The Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts Series (DWPAS) is in its 25th season this year. The series welcomes the new executive director, Emily Hector Godwin.
Godwin has been a professor on the USAO campus for 15 years. She teaches folk dancing, theatre arts dance courses, and is the coach for the Drover Dancers team. Godwin says she enjoys teaching classes at USAO.
“I get to enjoy working with students of different majors. I help out with the theatre productions if there is any dance needed; I’m kind of on call for the production. Katie lets me know what she would like for movement for any of those productions. I enjoy all aspects of it,” Godwin said.
What first brought her to the campus area is the arts camp she teaches for the Chickasha Area Arts Council called Artscope. While teaching the camp, Godwin met Katie Davis, the previous executive director of DWPAS. She and Davis became friends and Davis explained that she would like Godwin to teach dance classes to her theatre students.
Godwin’s intro to dance and folkdance classes are offered every fall while every other course rotates. This fall, Godwin is teaching an advanced course for hip hop, while last fall she taught tap dance.
“We do different styles. I would say my favorite [style] changes based on what is going on, but I would say the most fun class is probably some of the music theatre dance because we do a lot of different combinations from different shows. I’ll pick different shows, and we’ll do combinations or songs from those shows, so that’s fun to recreate them on a miniature scale,” Godwin said.
In respect to DWPAS, Godwin has been to many of the shows throughout the years. She also owns a studio in Chickasha, Love to Dance Studio, that has sponsored the show as well.
Godwin mentioned that Davis had been ready to step away from the series since last year. Davis further explained that process.
“In 2023, I told the Executive Director of the Foundation that I was preparing to step down as Executive Director for DWPAS. I love this series. I love the opportunities it provides for experiences and training for our students. I love the culture and arts education it provides for our community. Simply, the series grew so much [number of sponsors, number of members, and workload] that I was no longer able to be a full-time faculty member and continue to serve the series in the ways it needed to continue to grow,” Davis said.
Davis further explained that she was pleased to recommend, train, and continue to collaborate with Godwin.
Godwin explained that during the interview process, another faculty member had interviewed for the position but later decided it was not a fit for them. Godwin met with Davis where she said that she believed Godwin was ready to take over the series for her.
“We kind of talked about it a bit, and I went to my husband and my family and asked them their thoughts on it, and, of course, my husband is always supportive of anything that he thinks I can do well, so he encouraged me to go with it,” Godwin said.
Afterward, Godwin went through the interview process for the position with the USAO Foundation President and other faculty members to see if she was a good fit for the series. Then, over the summer, the university announced that Godwin would be taking over the series.
Godwin is looking forward to the upcoming DWPAS season. She explains that there is a bit of a holiday theme with the season. The schedule for the season is as follows:
- Chicago Tap Theatre, “Unleash the Beats”. Thursday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m.
- Grand Ol’ Christmas Show. Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
- Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies. Thursday, February 12 at 6:30 p.m.
- The Peking Acrobats. Thursday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m.
All shows will be held in Te Ata Memorial Auditorium except for Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies, which will be held in the ballroom. This year, three of the four shows are free for students to attend. If students would like to attend the Peking Acrobats show, it will cost $25. This is because the Acrobats show is a fundraiser show. Tickets may be purchased through the DWPAS website.
A masterclass for the Chicago Tap Theatre’s show will be held in Te Ata the morning of the show to learn the Monster Mash. Those interested may contact Godwin for more information, egodwin@usao.edu.
For future shows in the series, Godwin hopes to bring the community back to the campus.
“That was one thing we wanted with this season…getting the community involved and having families realize that we have this series here. This is the only performing arts series in Grady County. We’re really a gem of an artistic avenue for people who can’t make it to Oklahoma City to see a show or people who do want to see professional performances in the arts,” Godwin said.
Whitley Brown is a third-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
