MA/PgDip Dance: Performance and Professional Practices (Emergence)

Join us to expand yourself as a performer, an artist, a collaborator, and a well-rounded dance professional in the thriving cultural scene in Salford and Manchester. This MA Dance Performance and Professional Practices (Emergence) programme is a professionally focused course, co-designed and co-delivered with our industry partner, Joss Arnott Dance (JAD). In this intensive course, you will focus on an eclectic mix of contemporary dance styles and contemporary dance performance at the highest level. The programme also addresses the wider needs of the dance professional including modules on producing, teaching and workshop design/delivery – allowing you to develop skills, knowledge and experience to expand their professional opportunities upon graduation. You will become part of Emergence postgraduate dance company, who work with internationally acclaimed choreographers to produce a programme of new performance work each year. Emergence tours nationally each spring season led by Artistic Director, Joss Arnott, with Programme Leader, Debbie Milner. This prestigious and highly selective programme has industry collaboration at its heart and mirrors working environments in the creative industries. Graduates have been successful in gaining employment in the region and are central to the buoyant dance infrastructure in the north-west. Alumni are working with companies such as: Company Chameleon, Joss Arnott Dance, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Company Carpi, Coalesce Dance Theatre, Move MCHR, Ludus Dance, and Kapow amongst many others. Beyond the north-west our graduates are working with prestigious companies in the UK and Internationally: New Adventures, Beijing Dance Theatre, Elliot Smith, ACE Dance and Music, Lisa Simpson Dance, Ballet Folk, British Black Ballet, Tavaziva, Springs Dance Company, Gothenburg Opera, and Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.

To join this MA you should have a second class honours degree, 2:2 or above. The application process will also involve a series of two practical auditions and a personal statement (approximately 400 words). Students will be asked to write about the ways that this specific MA programme will help them advance from their current work within dance towards specific career aspirations. We welcome applications from students who may not have formal/traditional entry criteria but who have relevant experience or the ability to pursue the course successfully.