Program Overview

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MA Choreography and Professional Practice

Overview

The MA Choreography and Professional Practice course is designed to equip students for a range of careers in choreography, performing arts, dance development, arts administration, performance, teaching, or dance research. This postgraduate course explores choreography, improvisation, devising, and experimentation, as well as professional and artistic development and portfolio working.

The Course

The course is made up of core and optional modules, each worth a certain number of credits. To complete the course at MA level, students need to gain 180 credits at Level 7. The modules include:

• Artist As Producer
• Body in Site
• Choreographic Practices
• Dance Writing and Criticism
• Dissertation
• New Media and Performance Practices
• Pedagogical Approaches
• Performing Politics
• Philosophy and Aesthetics
• Repertory
• Techniques for Performance

Modules

Artist As Producer

Students will undertake initial research into a range of contemporary dance and performance-related platforms, festivals, projects, and artist-development schemes. They will develop an articulation of their work and practice through the development of a website resource that includes a distinctive artist's statement.

Body in Site

This module considers approaches to, and the implications of, site-dance. Students will explore a range of site-specific dance, movement installation, perambulatory performance, and durational approaches through practical experiments and theoretical study.

Choreographic Practices

A practical module delivered in the studio, where students will develop their own compositional practice and experiment with new working methodologies and strategies for making work. They will observe professional choreographers making work with mapdance, the university's professional performance programme company.

Dance Writing and Criticism

The module will be based around the in-depth viewing and analysis of selected contemporary dance works live and on video. It will look at approaches to theoretically applied forms of writing for different readerships and publications.

Dissertation

The dissertation is the culmination of postgraduate study, where students will develop a substantial dance research project of their choice. They can choose to include a varying amount of dance practice alongside written critical commentary.

New Media and Performance Practices

This module explores the relationship between new media and dance performance practices. Students will practically explore software programs and develop their practical skills through exercises using the software.

Pedagogical Approaches

Through a combination of lectures, seminars, and practical tasks, students will analyze, deconstruct, and reconstruct technical exercises and phrases to build a critical base of teaching material.

Performing Politics

In this module, students will analyze a wide range of dance practices in relation to 20th and 21st-century debates about the politics of the body.

Philosophy and Aesthetics

Students will explore how knowledge about dance is rooted in philosophical and aesthetic ideologies, from both historicized and contemporary perspectives.

Repertory

This practical module is an opportunity to work on the creation or re-staging of a repertoire work. Students will apply their choreographic knowledge and performance skills to devising and problem-solving within select frameworks linked to research processes.

Techniques for Performance

This module will include daily technical training to develop students' interpretive and presentational skills in preparation for performance.

Teaching and Assessment

Students will study through theoretical and practical workshops, lectures, seminars, and rehearsals. They will be assessed through a range of assignments depending on which modes of study they choose. All modules are assessed through programme work in the form of practical choreography presentations, essays, reports, presentations, learning journals, portfolios, online tasks, and group working.

Facilities

Students will perform in an Arts Council-funded Dance Theatre Space and rehearse in four superb dance studios, the large gymnasium, and two sprung-floor spaces. They will also be able to take advantage of a program of dance company performances, workshops, and events supported by Arts Council funding.

Careers

This MA Choreography and Professional Practice degree will prepare students for a range of careers in the industry, or they may choose to continue their studies and apply for a PhD or other professionally-related qualifications. Potential career paths include:

• Choreography
• Performing arts
• Dance development
• Arts administration
• Performance
• Teaching
• Dance research

Course Costs

The course fees for 2026/27 are:

• UK fee: ｣11,340
• International fee: ｣19,080

Entry Requirements

Typical offers include:

• Honours degree: 2:2 or higher in a related discipline
• IELTS: 6.5 with no element lower than 5.5

Students will also be required to audition for this course and provide a research proposal.

Personal Statement Guidance

The personal statement should not exceed 1000 words and should address the following areas:

1. Reasons for applying
2. Preparation
3. Evidence of skillset
4. Research interests

FAQs

For further information, please contact the course administrator or leader. Guidelines for submitting a proposal for MA Choreography and Professional Practice are available, and students are encouraged to explore these before applying.