Video about our project-based, practice-as-research Master of Fine Arts program with interviews and footage of dancers rehearsing and performing. 

Video of the eight students in the Ohio State Dance MFA class of 2023 dancing in a studio together. Choreography and performance by Jackie Courchene, Forrest Hershey, Quianna Simpson, Mollie Wolf, Yukina Sato, Ishmael Konney, John Cartwright, and Katie O'Loughlin. 

The Ohio State University Department of Dance not only reflects current national trends in dance research but also spearheads new areas of investigation in dance. The graduate programs in dance afford students opportunities to study and conduct research through the synthesis of three major spheres: creative activity, theoretical inquiry, and physical practice. Each degree program emerges from the practice of dance but is shaped through variation in emphasis over the three spheres. Graduate students focus on their individual areas of research, including perspectives drawn from inside and outside the dance discipline. The program locates itself at the active forefront of contemporary dance through choreographic and performative exploration, creative use of technologies, re-imagining the documentation of dance traditions, and emerging critical theory. 

The MFA in Dance at The Ohio State University is designed for developing dance professionals who wish to further investigate their current area of specialization and/or to acquire skills in another dance area. MFA students understand and demonstrate what it means to be a working artist deeply engaged in artistic practices and production.

The Master of Fine Arts in Dance is a terminal degree that qualifies the successful candidate to work in a variety of academic, artistic and professional settings, including teaching at a university-level or in community-engagement contexts, directing a performance company, managing an arts organization, working as a performance curator or festival director, or devising performance work.  

Be sure to take a look at our students and their work.

Please see the profiles of our graduate faculty to see the variety creative and scholarly expertise that informs our graduate program.

Curriculum

The MFA consists of prerequisites, a core curriculum, related theoretical and studio courses, and a culminating project specific to each candidate’s area of research. Prerequisites include substantial experience in a somatic or body-mind practice. 

Program Requirements

• Full-time enrollment in the three-year MFA program.
• Minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 over 60 graduate semester units consisting of core requirements and related courses.
• Completion and presentation of a substantial MFA project demonstrating a synthesis of craft, artistic vision and conceptual rigor, as well as professional competence in the selected research area.
• Documentation of the project with disc and written documentation, presenting one copy to the Department of Dance for the Music and Dance Library.
• Successful completion of the three-part written comprehensive examination.
• Successful oral examination including a discussion and defense of the synthesis of craft, artistic vision and conceptual rigor as demonstrated in the project.

The Ohio State University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).

Please see our MFA Checklist that students use to track their course progress to graduation, alongside other university resources, professional staff, and faculty advisors.