MA / MFA Dance Performance

The MA Dance Performance is a one year (full time) taught programme, culminating in an independent research project.  

The MFA Dance Performance is a two-year (full time) programme. It shares the first year with the MA. An extended independent project forms the second year, providing time for in-depth research and realisation of a substantial body of your own work. 

Please note we do not allow deferred entry on the Dance Performance programmes. 

The majority of the learning for this programme takes place in the context of group studio practice led by faculty and guest artists.  A range of performance experiences will also provide different learning opportunities.   

Invited artists will vary from year to year. Guest artists and companies in previous years include Clod Ensemble, Company Wayne McGregor, Becky Namgauds and Temitope Ajose-Cutting.

Seminars and lectures will also be part of the course alongside group discussion and reflective practice. You will also have regular individual tutorials and mentoring throughout the year. In the final term, you will engage in independent study to pursue a particular research idea with mentoring support.  

This is an intensive programme, and you can expect to have around 25-30 contact hours per week for much of the year, depending on the activity.  

Assessment will take place through a variety of modes, including practice-based formats, presentation, performance, reflective documentation and portfolio submission.  

• Normally a UK undergraduate degree in an appropriate or related subject, or an overseas award of equivalent standard. 

• Applicants without formal qualification, who may have the appropriate levels of professional experience are invited to complete Trinity Laban’s recognition of prior learning (RPL) process. 

• If English is not your first language, you will need to achieve an IELTS score of 6.5 overall. 

These programmes are suited to both recent graduates and to more experienced performers who wish to refresh and reframe their performance practice alongside gaining a postgraduate qualification. You will need to demonstrate a level of dance performance practice, either at an audition workshop or through video application, that is commensurate with study at master’s level

We are looking for applicants who are excited by the prospect of working intensively as part of a Collective to explore and deepen their skills as performers. Students will need to be willing to collaborate, take risks, be ready to explore new creative ideas and to work as part of a team. Students will also need to be self-motivated and bring with them an ongoing curiosity about their own movement practice and performative potential.  

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and we particularly encourage applications from different underrepresented groups. 

How to Apply

First, you’ll need to submit your application on UCAS Conservatoires.

29 Jan 2025 – Postgraduate on-time deadline to submit both a UCAS Conservatoire application and Embark materials.  We will accept applications after this date, but would recommend aiming for this deadline if you would like to be considered for a financial award.

7 April 2025 – Postgraduate Spring submission date. If you apply on UCAS Conservatoires and submit your Embark materials by this date, you will receive your decision by 5 May. You will still be considered for financial support but there will be less chance of success.

Once we have received your application on UCAS Conservatoires, you will be either: 

• invited to one of our admissions workshops, or 

• sent more details about how to submit your recorded material, if you are unable to attend in person.

Admissions Workshops

Admissions workshops take place in London, at the Laban Building on Saruday 8 February 2025 & Saturday 15 March 2025.

These will be led by Programme Leader Hilary Stainsby and Guest Artist for 24/25, Sung Im Her. The workshops offer an opportunity to meet the team and engage in class and creative sessions as well as meeting some of the students in the 24/25 cohort. These days are designed to be inclusive and enjoyable, everyone who registers will be invited to stay for the duration and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the course. You are welcome to attend even if you haven’t yet applied, but numbers are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

You can book your place here and we will send you more information or contact us at admissions@trinitylaban.ac.uk

If you are unable to attend an in-person workshop in London, you can submit recorded material via Embark.  Please upload the following:

1. Showreel/portfolio of work, maximum 5 minutes. This could be footage of you performing, working in the studio, outside, etc.  You should be clearly visible in the video. It would be useful to think about how your choice of footage represents your work as a dance artist/performer.

2. Solo task: take a look at this famous solo created and performed by Trisha Brown in 1978 (see here). 

Your task is to film yourself dancing a 60 second response. You are not expected to learn or reproduce any of the material, instead we are asking you to choreograph a new solo or simply to improvise freely for 60 seconds, working with movement ideas from the film. Here are some things you might want to think about, but feel free to use your own ideas: 

• Taking impulses/directional change from different parts of the body. 

• Moving in and out of pedestrian and more complex movement vocabulary. 

• Finding a play between physical clarity and freedom/fluidity. 

Your solo might look very different to the one on film, and that’s okay! 

3. A recording of you speaking to camera explaining why you want to apply for this programme and telling us about your choice-making in the solo task. This should be maximum 2-mins. 

4. If your video application is successful, you will be invited to an online interview with the Programme Leader. 

MFA applicants must include a project proposal, outlining the following:  

• The reasons why they wish to carry out an independent project over one academic year (their second year of study) 

• The nature of their intended research and a draft projected timeline with indicated outputs of research (which is understandably subject to change) 

• Their suitability for extended independent research in the context of an MFA Dance Performance.