Dance and Creative Enterprise (Taught)

Master The Process of Dance Making

The MA Dance & Creative Enterprise is a practice-centred postgraduate programme designed for choreographers, directors, producers, and creative practitioners who are ready to advance their artistic vision and develop as independent dance and performance makers.

This course supports you to reimagine your creative practice while developing the professional, entrepreneurial, and business skills needed to sustain and grow a career in the arts. Throughout the programme, you will have the opportunity to:

• Develop your choreographic and performance-making skills through structured workshops and creative projects

• Learn essential tools for arts project management, business planning, curation, fundraising, marketing, and entrepreneurship

• Deepen your physical and performance skills through daily classes and workshops

• Explore skills and approaches in directing, rehearsal directing, movement directing and dramaturgy

• Undertake self-directed research into areas of personal interest

• Test your ideas using industry-standard facilities, with opportunities to present your work publicly at the on-site Riley Theatre

• Work closely with experienced artists and practitioners who bring a range of expertise from across the dance and performance industries

You’ll be part of a supportive and stimulating environment where creating work is at the heart of the experience. Across the year, you’ll produce several original projects in response to different briefs, perform in peer-led works, and may take on roles such as rehearsal director or assistant director for projects within the school.

The programme values collaboration, experimentation, and a skilled approach to making dance and performance. It places particular emphasis on developing entrepreneurial thinking – enabling you to take ownership of your ideas, lead projects with confidence, and navigate the creative industries as a self-sustaining artist. With strong foundations in crafting choreography, physical practice, and performance, the course equips you with the artistic, practical, and organisational tools to choreograph, direct, and produce your own work in a professional context.

How will the course do this?

• Advance your choreographic practice – undertake daily creative classes to develop varied choreographic and movement devising approaches to enrich your artistic process.

• Develop the tools for arts project management – learn the necessary skills to successfully create, manage, fundraise and market your own artistic projects to support your future business ventures.

• Explore approaches to directing and dramaturgy – discover innovative strategies for storytelling and conveying artistic ideas to deepen your creative output and expand your career trajectory.

• Hone your artistic vision – reflect on what being a dance artist means and what you want your work to express, so you can make intentional artistic choices and develop a practice that feels authentic to who you are.

• Collaborate with leading arts practitioners – work with guest artists on a weekly basis, gaining professional insight into the arts industry, learning what it takes to succeed, and expanding your presence in the global creative community.

Students will take modules worth a total of 180 credits at level 7. Our teaching is informed by research, and module content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline: Dance Techniques or Creative Modes of Enquiry (15 credit option choice); Dance Professional Practice (Placement or project) (30 credits) option module; Dance Research & Perspectives in Practice (30 credits) Compulsory module; Arts Project Management (15 credits) Compulsory module; Funding for the Arts (15 credits) Compulsory module; Digital representation and marketing (15 credits) Compulsory module; Final Major Research project (Dissertation) 60 credits.

NSCD employs a wide variety of assessment methods including formative, continuous and summative assessment.
Assessment evidence is collected through: Continuous and summative assessments in technique modules, creative and performance modules; Assessed rehearsal processes; Showings of performance, choreographic work, improvisation and movement research; Lecture demonstrations; Written essays and dissertations; Written/verbal project reports and evaluations/reflections; Individual and small group verbal presentations; Observation of teaching practice; Viva Voce; Digital website creation. Students receive ongoing feedback in all classes and through the tutorial system in which professional and academic development are considered and evaluated. Achievement is measured against module assessment criteria and in accordance with programme and module learning outcomes. Students must meet the specific attendance requirements for the Programme.