About Graduate Auditions

Upcoming auditions

MFA graduate auditions begin on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024 with a welcome dinner with faculty and current MFA students, and continue during the day on Friday, Jan. 26.

The audition process will include the following events:

A dance technique class
Teaching portion
Solo performance
A meeting with current MFA students
A meeting with the MFA program coordinator and Division of Dance head
Individual interviews with faculty

The recruitment coordinator will provide an updated schedule to applicants prior to the audition.

Teaching portion

The purpose of this portion of the audition is for applicants to demonstrate their ability to communicate movement ideas, qualities, and technical aspects of a movement combination designed for a technique class. Each applicant will have up to ten minutes to teach. You are not required to use the entire ten minutes, unless necessary to accomplish your teaching goal. Before teaching the phrase, briefly explain the purpose or objective of the combination and the intended technique level. During your teaching we will evaluate your ability to:

Use images to express qualitative aspects of the phrase.
Clearly explain and demonstrate movement.
Use your voice effectively.
Utilize safe teaching practices.
Integrate verbal cues with moving to maintain an appropriate teaching pace.

The choreography of your phrase will be evaluated only in terms of its appropriateness for the indicated technique level and consistency with your stated objectives.

While this portion of the audition is required for everyone, it will be given special consideration for those who are applying for a graduate teaching assistantship.

Solo performance

Solos should be three-five minutes in length. They may be a complete work or an excerpt from a larger work. For the MFA program, applicants should perform a solo of their own choreography. The choreography can be in any choice of movement style.

MA applicants considering the MFA need to audition. Please let the recruitment coordinator know if you are an MA applicant who would like to audition for the MFA program.

Page last updated 10:57 AM, May 17, 2023