College of Fine Arts and Production

Move-In gets the year started off right for incoming GCU students, but it has the same effect on the volunteers who help them. Whether they’re helping for the first time or are seniors and have done it every year, they treasure the excitement. “It’s my third year, and it’s always the same energy,” said one.

The highlight of the GCU summer was Joseph Allen winning the Golden Buzzer on “America’s Got Talent.” But he also was a standout performer while on campus. Catch Allen on “AGT” as the second week of the live shows gear up.

Jazz preservation, That’s what Dance Director Susannah Keita and the rest of GCU’s Dance department hope to accomplish by putting such a strong emphasis on jazz dance within their program. Few Dance programs offer jazz dance to their students, making GCU’s dance program a unique and sought after program for students looking to study jazz dance. Recently Keita was even able to present at the National Dance Education Organization’s jazz conference this summer. “We want our dancers to be prepared for the commercial dance world and the concert dance world,” Keita said. “Jazz can be in either.”

College of Fine Arts and Production graduates Klay Wandelear and Brenna Warren both earned a master’s degree this summer from East 15, a branch of Essex University, and enjoyed the experience so much, they’re staying in England for the time being. They said their time at GCU prepared them well. “I think I would have had a really hard time if I hadn’t spent so much time in Ethington Theatre,” Warren said. “How it worked set me up to be a dedicated and respectful actor.”

There will be a lot of laughs in Ethington Theatre this season, and that’s by design. The schedule, which begins Aug. 23 with “One Man, Two Guvnors,” is filled with classic comedies. “Lighthearted,” said Claude Pensis, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Production, “but still the plays have messages. It’s always a matter of what does the director want to do, and then how does it fit into the program?”

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Waters, now a GCU student, refused to leave the battlefield when his convoy truck was blown up in Afghanistan. Even though he initially was knocked unconscious by the blast and faced enemy fire, he still assisted the wounded when he came to, ignoring his own injuries. All survived the 2008 incident, and for his bravery Waters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony in Michigan. He still remembers their screams: “Doc! Doc! Help us!”

Breaking into the professional world can be difficult, especially in the arts. But even with their graduation from GCU fresh on their minds, several dance alumni already are thriving in their first big jobs. “I hope that the world receives them and loves them as much as we have here,” Dance Director Susannah Keita said. “I’m a proud dance mom.”

This Year’s dance intensive is in full swing this week as about 20 dancers, aged 14-21, come to campus to get the full experience of what a university dance department is like. Students will be taught multiple forms of dance including jazz, modern and ballet just to name a few. “They are go-getters, they’re often quite talented, quite skilled, have been really serious about dance,” Dance Director Susannah Keita said. “And it is really exciting when they come and audition for the program and we recognize them and we know them already.”

There is very little known about the mysterious “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” that has formed and continued to grow every year, but two GCU alum’s and their fellow expedition boat crew are determined to show the world what is really going on in the ocean. COFAP Graduates Joshua Munoz (class of 2015) and Corbin Marshall (Class of 2016) have both found homes in Hawaii since graduating, and will be embarking on a journey with several scientist, French-born long-distance swimmer Ben Lecomte and several others on what they are calling “The Vortex Swim” starting Tomorrow and continuing until September. Lecomte will be swimming for eight hours a day for 100 days to make up a total of 300 nautical miles, all while his crew collects data, tracks plastic movement and studies the effects of the plastic on surrounding ocean life. Munoz and Marshall will be aboard documenting the whole expedition via photography and videography, all while also taking shifts manning the helm and assisting with data collecting. Links to follow the journey of Munoz, Marshall and the rest of the crew throughout the process will be located within the story.

Joseph Allen recorded his own 10-song LP, “The College Lifestyle,” when he was a student at GCU. But the Digital Film graduate took the next big step in his career, auditioning for “America’s Got Talent” and achieving something unimaginable. He received the much sought-after Golden Buzzer from Howie Mandel, which means he automatically advances to the next level of competition — the live auditions. He also got a Lopes up from judge Julianne Hough and this comment from Simon Cowell, who was amazed by the audience’s reaction to him (several Lopes were in the audience) before he even performed: “I tell you what, the WHOLE WORLD should go to your school right now.” Added GCU President Brian Mueller: “When I saw the video from ‘America’s Got Talent,’ I wasn’t surprised at all. He has that kind of effect on people. He’s very enthusiastic, charismatic, people-oriented and has a lot of friends at GCU. When he gets in a setting like that, he just makes people feel good.”