Experimental Choreography University of California, Riverside

Overview

The Experimental Choreography programme at the University of California, Riverside provides a rigorous environment for emerging and established artists to explore dance making and performance. This Master of Fine Arts degree emphasises interdisciplinary embodied practice, encouraging students to engage with urgent contemporary questions through a series of core composition and critical dance studies courses.

Students benefit from a unique institutional structure that maintains a close relationship with the Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies. This cooperation allows for a rich exchange between dance making and intellectual inquiry, treating scholarship and choreography as complementary modes of investigation. The curriculum is designed to foster professional relationships through teaching and community engagement.

Why Experimental Choreography at the University of California, Riverside?

The programme is distinguished by its focus on experimentation and its integration with one of the preeminent intellectual inquiry programmes in the field. Students receive intimate guidance through Graduate Critique Panels, where they pair with faculty mentors to evaluate their independent creative practices and receive critical feedback on their progress.

A significant feature of the degree is the public sharing of work, starting with the Fourth Quarter Showings. This process leads to a final project that demonstrates a committed execution of specific critical questions. The university’s location serves as a vital artistic site, allowing students to participate in a dynamic environment of diverse economies and cultural perspectives.

Tuition Fee Breakdown

• International fee: USD 12005 per semester
• National fee: USD 12005 per semester
• Local fee: USD 4490 per semester

Visit the Fees and Funding section for a breakdown in your local currency.

Syllabus

Modules may include:

• Improvising Choreography: Scores, Structures, and Strategies
• Creating the Experiment: Identifying the New
• Dancing Representation: Figures, Forms, and Frames
• Collaborating in Dance Making: Material, Methods, and Interactions
• Studio Pedagogy
• Concurrent Analytical Studies
• Graduate Study of Dance
• Special Topics in Dance Making
• Political Approaches to Dance Studies
• Historical Approaches to Dance Studies
• Rhetorical Approaches to Dance Studies
• Cultural Approaches to Dance Studies
• Special Topics in Critical Dance Studies
• Oral History and Ethnographic Methods
• Choreographies of Writing
• Seminar in Dance Studies Pedagogy and Professional Development

Careers with Experimental Choreography

Graduates are prepared for advanced roles as professional choreographers, visual artists, and performance makers. The programme develops the necessary language for articulating creative research, which is essential for securing grant proposals, academic job talks, and professional promotions within the global arts and culture sector.

The curriculum also prepares students for careers in dance pedagogy and community engagement. By directing and producing work during their studies, graduates gain the practical experience required to lead artistic organisations or pursue further scholarly research in the field of critical dance studies and historical dance inquiry.