Specific Degree Requirements
Admission status
When you are admitted to the Graduate College and the Graduate Program in Dance, you are admitted on either regular status with no deficiencies, regular status with deficiencies or provisional status. You may be admitted with up to 16 units of deficiencies that must be completed by the date of your final oral examination. It behooves you to clear deficiencies as early in your study career as possible, and a tracking plan must be made in consultation with the Graduate Advisor for dance at the time you matriculate in order to make sure that deficiency courses can be met in a timely fashion. Some undergraduate courses are offered only biannually such as DNC200, Dance History and DNC455 Biomechanics for Dance.
Provisional status is usually indicated for individuals with a GPA below 3.0 or who have more than 12 units of course deficiencies. The terms of provisional status are always specified for the individual and require individually designed programs of study to be completed within a specified period of probation. The probation period may be for up to but not exceeding one year.
In conjunction with the Graduate Advisor, each student is responsible for developing a written Plan of Study. This plan is to be filed with the Graduate College during the penultimate semester in residence.
Students must complete 60 units of graduate level courses.
MFA/Choreography Curriculum
| Course # | Course Name | Units | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DNC545A&B | Advanced Choreography | 4 total | |
| DNC546A | Careers in Dance | 3 | |
| DNC555 | Biomechanics for Dancers | 3 | |
| DNC540A or B DNC541A or B DNC 544A or B DNC 696B | Advanced Ballet Advanced Modern Dance Division Advanced Jazz Dance Division Graduate Technique | A combination of any of these classes but at least 2 units per semester | 8 total |
| DNC591 001 | Preceptorship (Teaching methods) | 1 | |
| DNC591 002 | Preceptorship (Large Lecture) | 3 | |
| DNC591 003 | Preceptorship (Based on student’s plan of study) | 3 | |
| DNC596A | Critical Issues in Dance | 3 | |
| DNC596E OR DNC596W | Seminar in Music and Dance Collaborations (offered even numbered years) OR Artistic Collaborations (offered odd numbered years) | 3 | |
| DNC595A | Teaching Methods of Dance | 3 | |
| DNC696A | Graduate Forum (1 unit each semester) | 4 total | |
| DNC694A | Master’s Project in Choreography (2 projects) | 6 total | |
| DNC909 | Masters Report (Final project) | 5-9 | |
| TOTAL | Core Curriculum | 49-53 | |
| Electives | 7-11 | ||
| TOTAL UNITS | MFA Total units | 60 | |
MFA/Performance Curriculum
| Course # | Name of Course | Units |
|---|---|---|
| DNC543 | Ensemble | 2 |
| DNC545A OR B | Advanced Choreography | 2 |
| DNC546A | Careers in Dance | 3 |
| DNC555 | Biomechanics | 3 |
| DNC591 001 | Preceptorship (Teaching methods) | 1 |
| DNC591 002 | Preceptorship (Large Lecture) | 3 |
| DNC591 003 | Preceptorship (Student's Choice) | 3 |
| DNC595A | Teaching Methods for Dance | 3 |
| DNC596A | Critical Issues in Dance | 3 |
| DNC596E OR DNC596W | Seminar in Music and Dance Collaborations OR Artistic Collaborations in the New Millenium | 3 |
| DNC694A 002 | Master’s Project in Performance (2 projects) | 6 |
| DNC696A | Graduate Forum (1 unit each semester) | 4 |
| Technique Classes | Some combination of the following: DNC540A and/or B Advanced Ballet DNC541A and/or B Advanced Modern DNC544A and/or B Advanced Jazz DNC551B Ballet Repertoire DNC696B Graduate Technique | 16 total |
| DNC909 001 | Masters Report Performance (Final project) | 5-9 |
| Core Curriculum | 56-60 | |
| Electives | 4 | |
| TOTAL UNITS | MFA Total Units | 60 |
Each student must qualify to enter candidacy for the objective degree by completing the core courses in the specified track (performance or choreography) as well as successful completion of the Progress and Candidacy Projects.
These are the terminal requirements for each student to be admitted to the MFA candidacy. The entire dance faculty, in consultation, determines the success or failure of the student’s bid to become a candidate. Following successful completion of the Candidacy Semester Project, the student may select a chairperson and committee for her/his Final Project and register for DNC909.

