University of the Arts Helsinki
Master of Arts in Dance Performance
Helsinki, Finland
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English, Finnish
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Why study here?
The master’s programme in dance performance consists of two years of full-time studies that develop your skills as a performer and as an independent and reflective artist. After graduating, you will be ready to work in the diverse and changing contexts of dance art. You will develop as a solo performer and as an active member of an artistic team.
Content and objective of the programme
The core of the studies is learning the versatile practices of a performer in the context of dance art and other similar art forms. You will complete studies and artistic projects in dance art. The contextual studies will give you some background to contemporary performance and a dancer’s work. You may also choose some individual studies. The thesis project consists of an artistic and a written component.
As a student, you will develop as a solo performer and as an active, reflective member of an artistic team. The studies will help you grow into an artist and a performer with a personal voice in relation to society and the changing views of art and humanity.
Collaborations and traineeships
The Master’s Programme in Dance Performance collaborates with other degree programmes at the Theatre Academy as well as with the Performing Arts Research Centre (Tutke). You have a lot of freedom in your curriculum, allowing you to complete a traineeship in the professional dance sector, pursue optional studies, or carry out personal projects.
Teachers
Our teachers are experienced experts in their field. In addition to the permanent teaching staff, the programme welcomes top professionals from both Finland and abroad as guests on a regular basis.
Please visit the university website for more information.
The studies enable students to develop an independent artistic identity, a profound and critical understanding of topical issues, practices and concepts in dance performance and contemporary performance as well as of the interactive relationships between art, society and the environment. The studies deepen and expand the student's skills as a dancer and performer, providing the student with the ability to function in the diverse and ever-changing environments of dance art.
At the core of the studies are multifaceted methods of performing practices and experimentation in the framework of dance and related arts. The studies consist of thematic studies in dance performance and artistic projects, contextual studies for background in contemporary performance and dance art, and optional studies. The thesis consists of artistic work and a written section. The thematic studies in dance performance provide students with an opportunity to study corporeality and movement as well as expand their own art as performers and dancers using a variety of movement and performance methods.
In artistic projects, students can focus on their own artistic work as a dancer-performer. In these studies, artistic work is examined through a variety of aesthetic, ethical and political questions. In contextual studies, the student continues and deepen their thinking about dance and performance art in relation to the theoretical and historical questions and contemporary phenomena in their field of art.
Compulsory Studies
- Thematic Studies In Dance Performance And Artistic Projects
- Contextual Studies
- Thesis
Elective Studies
- Exploring Performance
- The student is capable of independent and creative artistic work, has a good knowledge of their professional field, and is able to communicate on artistic issues and doctoral studies in the field.
- The student can apply different approaches, practices and methods in their artistic work.
- The student can articulate different historical and philosophical perceptions related to body, movement and performance.
- They are able to reflect on their own work in relation to the relevant contexts and examine their work in relation to various topical phenomena. They understand the different ways in which dancers have built and built meaning.
- They recognise evolving performance practices and the new kinds of relationships these have with performers, performing, audiences and society.
- The student has good interaction skills in working in a constructive, open and creative collegial relationship with others.
- They have a basic command of how to produce a dance work and understand the contextuality of performing and presenting work.
- They are able to verbalize the objectives and contents of their artistic work as well as participate in discussions in their field of art.
- In the written section, the student demonstrates a mastery of the concepts of dance, knowledge of their field of art and knowledge of their thesis subject matter.
- The student is able to articulate, analyse and communicate independently and critically in writing the questions of their field of art in a comprehensible form.