Master of Fine Arts in Dance

The Department of Dance offers graduate study leading to the Master of Fine Arts in Dance. The program offers opportunity to hone technical skills, to explore personal intuition, imagination, and craft both in creating dance works and also in performing them, and to focus on critical areas of dance core studies.

The MFA in Dance is structured to meet the scheduling constraints of working dance professional performers, choreographers, and educators: A block of on-campus and distance learning coursework is available during the fall and spring semesters, in addition to the intensive summer graduate course offerings.

Our program consists of 60 credits with an emphasis on contemporary choreography and performance, focusing on the candidate's independent creative research. Graduate students engage in choreographic research through physical and theoretical inquiry while having the opportunity to examine their technical movement practice through current somatic perspectives. The program supports student research by providing facilities and customized opportunities to investigate and perform their work in Milwaukee. Through faculty mentorship and rigorous personal explorations, students are guided to integrate their research into a final thesis project.

Applicants who meet Graduate School requirements plus these program requirements may be admitted in good standing:

Reason Statement: Content must include the following:
Explain the aspects of your embodied practice and what you achieve through that experience (movement tradition, teaching, somatics, writing, performance, creation). How do you see your movement practice evolving in the field of contemporary performance?
Articulate how you investigate and create unique choreographic work based on your movement practice(s). Include how your intellectual interests inform your choreographic inquiry.
Out of state students will be considered for a Non-Resident-Tuition Remission Award. To qualify, please provide a one-paragraph statement of financial need to be included in your application. Include information of your current financial situation that outlines your economic need.
Required Work Sample: Work sample description page (no more than 3 pages total) with video URLs for 10-12 minutes of recent performance and/or choreography. This may consist of excerpted works (minimum two minutes from each work). Must include exact URL (web address) for each work (clickable links preferred, with passwords on the description page as necessary). For each work, the description should include choreographer, performers, venue, company or organization, dates, and any other applicable information (designers, etc).
Required Curriculum Vitae or Resume (no more than 5 pages.
Optional Press Materials: Preference is a single pdf (not individual file uploads).
Recommendations: Two (2) recent recommendations from people who can provide information on your qualifications. The site permits the recommenders to write or upload their statements directly into the system (preferred) or the department can upload on behalf of the recommenders.
You must have attended this institution for at least one year and the degree was earned at an institution in the United States, and you have lived and worked continuously in the U.S since earning the degree. Cambridge English: Advanced / Cambridge English Proficiency C1 level or higher. TOEFL IBT (not Home Edition) - 79 120, IELTS - 6.5 9.0.