Master of Fine Arts, M.F.A

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The Master of Fine Arts in Dance program provides qualified graduate students with opportunities to acquire and develop the skills and knowledges necessary to participate significantly in the field of contemporary dance. Through the development, implementation and expansion of individual artistic vision and goals the successful candidate for the M.F.A. in Dance will excel in critical engagement while exploring innovative formats, venues and creative processes as a choreographer, performer, researcher/writer and arts leader.

Perspective of the Professional in the Field of Dance:

A Guiding Premise of the MFA Program 

The current state of affairs for dance in our culture creates a critical need for dance artists to stretch their thinking about where and how to reach audiences.  Leaders in the field require an understanding of contemporary dance practices that acknowledges the development of individual somatic engagement and the implementation of emerging artistic visions in shifting professional landscapes.  In addition, the ability to use and adapt a variety of technologies that will enable the artist/leader to expand the notion of venue, context and format is of particular importance as the field seeks to find new ways to reach audiences.

• Venue refers to the variety of physical locations in which dance performance can be realized.
• Context refers to the aims and purposes of artistic endeavors and the theoretical arenas in which such endeavors acquire meaning. These might include aesthetic, pedagogical, cultural, community engagement and social activist contexts.
• Format refers to the form that such endeavors take, such as live performance, digital media and web-based performance as well as verbal and written forms of communication.

Integrated Profile Professional: Creating/Understanding/Implementing

The three program content areas of creating, understanding and implementing overlap to support the development of a dance professional who is prepared to integrate diverse ways of knowing and engage in dance praxis – the purposeful integration of practice and theory.  The depth and richness of the program of study rests upon the way each individual synthesizes the three content areas to develop her or his own unique body of work.

The center area where the three content areas intersect is a space of potentiality where the identity of the dance professional emerges. A variety of different profiles may develop during the course of the program depending on a student’s unique agenda and professional goals. For example, a student may develop original choreography (Creating) to be produced for a venue or format specific to the goals of the overall project (Professional Context/Production), and then write a paper or make a professional presentation that illuminates the theoretical, historical and/or cultural underpinnings of the endeavor (Understanding/Theorizing).

Program of Study

The M.F.A. degree requires a minimum of 67 semester credit hours.  The completion of a number of hours, however, is not in itself sufficient; the nature, quality, rigor, and currency of the artistic work are the major considerations.

Summary of Credit Hours

Technique                                   9 credits

Choreography & Performance    30 credits

Dance Praxis                             22 credits

Electives                                     6 credits

TOTAL                                     67 credits

The program is comprised of four components: 1) the dance core and electives 2) the Culminating Project and professional paper 3) the professional DVD portfolio, and 4) the comprehensive oral presentation/examination.

MFA Core Courses:  61 Credit Hours

The dance core provides the student with a theoretical and practical foundation for personal artistic growth.  The "core" consists of technique, choreography, performance, and dance praxis courses.

Technique: 9 credit hours required

     At least one semester of each of the following courses is required:

DNCE 5301  Techniques in Contemporary Dance (Advanced - Fall Semester)

DNCE 5311  Techniques in Contemporary Dance (Advanced - Spring Semester)

DNCE 5281  Advanced Ballet (Fall Semester)

DNCE 5291  Advanced Ballet (Spring Semester)

Five (5) additional credits selected from the above list.  One of the nine credits must be a contemporary dance technique course that includes contact improvisation.  A student must be registered for at least one technique course every semester.

Choreography & Performance/Creating a Body of Work:  30 credit hours required

Developing Artistic Vision and Practice (13 credit hours)

DNCE 5222  Workshop in Dance: Improvisation/Spontaneous Composition

DNCE 5172  The Art of Remembering: Composing the Body in Space and Time

DNCE 5222  Workshop in Dance: Producing Dance in Professional Contexts

DNCE 5222  Workshop in Dance: Exploring Alternative Formats

DNCE 5162  Laban Movement Analysis: Effort/Shape

DNCE 5233  Workshop in Dance: Maymester Guest Artist Residency

Implementing Artistic Vision/Practice (15 credit hours)

DNCE 5913  Individual Study: Dance Making Project I

DNCE 5913  Individual Study: Dance Making Project II

DNCE 5913  Individual Study: Dance Making Project III

DNCE 5913  Individual Study: Culminating Project I

DNCE 5913  Individual Study: Culminating Project II

     Performance (2 credit hours)

