Leigh Wilson Smiley recently appointed as Director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Leigh's vision includes Global Scope, Creative Diversity and Local Alliances

February 22, 2013 – College Park, MD - The University of Maryland (UMD) College of Arts and Humanities has appointed Leigh Wilson Smiley director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS). Smiley is the former associate director of TDPS and served as the School’s first head of the MFA in Performance (MFAP) program, playing an integral role in establishing the degree in 2010. She has taught at UMD since 2003.

“I am honored to lead the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies as we pursue the highest standards of excellence for our students and programs,” said Smiley of her appointment. “TDPS has a vision of artistic diversity and global perspective as the driving ideas behind our teaching and creative works.”

About Leigh Wilson Smiley

Prior to joining the faculty at UMD, Smiley taught “voice for the actor and Shakespeare for the performer” at Fordham University, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and at Emerson College in Boston. She was awarded a Linklater Voice Teacher Designation in 1998 and has taught voice, speech and accent at Walnut Street Theatre and People’s Light and Theatre Company in Philadelphia.

Smiley’s research has made a significant impact on the actor’s world of dialect and accent information collection through her Visual Accent and Dialect Archive (VADA), the first-of-its-kind video archive of English-language accents and dialects gathered from around the globe. VADA is a resource used by actors to acquire any accent or dialect with the specific lilt, rhythms, intonations and sound changes intrinsic to each individual region a character represents. A fellowship from the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) supported Smiley’s research.

Smiley has directed voice and dialect for Fly and A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre, Amadeus at Roundhouse Theatre, As You Like It, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors at Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Lysistrata at Synetic Theatre, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Signature Theatre. She has coached NBC-TV on-air talent as a voice and speech consultant, and addressed the Voice Foundation Annual Symposium on “Care of the Professional Voice”. Internationally, Smiley has presented and taught Archetype and Voice at the Center for Performance Research in Aberystwyth, Wales and at the International Festival of Making Theatre in Athens, Greece.

Writing extensively on voice and speech in theatre, Smiley’s essays “The Cowboy Resonance in America” and “Trojan Women: The Vocal Soundscape” have been published in refereed journals by the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.

Smiley directed TDPS students in the 2012 devised production of Sandwalk, named for Charles Darwin’s "thinking path" where he strolled every morning and afternoon. Under Smiley’s guidance, the play was written in its entirety as a collective effort by the cast and crew, drawing on their personal experiences to shape the production about evolution and humanity, ultimately creating a cohesive and thought-provoking performance. She also directed TDPS students in a multi-media production of The Winter’s Tale in which puppets and masks were used to represent the Bohemians and chorus.

“Leigh’s deep knowledge of the school and commitment to establishing a culture of diversity and transparency for students and faculty allows TDPS to build upon the opportunities of the newly formed school and enhance its national profile,” said Bonnie Thornton Dill, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “The performing arts are a vital part of UMD’s vision, and we are delighted to have her at the helm of this innovative School.”