The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies offers a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance, encompassing choreography, performance, dance and technology, scholarly research, and pedagogy. Emphasizing creative work and collaboration with TDPS MFA candidates in Lighting, Set, Costume and Media/Projection Design, the program is grounded in rigorous academic study and offers a transformational education to those who are curious, motivated, self-directed and possess a spirit of expansive inquiry and innovation. The program is designed to give outstanding students advanced training, experience in teaching, and opportunities for creative growth Aimed primarily at modern or contemporary dancers with a high skill level and background in creating and performing at a professional level, opportunities abound in the creation of cross-disciplinary projects, presenting choreography in formal and informal settings throughout the three years, performing in guest artist and faculty works, presenting academic work at conferences and symposia, and participating in community-based performance and scholarly events. The degree culminates with a thesis: an original choreographed and performed creative project and a written thesis. The third year also includes an off-campus internship option with a professional arts organization, research venue, agency, company, or school. The competencies that students learn during the program will allow them to teach a broad range of dance and dance-related subjects after they graduate. They will be able to produce and present dance in a number of contexts and modalities, on campus, in professional and site-specific venues, and in the community.
The M.F.A. in dance focuses on choreography, physical practice and critical thinking and writing. Over the course of three years, through critical inquiry in the studio and seminar room, graduate students deepen the practice of individual investigation. The program provides Modern dance technique each semester and welcomes entering graduate students that do not have a Modern dance background. Through graduate work, graduate students discover artistic and sociopolitical connections to other artists, scholars and the dance field at large. The program offers rigorous immersive study to those who are curious, motivated, self-directed and possess a spirit of expansive inquiry and innovation. This includes interdisciplinary projects, presentation of choreography in formal and informal settings throughout the three-year program, performance in guest artist and faculty works, presentation of academic work at conferences and symposia and participation in community-based performance and scholarly events.
