Life as a Modern Dancer

Spotlight on MFA Programs: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Updated Fall 2017)

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Degree offered: MFA in Dance
Audition and application deadlines: Applications are due December 1, 2017, and our audition is February 7-8, 2018.
Average age range of the MFA students: Varies, but generally a range between 20s and 40s.
Average length of time it takes to complete your program: 3 years
 
Our three-year program fosters innovative choreographic research and provides in-depth creative experiences. MFA candidates work one-on-one with mentors, most of whom are artists currently working in the field, to design a course of study that supports their individual choreographic interests. No more than four carefully chosen (and fully supported) MFA candidates are admitted per year, and no more than 12 are enrolled at the same time. Keeping our program small promotes high standards, provides a setting for personal attention, offers possibilities for faculty/student collaboration, and ensures ample opportunities for every student to choreograph, teach, and perform. Fully funding our artists insures they can devote the necessary time to the demands of the program and adheres to our philosophy of graduating students with as little to no debt as possible.
 
Extraordinary artists, researchers, and scholars have gathered at Dance at Illinois to create new paradigms for interactions between the professional arena and the academic training ground. Our small group of carefully selected graduate students receives intensive training, collaborates with faculty on research projects and original works, with many of those works being fully produced by the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, each year distinguished guest artists teach and set works in the department, and exceptional alumni conduct workshops and hold performances. Career seminars and interactions with working professionals prepare our graduates for meaningful artistic participation in the field and begin relationships that support expanding networks. Our teaching assistantships provide students with the opportunity to serve as educators at the university level for three years, a necessary prerequisite for many academic teaching positions. 
 
Professors who have been featured on the Life as a Modern Dancer Blog include:
 
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