Dance and Professional Practices

University of Salford

United Kingdom, Salford

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Home/United Kingdom/Salford /University of Salford/Dance and Professional Practices

University of Salford

United Kingdom , Salford

Key Facts

Program Level

Master by Course Work

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesSeptember-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 1 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 17,520 / years

Next Intake September-2026

Dance and Professional Practices

About

Introduction

In a nutshell

Dive deep into your creative practice and refine your choreographic voice on our MA Dance Choreography and Professional Practices. Explore the art and craft of dance making and entrepreneurial perspectives, to support the development of work for a range of contexts and audiences. You'll study producing for small/mid-scale touring and dance pedagogy, ensuring you have all the tools to realise your creative projects and grow new audiences for your work.

Industry collaboration and real-world learning are central to our courses. Whilst studying you'll take part in masterclasses, participate in work-based learning and observe professional commissions led by establishing professionals, providing you with invaluable industry experience whilst developing your professional networks.

Dance at Salford is a community of lecturers, students, artists in residence, alumni artists and visiting professionals that work together to provide a professional training and education to support your career aspirations. As a postgraduate dance student studying at Salford, you'll have access to a vibrant local dance scene with links to local venues and dance organisations. We'll create collaboration and networking opportunities through live dance and music events, as well as access to discounted supplementary training and live performances, creating space to engage with like-minded creative artists.

Our MA programmes are well respected in the industry, with graduates going on to work with Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Ruth Jones (Manchester Pride, Manchester Day Parade), Walk the Plank (Green Spaces Dark Skies), The Lowry Creative Education Team, Die Cast MCR and Coalesce Dance Theatre.

Read about Isabella's study experience

Find out more by signing up for an upcoming Open Day.

You can also follow our Dance@Salford Instagram account and find helpful FAQs, learn more about student life at Salford or explore all our Dance courses.

International applicants: Please check the international intakes page for the latest information and application dates.

You will:

Be taught by practising dance professionals on a course with a reputation for supporting successful dance artists and graduates
Be given the opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant arts and performance scene in Salford and Manchester
Learn as part of a creative university with leading industry partnerships; with organisations such as Arts Council England, Joss Arnott Dance, Company Chameleon and The Lowry Theatre Manchester
Explore your creative ideas and passions through specialist portfolio work/research that you can use in your wider career
Evaluate your skills and knowledge; opening up wider career possibilities and supporting sustainable careers in dance
Study full-time or part-time to fit with your current professional obligations

Placement

options available

International

students accepted

Luke Whipp Credit: VDmovementmedia

Credit: Ella Roberts

This is for you if...

You want to engage with creative trends and current issues within the field of professional dance and performance.

You are keen to explore, experiment and take risks in your current choreographic practices.

You have a desire to expand your professional skillset in producing, touring, workshop development and delivery.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Requirements

What you need to know

APPPLICANT PROFILE

Are you an enthusiastic and inquisitive dance maker? Would you like to develop your creative practice and enhance your career prospects?

If so, we'd love to hear from you. Our MA in Dance Choreography and Professional Practices is designed for dances at all stages in their career. We're looking for applicants who have either been working professionally or have studied on a related undergraduate course.

You should be dedicated to pursuing a career as a dance creative. You'll need to be open to investigating, interrogating different processes for making and creating, as well as rigorous independent research.

To gain a place on this MA Dance Choreography and Professional Practice degree, you'll have to submit a personal statement and meet our entry requirements when you apply.

Within your personal statement (up to 500 words), we'll want to understand:

What motivated you and what current experiences do you have in terms of choreography?
How have you been involved, and what did you do?
Which choreography performances inspire you?
Why do you want to work in the performance and dance sector?
And in what ways will this specific MA programme help you advance from your current work within dance towards specific career aspirations.

Applicants will then be asked to provide us with a portfolio of work and potentially take part in an informal group interview either live or on camera. You will need to supply us with:

Portfolio

3-5 minutes of digital footage links of relevant examples of working practice and/or the dancer moving including a recorded introduction- self-tape- to your digital portfolio.

Please Introduce yourself and offer an insight into the work that will be viewed articulate your role in the work shown (dancer, choreographer, teacher), the theme or focus of the practice, commentary about the context of the work.

Examples of footage links may include:

o Showreel - with examples of multiple aspects of your work.

o Technique class footage - All dance training styles accepted

o Teaching footage â With a group or an example of you teaching practice to camera.

o Solo or group Choreography

o Digital performance work.

An up-to-date CV outlining your dance education, training, and professional experiences to date / link to professional website include relevant links examples of working practice/digital footage of work.

Where applicants have professional accounts, we encourage applicants to include links to social media such as Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube.

Once you've made your application to study with us, we'll contact and let you know the next steps.

Standard entry requirements

To join this MA you should have a second class honours degree, 2:2 or above.

International students

If you are an international student and not from a majority English speaking country, you will need IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5. We accept qualifications from all around the world. Find your country to see a full list of entry requirements.

We also accept a range of other English language qualifications. If you do not have the English language requirements, you could take our Pre-Sessional English course.

Alternative entry requirements

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)

We welcome applications from students who may not have formal/traditional entry criteria but who have relevant experience or the ability to pursue the course successfully.

The Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) process could help you to make your work and life experience count. The APL process can be used for entry onto courses or to give you exemptions from parts of your course.

Two forms of APL may be used for entry: the Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL) or the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

Career

Employment and stats

What about after uni?

EMPLOYMENT

Completing a master’s in dance choreography will equip you with the skills to succeed in a range of environments in the cultural sector.

You’ll be set to move into a variety of careers, such as becoming a professional dancer, choreographer or dance teacher. You may also choose to move into a related role such as working in arts administration for a theatre or dance company.

You’ll have a deep understanding of choreographic approaches, understanding of current practice and production, policy and legislation in the arts, as well as transferrable skills preparing you for wide range of careers across the sector. Your ability to research, develop and deliver ideas in a creative and professional way will be highly valued by many employers.

FURTHER STUDY

Graduates showing strong academic and research skills can pursue a further academic research path through our doctoral (PhD) programmes on a full-time or part-time basis subject to a satisfactory proposal.

A taste of what you could become

A choreographer

A dance animateur

Dance artist

A creative educator

And more...

Career Links

Completing an MA in Choreography will open many doors for a career in the dance industry, with many of our graduates establishing successful careers in roles as diverse as dance makers, producers, educators, dance administrators, dance photographers, project managers and freelance dance artists.

Studying on this course will equip you with a wide range of transferable skills that can be used in a variety of roles and industries. You'll be able to generate, develop and present your ideas to a professional standard, as well as have strong research and evaluation skills, all of which are highly values by employers.

Our annual dance artist-in-residence scheme which has included companies such as Company Chameleon, Hawk Dance Theatre, Kapow Dance Theatre, as well as independent dance artists. As part of this scheme, our dance students benefit from workshops, apprenticeships, performance and project opportunities, mentoring opportunities. Each academic year, we run a range of Masterclasses to develop you knowledge of the wider dance ecology and to assist you in developing your personal career trajectory.

Our faculty and extended dance team are all active and influential members of the UK's professional dance community. We are committed to keeping our alumni community connected, advocating for our Dance@Salford graduates through signposting and linking students to professional opportunities and collaborations.