Program Overview

Dance: Creative Research, Culture, and Practice, MFA

The Dance: Creative Research, Culture, and Practice, MFA program at the University of WisconsinMadison is scheduled to begin enrollment in fall 2026. However, the university is awaiting approval from the Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to accept prospective F-1 students into this program.

Program Overview

The Dance MFA Creative Research, Culture, and Practice named option is a 60-credit, two-year program with a summer term in between academic years. This terminal degree program is designed for experienced dance artists seeking a critically and culturally focused academic program within a multidisciplinary international community.

Program Objectives

The program aims to provide creative artists with the critical, aesthetic, technical, and interdisciplinary tools needed to innovate, create, and lead in the rapidly evolving global dance field. Students will develop and refine their teaching and creative research while exploring their unique contribution to the dance and contemporary performance.

Eligibility and Admission

The program welcomes dance artists with professional experience and varied backgrounds and approaches to dance, spanning culturally rooted practices, popular, and contemporary forms. Applicants should be prepared for graduate-level inquiry and driven by innovation and leadership in the dance field.

Program Structure and Funding

This in-residence, on-campus MFA program has intentionally small cohorts and is highly selective. Students entering the UWMadison MFA in Dance program are offered tuition remission, generous monthly stipends, access to UWMadison health benefits, and other annual funding opportunities.

Key Features

• 60-credit, two-year program with a summer term
• Terminal degree program for experienced dance artists
• Critically and culturally focused academic program
• Multidisciplinary international community
• Tuition remission, monthly stipends, and health benefits
• Highly selective with small cohorts
• On-campus, in-residence program