Unique Program Allows Performers to Continue Career and Further Learning Through Individualized Hybrid Learning, Video-Sharing and Global Collaboration
WASHINGTON- Contemporary dancers from D.C. to Dubai now have an opportunity to continue their education and not miss a beat. The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance (TRDA) will offer a new Master’s of Fine Arts degree for mid-career dancers, performers and choreographers across the globe. The advanced degree program will allow dancers to refine individual style, technique and repertoire while developing professional relationships with the larger international dance community.
“As dancers and choreographers, we have limited time to build a career and the process of receiving more education should not slow the process, it should enhance it,” said Dana Tai Soon Burgess, chair of GW’s theatre and dance department, one of the region’s preeminent choreographers and director of DTSB & Co., Washington, D.C.’s premier Asian-American Dance Company. “Dance is a fundamental form of communication which bridges cultural differences, and we look to this new program as a way to enhance global dialogues between artists.”
The program is designed for highly-skilled, practicing professionals with extensive dance experience and will incorporate highly-individualized distance and on-site learning. With matriculation slated for June 2011, the new rigorous 18-month program offers an initial eight-week residency at GW, two semesters of supervised distance learning for artists working full-time domestically or internationally and completion of a performance portfolio submitted via electronic media. Each student will work one-on-one with a GW TRDA faculty member over an intensive 18-month period to develop their performance portfolio.
“I am delighted that this innovative program will be drawing accomplished artists to George Washington from around the world with a curriculum designed to develop their talents still further,” said GW President Steven Knapp.
Collectively, GW TRDA faculty mentors offer more than 50 years of technical training and performance experience, bringing both a professional and scholarly structure to the program. Additionally, students will learn from the opportunities that exist through specialists in the areas of dance curation, management and advocacy who work in institutions including the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society and the National Endowment.
“This program is tailored uniquely for experienced and successful dance artists working with passion in the field today,” said Maida Withers, GW professor of dance. “A program that promotes and values association with other distinguished professionals from around the world.”
The advanced degree program strongly encourages applicants from the international dance community. George Washington University and its Department of Theatre and Dance value contributions that are made to the program by students from other countries and who bring a culturally diverse perspective to its program.
GW’s Department of Theatre and Dance
The Theatre and Dance department at the George Washington University is the premiere department of its kind within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In existence for more than 70 years, the oldest and most extensive visual arts department within the nation’s capitol has cultivated several prominent alumni in the arts. GW’s Department of Theatre and Dance offers a widespread curriculum in all repertoires of dance and all aspects of theatre including design and production. The department is one of a kind as it remains committed to research excellence through all forms of creativity. For additional information on GW’s Theatre and Dance department as well as program offerings, visit theatredance.gwu.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Courtney Bowe 202-994-5631; cmbowe@gwu.edu
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