The College of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Division has introduced a brand new Grasp of High quality Arts (MFA) in Dance – a totally funded two-year graduate diploma program for distinctive artists to have interaction in superior artistic and scholarly explorations that positions dance as an important cultural, aesthetic, and mental pressure within the twenty first century.
This system has two named choices–a Dance MFA in Screendance and a Dance MFA in Artistic Analysis, Tradition, and Observe. Functions for the inaugural cohort will open in Fall 2025. This system will formally welcome its top notch of scholars to campus in Fall 2026.
“This program is for dance artists whose work is grounded in important inquiry, cutting-edge performance-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration,” mentioned Jin-Wen Yu, professor of dance and chair of the College of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Division. “It’s one other instance of our division’s dedication to shaping the way forward for the sector.”
UW-Madison, the birthplace of the primary dance diploma in increased schooling in 1926, will provide the primary terminal diploma in screendance, a hybrid artwork kind on the intersection of dance and digital media.
“Screendance is exploding, particularly post-pandemic,” mentioned Li Chiao-Ping, professor of dance and director of the MFA program, whose work combines a number of artwork varieties to discover themes of tradition and identification, each on stage and on display screen, is core college for this new program. “Empowering the subsequent technology to analyze these potentialities deeply and significantly will remodel the dance discipline throughout the globe.”
Together with Li, Douglas Rosenberg, professor of artwork at UW-Madison and Omari Carter, assistant professor of dance at UW-Madison will probably be among the many core screendance college. Rosenberg is an award-winning filmmaker, scholar, and main voice in screendance who has revealed seminal books within the discipline together with “Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Picture” and “The Oxford Handbook of Screendance Research.” Carter, whose work has been chosen for festivals throughout the globe, is a screendance maker, choreographer and body-percussionist.
The MFA in Artistic Analysis, Tradition, and Observe embraces the rising scholarship and theories of apply that are attribute of a twenty first Century postmodern, globally linked, technological world. For this selection, “We’re looking for artists who will interact with rising applied sciences whereas remaining rooted in tradition—interrogating histories, reimagining identities, and difficult programs. Their work should navigate a cross-national panorama the place a number of ideologies coexist, and the place dance continues to be a strong pressure for social perception, cultural preservation, and transformation,” mentioned Chris Walker, professor of dance and Particular Assistant to the Provost on the Arts on the College of Wisconsin-Madison. Walker’s work investigates African Caribbean dance as a lens for partaking environmental activism, social justice, and cultural preservation.
The division acquired endowed funding to make this program doable. “This endowment is a profound funding into the long run leaders of the sector,” mentioned Yu, “and it’s well timed.” The primary cohort will arrive in the course of the division’s one hundredth Anniversary, “It’s an ideal time to have fun this program, which will probably be one other welcome boost to our legacy.”
Nestled close to the scenic Lake Mendota, the colourful state capitol, and downtown Madison, the UW–Madison Dance Division stands as a beacon of innovation and management in dance schooling. Housed within the historic Lathrop Corridor, their state-of-the-art services embody 4 expansive dance studios, a multimedia lab, a useful resource heart, and the devoted Margaret H’Doubler Efficiency House.
Since 1926, when dance pioneer Margaret H’Doubler established the nation’s first dance diploma program at UW–Madison, they’ve redefined dance as a rigorous tutorial self-discipline, utilizing the physique as a gateway to scientific inquiry, self-discovery, creativity, and civic engagement. Guided by a world-class, various college, their division is dedicated to excellence in instructing, analysis, and neighborhood affect via the Wisconsin Thought, enriching lives via the transformative energy of dance.
Discover their thrilling new Dance MFA program and apply immediately at dance.wisc.edu/lecturers/graduate-programs/ to hitch a legacy of innovation and make your mark on the planet of dance!
