based on the acclaimed novel by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women Ballet takes over the historic Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles Department of Dance graduate Emma Andres (B.F.A., ’20) has carved a unique space in ballet as artistic director of Little Women Ballet. Inspired by Louisa May Alcott's timeless novel about four sisters navigating the...
Alumni 
Celebrating Alumni in the Arts

Alumni Appreciation Month at Claire Trevor School of the Arts August marks Alumni Appreciation Month at UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA). This initiative honors the achievements of graduates in the fields of art, dance, drama and music. This year, we are excited to highlight...
Alumni, Faculty 
CTSA Awards the 2023-24 Research & Innovation Grants

The Research and Innovation Advisory Committee (RI Committee), composed of esteemed faculty members representing each department within the Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA), rigorously evaluated an influx of 33 research proposals requesting a total of $152,000 for the 2023-2024 academic...
Alumni, Connect 
Arts Advocates: Reza Jahangiri

RISK TAKER Q...
Alumni 
The Page is a Stage

Alumna Julia Cost publishes an illustrated children’s book that drew upon her UCI dance education Julia Cost (M.F.A. in Dance, '11) said there are parallels between her UCI studies and the picture book she just published, The Girl and the Boat. “The book is wordless,” said Cost, raised and based...
Alumni, Connect 
Doubling Down

CTSA students embrace risk as they pursue careers in arts and other fields By Christine Byrd Living the artist’s life requires embracing risk. Unlike medicine or business, there is no clear-cut pathway to a successful and stable career in the arts. But in the quest to create art by taking risks...