Students in the UC Irvine Department of Dance engage in an educational experience where performance, creative exploration, and scholarly inquiry are deeply interconnected. The department fosters a supportive and inclusive environment where students create, perform, analyze, and examine dance through historical, cultural, philosophical, and scientific lenses.
The Dance Graduate Program offers the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Dance, an intensive, interdisciplinary course of study that integrates studio practice with academic research. Students pursue individualized areas of interest through a culminating thesis project in the second year. Thesis work includes a required written component and may also include the creation of a choreographic project. Areas of focus are wide-ranging and may include—but are not limited to—choreography, dance pedagogy, dance media and technology, dance training, dance science, and dance studies.
At the undergraduate level, the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Dance provides a broad foundation in the arts, supporting a wide range of career paths or graduate study in related fields. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Dance, with specializations in Performance and Choreography, offers a focused and rigorous program for students seeking intensive preparation for professional careers in dance creation and performance.
Please refer to the UCI Catalogue for detailed degree requirements and course offerings.
As a student in the UCI Dance Department you will be part of the outstanding legacy and potential that define our program. In 1965 our founding chair Eugene Loring, with a dedicated group of dance artists and scholars, had the vision to create a professionally oriented university dance program that has since achieved national and international recognition.
Looking for the next step in your dance career? Consider pursuing an M.F.A. in Dance at the University of California, Irvine to secure your future in the dance world. You can expand your creativity while finding fresh choreographic inspiration and exploring other aspects of dance from a variety of perspectives.
The Department of Dance fosters an educational environment in which performance opportunities, creative projects, and theoretical studies complement and reinforce each other, providing a foundation for careers in dance.
Graduates of the UCI M.F.A. in Dance have held full-time faculty positions at many colleges and universities. Others work as choreographers, dancers, dance company directors, Pilates teachers, studio and high school teachers, arts administrators, and in other areas of dance and the arts.