assistant professor of theatre in the College of Fine and Applied Arts
Education: M.F.A. (costume and set design), New York University; M.F.A. (dramaturgy, theater arts), State University of New York at Stony Brook; B.F.A. (directing), Kharkov State Academy of Culture, Ukraine
Courses teaching: THEA 550-CE (Graduate Costume Design), THEA 591-GCS (Graduate Design Seminar). She also is advising four graduate costume designers on productions, advising two costume design theses and designing costumes for the concert version of “Kiss Me, Kate.”
Research interests: Her research interests include verbatim theater, the birth of new theatrical methods and styles, Russian avant-garde art and theater, fashion and theater design and their mutual influence.
“Professor Maslova’s experience as a creative force in theater and associated art forms is broad and deep,” said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, the head of the department of theatre. “In addition to her work as a designer, she is a highly qualified dramaturg, director and entrepreneurial producer. Her multidisciplinary approach is clear from her work in dance, theater and opera. Her work with Bill T. Jones was noted by The New York Times, the Village Voice and The New Yorker. In addition to her work in theater and dance, professor Maslova has developed a powerful aesthetic in the creation of operatic works. Major productions designed for the Commonwealth Lyric Opera in Massachusetts were cited as top honorees in the professional division of the National Opera Competition and earned accolades from press outlets including the Boston Globe, Art Fuse and the Boston Intelligencer.
“Her approach to collaboration has translated into the greatest compliment that may be paid to a professional designer. She has built ongoing collaborative relationships with outstanding international artists that have resulted in multiple productions with significant artistic impact. As the leading Colombian newspaper, El Nuevo Siglo, noted, professor Maslova’s design work is ‘sharp, and absolutely precise in its message and articulation.'”
Why Illinois? “The department of theatre (at Illinois) was just ranked third in the nation for the quality of education for theater majors, right after UCLA and NYU,” Maslova said. “As an artist in the performing arts field, I feed on collaboration. At Illinois, I will have a chance to collaborate with the first-class artists, educators and students to fulfill my ambition and creative hunger. Plus, a five-minute drive to work at Krannert certainly beats a one-and-a-half hour drive to work in New York City.”
