Collins Explores Famed Architect’s Connection With Performing Arts

Owen Collins, professor of theater at Washington and Lee University, recently published an article in Theatre Design & Technology, the official journal of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT).

Collins’ article “Organic Dance Designs,” only available via subscription, establishes the connection between legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the performing arts. In the early 1930s, Wright and his third wife, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, established a school of architecture called the Taliesin Fellowship. The school was created as an alternative and immersive approach to education, much like an apprenticeship. The students would live and do everything together, becoming their own intentional community.

Wright, who viewed the arts as a division of architecture, would regularly play the piano for his students and guests. He would involve his apprentices in weekly music performances, while Mrs. Wright and their daughter began dance instruction for the students. These were original works that blended music, dance and theater. They would often produce public performances for each other and guests, eventually utilizing their architectural skills to construct a performing center onsite called the Taliesin West Pavilion. Here, they would host the Taliesin Festival of Music and Dance.

Just as the designed theatre space evolved, so too did the complexity of the performances, which eventually hit the road to perform publicly in locations such as Chicago and Dallas. Despite meager reviews, the students continued to perform for many years, establishing a reputation in the arts that would lead to the creation of numerous auditoriums and performing arts centers over the years.

“They were amateurs in the original sense of the word, really doing it for the love of the art form,” said Collins. “It is rare to amass such a supremely talented group of amateurs that were dedicated to designing, building and sewing. They really pushed themselves artistically to create what were very avant-garde productions for their time.”

Collins’ research leading to the article was supported by a Lenfest Summer Research Grant. He has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2002 and has been making theater professionally for more than 30 years. He holds a bachelor of science in theater production from Bradley University and a master of fine arts in theater design from the University of South Carolina.