MA Screendance

Develop your practice on the only MA in dance filmmaking in the world!

Applications for this course are now closed but you can still apply for the MA Expanding Dance Practice here.

"When I decided to take the course, it was a big decision. Actually, one of my initial thoughts was, 'I don't want someone to teach me how to make a dance film - I want to make my own dance films, and make them how I want to make them!' And it took a little while to realise that that was exactly what The Place wanted me to do as well. Once I understood that, I was able to really delve into my practice, tie all these strands together and weave them into a coherent personal practice." - Jo Cork, MA Screendance graduate from our first cohort.and screendance practitioner.

This trailblazing MA course examines movement on screen and investigates the possibilities of combining moving image and expanded choreography.

As a practice-led course, it embraces the hybrid nature of dance filmmaking and subjects it to critical investigation.

This course encourages you to:

• Develop a confident, articulate independent practice through practical experimentation, contextual research and public-facing engagement.
• Develop a wider vision of your practice and how it relates to the contemporary world.
• Contribute to the development of the field of screendance through practice and research.
• Critically assess what it means to create image-based art today.

The MA Screendance will test and challenge your individual practice, bringing it into a contemporary critical context. It will fuel your filmmaking and asks you to consider the way your work interacts with audiences, other arts sectors, and wider society. 

Currently the only Masters in the world that specialises in dance film, the course attracts artists from all corners of the world, and its graduates lead and shape this flourishing art form. 

London Contemporary Dance School places a strong emphasis on creating a community of learning and on learner-centered teaching, particularly in seminars and personal tutorials based on your ideas, interests, skills and artistic practice. 

Course units:

1. Making Screendance (60 credits)

Focuses on the fundamental elements of screendance making processes. It encourages discussion, self-reflection and critical thinking applied to the development of your creative projects.

You develop practical skills, synthesise research and investigate your practice.

2. Situating Screendance (40 credits)

Investigates how the study of screendance, with its interdisciplinary nature, draws on theories of art, photography, film, performance, video and digital technologies, as well as dance. You will engage with a range of texts and resources, while developing your own research interests and skills.

3. Communicating Screendance (20 credits)

Invites you to think critically about how dance film work meets the public, and the creative, ethical, and practical concerns of selecting and screening work. 

You will create a public screendance event with our cohort, inviting and selecting international work, connecting with professionals across the field.  

4. Final Projects (60 credits)

Integrates your practical, theoretical, and technical learning throughout the course. You undertake an independent research project focusing on a chosen area of inquiry within screendance, in a format of your own devising.

Validated by University of the Arts London. If you have any questions about the MA Screendance course please do get in touch.

Download

• LCDS Prospectus 2022-2023.pdf | 6270K

• MA Screendance Course Summary 2022-23.pdf | 256K

• MA Screendance Programme Specification.pdf | 243K