Jill Randall - MFA candidate at Saint Mary's College of California; photo by David Gaylord
This fall, the Life as a Modern Dancer Blog is highlighting masters programs throughout the United States. This post aims to capture the low residency options around the country. Programs with an *asterick did not provide information, but we still listed a website link for the basic information. If you teach at a program that should be included on this list, please email [email protected]
A low residency program offers working artists an opportunity to pursue a higher education degree while still maintaining their current position. This format provides for immediate opportunities to put theory into practice and also inspires a constant dialogue between our graduate work and our job.
Low residency programs can offer in-person classes or intensives, as well as independent study and online options. Highly motivated and self-driven dancers can thrive in this format.
Dancers looking into low residency options do need to consider one large difference with full-time masters programs - the part-time nature of a program might not allow for teaching opportunities and TA positions, which is a common way to offset the cost of your graduate program.
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Cal State University Long Beach
Degree offered: MA in Dance
Application due date: We accept applications every 3 years. The next cohort application deadline will be December 1, 2016 with a physical audition scheduled for early Spring 2017 (date TBD).
Website: http://web.csulb.edu/depts/dance/ma.html
Wendy Jones, artist featured on the blog who completed this program: http://blog.lifeasamoderndancer.com/2013/10/artist-profile-43-wendy-jones-san-francisco-ca.html
The Department of Dance at CSU Long Beach houses the only low-residency M.A. degree in dance in California that is designed specifically to serve dance educators. Created to serve dance educators who are currently teaching primarily in K-12 and community college venues, the Master of Arts in dance course work is completed in three intensive summer sessions of study in which 9-12 units are earned each summer. For this reason the program is run as a Special Sessions Program through the University's College of Continuing and Professional Education. The curriculum is designed to broaden and deepen dance knowledge and skills ranging from technique to composition, dance history and dance production. This degree elevates an undergraduate teaching credential to graduate status, usually commanding a pay increase for dance educators. The Department accepts between 10 and 20 applicants into each cohort.
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Goucher College
Degree offered: Master of Arts (M.A.) in Arts Administration
Application due date: Deadline for application is in March each year. For our next class the date is March 25, 2016. Our applications are online (www.goucher.edu/MAAA)
Website: www.goucher.edu/MAAA
We are a graduate program in arts administration designed for busy people who want to learn from the best people working in the field. Our MAAA’s low-residency format provides students with the flexibility to live and work anywhere in or outside the US.
While in school, most of our students are working in the arts, arts administration, arts education, or arts service – and are able to immediately use their new learning. The MAAA has a faculty to student ratio of 2/1. The annual on-campus residency each summer for students and faculty provides a unique learning opportunity as well as the development of lasting relationships.
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Hollins University*
https://www.hollins.edu/academics/graduate-degrees/dance-mfa/low-residency-two-summer-track/
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Jacksonville University
Degree offered: MFA in Choreography
Application due date: Rolling admission with classes that begin in June
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Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ)
Degree offered: MFA in Dance
Application due date: Beginning in September 2015 and running through January 15, 2016.
Website: montclair.edu/mfa-dance
At Montclair State University, our new Master of Fine Arts in Dance is designed for mid-career artists, teachers and dance professionals interested in examining, expanding and enhancing their artistic worldview. This two-year, low- residency program emphasizes creativity, professionalism and leadership, all in a hybrid format. Experience our renowned faculty and progressive curriculum all on a vibrant, suburban campus just 14 miles from New York City.
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Rutgers University
Degree offered: MFA in Dance
Application due date: First required audition will take place in Philadelphia, PA on Sunday, October 25, 2015.
Website: www.masongross.rutgers.edu/dance/mfa
Our new "flexible schedule" MFA dance degree was just announced at Rutgers University. While not low residency, we are also concerned about the ability of professional dance field having access to higher education and we have devised our degree to address this issue by having a flexible schedule for coursework during the thesis period. Prior to thesis work, we have a very concentrated 18 month period for coursework which is not low residency. Here's why: we feel very strongly that critical pedagogy is a crucial part of preparing the field for positions in higher education. As for ourselves, here at Rutgers, our masters degree in Dance Education provides a wonderful program of dance educators in K-12 certification. We have learned so much from this program and have begun refining our own university pedagogy as a consequence. We feel that anyone planning to join higher education must have a theoretical, methodological and practical experience in-depth with critical pedagogy. Hence, the necessity for a series of four in-class course work which are allied to actually teaching experience in our BA and BFA dance degree programs, right here, on the ground, in the studio. This intersection of coursework and application is crucial for achieving our goal towards adequately preparing professionals for the intensity of higher education.
