Internships & Career Opportunities

Internships

All majors and minors interested in a career in the arts are encouraged to participate in the internship program at SUNY Potsdam.  Students may do an internship for variable credit (from 1 credit hour to a maximum of 12 credits) during the academic year or the summer session.  Students may do a full-time internship (12 credit hours) at professional theatre or dance companies or for fewer credit hours while taking other courses.  Many students do internships during the summer months when there are ample opportunities to work for summer theatre or dance companies or festivals.

The department offers fall and spring paid internships for 4 qualified students (2 in theatre and 2 in dance) to teach, direct, choreograph, and work in design and technical theatre. Students work in regional schools through the BOCES/Safe Schools Healthy Students program.

Students are eligible for an internship for academic credit at SUNY Potsdam after their sophomore year—having completed at least 60 credits. Students should begin planning for an internship experience early in their career and work with their faculty advisor and with Toby White, Director of the Office of Internships. 

To be eligible to apply for an internship students must have a grade point average of at least 2.5 and must have completed at least 12 academic hours at SUNY Potsdam prior to the internship.

For more information and additional resources contact Toby White, Sisson Hall 112, x2863.  The Internship Web site offers complete information regarding all aspects of internships at SUNY Potsdam:

Recent internships completed by Dance and Theatre include:

  • Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky

  • Performance Space 122, New York City

  • Rochester Broadway Theatre League, Rochester, NY

  • Pendragon Theatre, Saranac Lake, NY

  • St, Lawrence County Arts Council, Ogdensburg, NY

  • Akwesasne After-School Program, Hogansburg, NY

  • Santa Rosa Summer Theatre, Santa Rosa, California

  • Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA


Opportunities in the Field

  • Theatre and dance graduates work as:

  • Directors of statewide arts councils

  • Company managers

  • Stagehands

  • Scene designers

  • Lighting designers

  • Display artists

  • Stage carpenters

  • Actors

  • Directors

  • Dancers

  • Dance studio owners/directors

  • Elementary school and college teachers

  • Disc jockeys and radio announcers

  • Computer operators

  • Writers

  • Producers

  • Theatre managers

  • Fitness, Pilates, and Yoga instructors


SUNY Potsdam Theatre and Dance alumni have worked, or currently work with Syracuse Stage, The Actors Institute (TAI), the Smithsonian Institute Center, North Carolina School of the Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, Performance Space 122, Wally Cardona Dance Company, Helen Hayes Theatre, and Wadsworth Theatre (L.A).