MFA in Dance candidates will demonstrate knowledge base and skills commensurate with professional careers in dance.
Objective
Demonstrate Choreographic Skill
Students will demonstrate excellence in creating extended choreographic works, employing effective tools of composition to create well-crafted original statements in movement.
Indicator
Evaluation Of Required Choreographic Work
Required Choreographic Work is evaluated on common standards of choreographic effectiveness as shown in attached rubric. These choreographic evaluations take place within the three required MFA choreography courses in (DNC 5676,5378, and 5380). Instructors judge student work as Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory or Excellent. Extensive, qualitative, face-to-face feedback is also given.
Criterion
90% Of Students Will Be Judged Satisfactory In Proficiency
90% Students will be judged to have at least Satisfactory proficiency in choreography. 75% will be judged to have Excellent proficieny.
Finding
More Practice In Developing Extended Work Is Needed
Although students demonstrated Excellent facility with movement invention and innovative concepts, the majority of their final projects did not demonstrate sufficiently strong development as coherent artistic statements.
Indicator
Presentation & Evaluation Of Thesis Concert
As the culmination of the creative thesis, students develop and present an extended original choreographic work. The process, from proposal through performance, is mentored by members of the thesis committee. The thesis presentation will be assessed on the following points: the choreography is informed by student's research; the choreography stands on its own as a work of art; the performance reflects effective directing by the student.
Criterion
All MFA Thesis Students Meet Choreographic Production Standards
100% of MFA Thesis performers will be assessed by Thesis Committee to meet standards for choreographic effectiveness. (In addition, Students who meet the standard for acceptable choreographic production will receive a passing score for that portion of DNC 699, Thesis II.)
Action
Continue To Assess Sequence Of Choreographic Opportunities
We find that the more opportunities MFA candidates have to produce and present mentored work, the more growth we see in them as artists. We find, too, that there are definite limits in terms of resources (faculty able to attend rehearsals, students to be cast, studios available for rehearsals, theater available for performances, students available to crew concerts). Finding a balance between these varied resources and student needs is an issue that we continue to evaluate. In 2013, a third course in choreography was added to the curriculum. The class of students presenting theses in 2015 will be the first to have three choreograhpy classes prior to beginning thesis; we shall then see what benefits may result.
Objective
Breadth Of Knowledge In The Field
MFA graduates will have a solid understanding of dance technique, choreography, production, and history, and will be able to write and speak from that informed perspective.
Indicator
Comprehensive Exam
Students will be given a choice of topics to research relevant to all aspects of study that the student has experienced in the program. A passing grade on the comprehensive examination will serve as an indicator that a Dance MFA candidate has acquired a breadth of knowledge in the field of dance. Additionally, the students' ability to express themselves critically and at a standard commensurate to the profession will be demonstrated.
Criterion
Pass Rate
As demonstration that the Dance graduate program is successful in preparing students for the written comprehensive examination, at least 90% of students will pass the exam at the first sitting or upon retaking it. We observed last year that students were not as comfortable expressing themselves orally as they are with dance. Thus, we believe this exercise is beneficial to develop and extend oral expression.
Action
Replace Written Comprehensive Exam With Oral Exam
Finding that our students have experiences in writing embedded into their coursework, but that their ability to express themselves orally is generally far less developed, comprehensive exams will now be oral. Third year MFA candidates were given the option of written or oral exams during the spring of 2014. Faculty were satisfied that this process reflects skills needed for success in the profession more realistically than the written exam. The effectiveness of the oral exam process will be discussed, and the process refined.