     DNCE 5201  Dance Performance

     DNCE 5201  Dance Performance

Dance Praxis: 22 credit hours required

DNCE 5211  Workshop in Dance: Somatic Practices

DNCE 5243  Pedagogical Foundations in Dance

DNCE 5223  Historical and Cultural Studies in Dance

DNCE 5433  Dance in Contemporary Contexts

DNCE 5253  Artistic Processes

DNCE 5023  Research Methods in Dance

DNCE 5333  Curriculum Inquiry in Dance and the Related Arts

DNCE 5973  Professional Paper

Interdisciplinary Aspects of the Program and Electives     6 Credit Hours

To enhance artistic inquiry M.F.A. students engage in a program of related studies which supports their art making and professional goals.  This includes reading and writing projects that are part of core dance praxis courses as well as relevant inquiries related to choreography and performance projects.  The professional paper also provides an opportunity to further extend or deepen interdisciplinary study.  The value for interdisciplinarity is embedded throughout the M.F.A. course work and is in keeping with the mission of the Department of Dance to encourage an exchange of ideas among the various arts, facilitating interdisciplinary creative endeavors, as well as developing a more in depth understanding of dance as it is part of a larger world of knowing.  Electives must be graduate-level courses (courses with numbers 5000 and above).  

Individual Dance Making Projects  

An important component of the curriculum are the Individual Dance Making Projects. These individual choreography projects are vital to the development of the Culminating Project. These projects are the student’s primary opportunity for experimenting with artistic ideas, producing work for the Dancemakers Concert series, and engaging in critical discourse about emerging work.  Graduate students consider these projects as preliminary investigations that will lead them to more in depth and expansive artistic inquiries that will, in part,  comprise their Culminating Projects.  A graduate student might be directing multiple projects at any given time as we encourage students to revisit, revise and develop work that has been shown, adjudicated or performed in previous semesters.

Culminating Project

Each candidate for the Master of Fine Arts degree conceives, creates and (co-) produces a final event as a Culminating Project. Possibilities are numerous and range from producing a dance concert to designing and implementing a community-based social activist project for which dance making is the central component.

At its heart, the Culminating Project is an opportunity for in depth creative investigation.  It provides the MFA candidate an opportunity to demonstrate the attributes of the integrated professional profile, to synthesize the experiences offered by the MFA and to establish a basis from which to begin entering the profession, especially in relation to the candidate’s emerging artistic vision.

The project is not simply a written document or an assemblage of previous works but rather, reflects an ongoing aesthetic inquiry that shapes the conceptual frame of the Culminating Project and defines its nature and scope.

Three models for Culminating Projects encompassing several possibilities:

A.  Performance

Proscenium theater

Installation

Site-specific performance event

Commercial venue (such as a bar, café, restaurant, club)

Art gallery/museum

B. Community Engagement

Performance project in a community-based institution such as a public school, retirement home, community center, prison or social services agency

Educational programming focusing on artistic processes

C. Digital Media Formats

Integrations of live performance and digital images/video

Performance event staged in an on-line venue

Virtual venue such as Second Life

Remote venues via  “streaming,” Skype, IChat

Academic Advisor and Project Mentor

Upon acceptance to the MFA program each student is assigned an academic advisor who will guide and facilitate the student’s academic program development.  At the end of the third semester each student selects a project mentor who will guide the development and realization of the Culminating Project, the writing of the professional paper and preparation for the final oral presentation.

Graduate Application Procedures 

An audition and interview is required for admission to the M.F.A. program in Dance.  These are held annually during the month of February.  Should it be impossible for an applicant to attend the February audition, an alternate date may be arranged by contacting the Department of Dance Recruitment Coordinator.

The following are required for admission.  These materials must be received no later than one week prior to the scheduled audition date in February.

1. Application for admission to the Graduate School is made through the Office of Admissions.  The University requires applicants to complete the online application at http://www.applytexas.org/.  International students should complete the international student application at http://www.twu.edu/o-sl/international_ed/AdmissionInfo.html.  Applicants should submit the completed application and request official copies of transcripts from all previous college work be forwarded directly to the Office of Admissions.  This process can be quite lengthy and applicants are encouraged to start early.
2. Department of Dance Graduate Application Information Form.  This form is available online here. 
3. A 300-500 word statement of interests and objectives which includes a) an indication of your professional goals, b) previous artistic, academic, and career experience related to these goals, and c) the importance of graduate study in the pursuit of your professional goals.
4. A resumé of dance, educational, and artistic experience.
5. Three letters of recommendation from people familiar with your teaching, academic, and/or artistic work.
6. A video portfolio of artistic work including performance and choreography excerpts and at least one full length work choreographed by the applicant.
7. Applicants to the M.F.A. program may submit a writing sample, such as a research paper from an undergraduate or graduate dance theory course, description of workshops, publicity packet materials, or other promotional materials.
8. Applicants may choose to apply for a Graduate Assistantship position by filling out the Application for Graduate Assistantship (available here).  Those interested in applying for a position should also fill out the green Teaching Expertise in Dance form.  This form is available online here.

You may visit the TWU Department of Dance website at www.twu.edu/soa/dance/and the TWU Graduate School website at http://www.twu.edu/gradschool/.  If you have questions, please e-mail us at mailto:mDance@twu.edu or phanstein@twu.edu.  You may call us at 940-898-2086.  

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