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Saint Mary's College of California
Degrees offered: MFA in Dance, Creative Practice; MFA in Dance Design and Production
Application deadline: The priority deadline is November 2, 2015 for Summer 2016 start date. Applications will continue to be accepted after the priority deadline as space permits.
Website: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/mfa-in-dance
Cathy Davalos, artist featured on the blog who founded this program: http://dancingwords.typepad.com/life_as_a_modern_dancer/2014/10/artist-profile-76-cathy-davalos-richmond-ca.html
Our graduate degree program is unique in many ways:
- A multidisciplinary approach that broadens the scope of the traditional MFA in Choreography and Performance
- The first MFA in this country in Design and Production specifically for dance
- The nature of the program is student-centered, hinging on peer collaboration, faculty mentoring, and student-driven projects.
- The program hosts an outstanding permanent faculty and numerous distinguished guest faculty
"Coming into the program in my late 30s, I feel I can really reflect upon and unpack what I have done in my career over the past 18 years. Adding onto that, I am re-enlivened working with colleagues from around the country in my cohort as well as diving into courses such as critical dance pedagogy, stage management, and somatics. I love the wide variety of courses within this MFA program." - MFA in Creative Practice candidate
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University of North Carolina Greensboro
Degree offered: MA in Dance Education
Application due date: UNCG accepts 10 students every other year in the summer. Applications are due March 2016.
Website: http://performingarts.uncg.edu/degrees/masters/ma-dance-ed/
UNCG was the first University to offer a MA in dance education online way back in 2003. It is the brainchild of master teacher and leader in dance education, Dr. Sue Stinson.
UNCG offers a hybrid MA program with 80% of the coursework completed online and 20% on campus in the summer. The degree is designed for full time teachers in the schools and takes 3 years to complete. Additionally, NC teachers with initial licensure can earn Advanced Dance Teacher licensure.
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University of Northern Colorado
Degree offered: MA in Dance Education
Application due date: April 1 of each year. The program begins in the fall of each year.
Website: http://www.arts.unco.edu (Then click on School of Theatre Arts & Dance. The link for our program is on the right side of the Theatre Arts page.)
The MA in Dance Education is a low residency program designed to be completed in approximately two years. There are a total of 36 credit hours in the program. One online class is offered each fall and one online class is offered each spring. Students come to the campus for three weeks during two summers for movement-based intensives. Course content mirrors the new Core Dance Standards in the Arts and the DELTA being developed by NDEO.
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Degree offered: Masters of Fine Arts in Performing Arts - Dance
Application due date: November 1st
Website: https://www4.uwm.edu/psoa/dance/mfa/
Dancers featured on the blog who have completed this program: http://blog.lifeasamoderndancer.com/2015/04/the-alumni-of-university-of-wisconsin-milwaukee-mfa-program.html
The MFA in Dance at UWM first and foremost focuses on student-based research, with an emphasis on choreography/performance, somatics, and cultural research. The program follows an intense hybrid form (part on campus and part online), which is sensitive to returning professionals’ needs and is designed to meet the scheduling constraints of working professional dancers, choreographers, and educators. Students within the program represent a broad range of the dance community, from touring dance artists, independent choreographers, and educators from across North America, as well as internationally. The curriculum includes technical training in Western theatrical forms (Contemporary Movement Practice: Modern Tradition) and cultural forms (African Diaspora), Somatics (Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Laban/Bartenieff), Technology Integration (Screendance), and a rigorous focus on academic research.
“The program is ideal for students with a strong sense of direction, who are highly self-motivated and like to take a hand in planning their own coursework…I’d also advise taking advantage of the amazing resources in the people around you - faculty and fellow students. My experience has been that within the context of the program we can safely explore, take chances, try different ways of creating, and offer each other feedback.” - Clare Byrne
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Wayne State University*
MA in Teaching Artistry
http://theatre.wayne.edu/graduate.php
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