Dina Janis: Related Content

On Friday, October 25, Bennington College will host a Podcast Symposium for students, podcasters, writers, journalists, and anyone interested in learning about podcasting. 

While students embark on Field Work Term, an annual work-learning term during which students gain hands-on experience and test their classroom ideas in the world of work, Bennington faculty and staff offer their reading recommendations to keep everyone’s intellectual juices flowing wherever they are.

By Gaurav Aung ’24

Bennington College was Florence Gill ’22’s destination long before they knew it existed. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, they had no idea attending college in the United States was an option. After finishing their General Certificate of Secondary Education (roughly the British equivalent of an American high school diploma), they were on a path that would lead them to a strict education at a university in the United Kingdom, yet they found themself at a crossroads: they wanted the depth of a specialized undergraduate degree but also the breadth of study that couldn’t be found in the UK.

While students embark on Field Work Term, an annual work-learning term during which students gain hands-on experience and test their classroom ideas in the world of work, Bennington faculty and staff offer their reading recommendations to keep everyone’s intellectual juices flowing wherever they are.

Dina Janis, theatre faculty member and the artistic director of the Dorset Theatre Festival for the past six years, was interviewed in Manchester Vermont's website about her work reversing the fortunes of the formerly declining theatre. 

Tim Daly '79 stars alongside his real-life sister Tyne Daly in Downstairs, a new family drama by Theresa Rebeck, at Primary Stages through December 22. 

Sarah Gancher '01 has received a playwriting commission from Dorset Theatre Festival's newly launched Commissioning & Fellowship Program.

Several members of the Bennington College community have been participating in the 2022 summer theatre season.

Eighteen students from Bennington College have been selected to participate in the 2020 Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation Fellowships, a program run in partnership with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation.

While students embark on Field Work Term, an annual work-learning term during which students gain hands-on experience and test their classroom ideas in the world of work, Bennington faculty, staff, and students offer their reading recommendations to keep everyone’s intellectual juices flowing wherever they are.

Dina Janis was the faculty speaker at Convocation 2019. She stressed the importance of preparation and action as necessary first steps to discovery and education.

"Regardless of how one finds oneself preparing for the act of creation, there is no substitute for time on your feet actually doing the thing, rather than thinking about doing it," said Janis. "There is nothing hypothetical about action." 

On September 3, 2019, the Bennington community gathered to celebrate the start of the academic year and welcome over 180 new students to the College. 

Bennington Drama students presented a Zoom reading of Can't Weed All Just Get a Bong?, a modern-day Alice's Adventures in Wonderland adapted by Sonise Lumbaca '21.

Students from the Bennington Plays course led by Dina Janis, Michael Giannitti, Sherry Kramer, Richard MacPike, and Jennifer Rohn present their original works of theater, online and on air. 

Vermont Public Radio featured Bennington College as part of its "Syllabus for Survival" series, highlighting the College's unique Plan Process and Field Work Term as distinguishing components of a Bennington education.

Ten Bennington College students and alumni mentored regional middle and high school students who wrote and created plays of their own as part of the Dorset Theatre Festival's 6th Annual Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Competition. 

In her role as Artistic Director of the Dorset Theatre Festival, faculty member Dina Janis received an award from the State of Vermont earlier this month. 

The New York Times detailed Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis’ return to acting after 13 years with his leading role in in “American Buffalo,” which is currently playing at the Dorset Theater Festival.

A public reading of the winning plays from Dorset Theatre Festival’s Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Competition, which is supported by Bennington College faculty, students, and alumni, will be held on Friday, September 29 at 7 PM.

President Mariko Silver and faculty members Anne Thompson, director and curator of the Usdan Gallery; Megan Mayhew Bergman, director of special programming and the Robert Frost Stone House Museum; and Dina Janis, artistic director of the Dorset Theatre Festival; spoke with the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce about the region's arts landscape.

While students embark on Field Work Term, an annual work-learning term during which students gain hands-on experience and test their classroom ideas in the world of work, Bennington faculty offer their reading recommendations to keep everyone’s intellectual juices flowing wherever they are.

Many playwrights consider the theater and its network of artists as a home and family. For Lily Houghton ’17, however, this notion is particularly literal.

Faculty member Dina Janis, who is also artistic director of the Dorset Theatre Festival, spoke with The Interval about the opportunities and challenges faced by female leadership in theatre and academia. 

Actor Tim Daly ’79 will star alongside his sister, Tyne Daly, in the world premiere of playwright Theresa Rebeck’s new drama, Downstairs, which will open the Dorset Theatre Festival’s 2017-18 season. 

Dorset Theater Festival, headed by Artistic Director Dina Janis, was nominated for the first ever Berkshire Theatre Awards. The award ceremony took place on November 13 at Mr. Finn's Cabaret in Pittsfield, Mass and including performances by acclaimed actors such as Debra Jo Rupp. 

The winning plays from Dorset Theatre Festival’s Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Competition, which is supported by Bennington College faculty, students, and alumni, will be performed on Wednesday, September 28, 6:30 p.m., at the Manchester Community Library. 

Dina Janis and Kirk Jackson were awarded grants from the Vermont Arts Endowment Fund for their upcoming work on a Dorset Theatre production and a one-man-show, respectively. 

The Boston Globe last week lauded drama faculty member Dina Janis in her new role as artistic director of the Dorset Theatre Festival, a storied, 35-year-old professional summer program in Vermont.