Rachel Dawson

Rachel Dawson joined the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance in August of 2022. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from Florida Atlantic University and a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre from West Texas A&M University.  

Rachel has taught acting, movement, stage combat, and musical theatre dance to students of all ages in her teaching career. Previous collegiate teaching appointments include the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the Stage and Screen Acting program, and Florida Atlantic University in the undergraduate theatre program. As a trained actor, Rachel has worked professionally on camera and the stage. Favorite past roles include Hedda in "Hedda Gabler", Harper Pitt in "Angels in America: Perestroika and Millennium Approaches", and The Princess of France in "Love’s Labours Lost." Recent directing and choreography credits include "Pippin," "Noises Off," "Everybody," "Musical Theatre Workshop" (Winthrop University) "Bright Star" (Amarillo College), "Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Rock of Ages" (Amarillo Little Theatre), and "Rough Magic" (FAU). 

Rachel earned a certification of completion for the Consent-Forward Artist Program through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and is a certified actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. As an intimacy professional and actor combatant, Rachel brings a focus to collaborating and storytelling through movement. She is passionate about bringing consent-forward practices in all theatre spaces but especially to the staging of intimacy and violence. She is deeply interested in cultivating joy in these spaces through the finding of ‘yes’ in each story. 

Rachel is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors, and a member of the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance.