Taiwan’s TNUA School of Dance is equated with artistic excellence around the world. Since its establishment in 1983 by renowned Choreographer Lin, Hwai-Min, the Dance School has been recognized as a formidable international center for dance. The world-class faculty of choreographers, performers, practitioners, scholars and educators have led the program and facilitated the development of young artists. Throughout the years, TNUA alumni have gained respect and international acclaim as professional choreographers, dancers, teachers, and researchers.
The TNUA School of Dance comprises Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. The Department of Dance offers a seven-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree that spans three years of high school and four years of college education. The Graduate program offers three degrees: the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Performance and in Choreography, the Master of Arts (MA) in Cross-Disciplinary Corporeal Theories and Practice, and the Ph.D. in Dance Studies. TNUA aims to educate and engage students across a comprehensive range of embodied cultural disciplines, from traditional to contemporary dance with respective theories and practices. The faculty seeks to balance the excellence of conservatory training with a broad academic education. The School of Dance offers an interdisciplinary learning environment, with collaborations and connections across TNUA’s other school entities, including Music, Theatre Arts, Fine Arts, Film and New Media, Humanities, and Culture Resources.
TNUA graduates possess a distinct dance perspective featuring embodied rigor and a growth mindset toward a broad spectrum of performance practices. This perspective is evident in the accomplishments of the faculty and alumni who lead contemporary dance culture in Taiwan. Many bring their international acclaim and recognition in returning to TNUA from around the world.
Movement Practice courses in this seven-year program are divided into four areas: Sino and Asia Dance, Euro-American Dance, Movement Exploration, and Dance Practicum. Academic studies include Humanities, Literature, Social Science, Communication and New Media, Histories and Art Appreciation. With this blend of studies, students enhance their critical and independent thinking abilities, onstage and off.
After three years of fundamental high school training, students will be evaluated to advance into professional study at the university level. Students complete a curriculum of 130 required credits for the BFA degree. Apart from admitted TNUA High School applicants, the BFA class is comprised of applicants accepted from the larger Taiwan and international dance world by standard application and audition processes. BFA candidates perform every semester, working closely with faculty and various guest artists. The Focus Dance Company features dancers from the senior class, which tours throughout Taiwan and abroad. In recent years, advanced dancers have also taken advantage of inter-collegiate performances designed to create collaborative opportunities with students worldwide. Recent exchange projects have taken place in Australia, France, England, Japan, South Korea, and the USA. All of these opportunities serve to prepare emerging artists for successful careers in dance.
Taiwan’s first master’s program in dance was established at TNUA in 1992. The goals are to cultivate excellence in creative dance arts practice and scholarship. Students are encouraged to investigate cultural and performance theories, and engage in researches into transcultural and multi-disciplinary practices.
The major areas of study for our Graduate students include Movement Research and Choreographic Exploration, Somatic Studies, Repertoire and Reconstruction, Dance and Technology, Production Design, Dance Dramaturgy, Performance Curation, Cultural Studies and Corporeal Theories, as well as Dance Education and Social Engagement.
MFA Performance and MFA Choreography
Performance and Choreography majors collaborate in generating an advanced and dynamic culture of performance at TNUA. The two tracks focus on creative excellence in the movement languages of dance, from studio rigor to live production to interdisciplinary performance and dance-for-camera. Although there is a shared and overlapping curriculum, their capstone concert production requirements differ with respect to their focus. The MFA in Dance is earned based on completing 50 credit hours of coursework, a culminating MFA capstone concert, and a written thesis paper supporting the concert production. Student works are promoted locally and internationally through the exchange, invited or adjudicated performances. Their choreographies and performances have been presented on various international platforms in the USA, Australia, France, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.
MA in Cross-Disciplinary Corporeal Theories and Practice
The program encourages pursuing post-graduate studies in dance research through theoretical and academic framings. Cross-field dance research is the focus. Dance is seen as a performance practice engaged with interdisciplinary dialogue and supported by theoretical fluency. Besides requirements such as Research Methodology in Dance, Theories and Issues in Dance Studies, electives are offered in Body and Movement, Aesthetics and Criticism, Dance Histories, Cultural Studies, Education and Pedagogy. MA candidates have access to some technique and choreography course offerings. Our MA graduate students and alumni have presented their research at conferences held by international organizations such as the Dance Studies Association and the World Dance Alliance. Students who enter the Cross-Disciplinary Corporeal Theories and Practice track earn the MA in Dance upon completing 36 hours of coursework and submitting a written thesis. The length of study for the programs is two to four years.
Ph.D. in Dance Studies
Established in 2013, the Ph.D. in Dance program is the first in Taiwan. TNUA’s Ph.D. in Dance Studies aims to promote culturally and historically contextualized dance studies in the larger Asian context. The program seeks to nurture doctoral standards in dance scholarship, research, and pedagogy. The program goals emphasize expanding understanding of local contexts of knowledge and their intersections with global visions, as well as the heightened critical inquiries in cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural studies. The students are expected to be fluent in theoretical discourses and capable of being engaged in international and intercultural dialogues.
TNUA is committed to developing and participating in international initiatives to elevate choreography, performance research, and dance scholarship. These initiatives are dynamic conduits for exchange between TNUA and international entities, artists, and students.
Guest Artists: The School of Dance has hosted renowned international guest artists and companies for master classes, lectures, workshop intensives, and staging repertoire. Guests have included: the Trisha Brown Dance Company, the Bill T. Jones Dance Company, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Sang Jijia, Toru Shimazaki, Helen Lai, Leigh Warren, David Krugel, and Xavier Le Roy. Recent staging of international repertoire masterworks includes William Forsythe’s Of Any If And and Jiri Kylian’s classics Soldiers’ Mass and Falling Angels.
Student Exchange: The School of Dance has implemented student exchange relationships with international dance institutions for many years, accumulating a long-term exchange network. Currently, official Sister Schools for student exchanges include:
TNUA was invited to enter the Centre National de la Danse, France (CND) “Camping” Art Festival in 2018, 2019, and 2023. The “Camping” Festival support had 10-15 TNUA students join with 150 students from 20 schools worldwide.
TNUA also has initiated noted dynamic exchanges in Asia, such as in the Southbound Project: Fragrance of Living Water. The 2019 -2022 interdisciplinary exchange between TNUA and Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, Vietnam, cumulated in a performance project for the Guandu Arts Festival, Taipei, Taiwan.
“Northern North Wind International Creation Platform: Japan Collaborative Project” This is a current exchange program in which respective choreography contests are held in Japan and Taiwan for their dance students. Winners then perform in a shared program touring between Japan and Taiwan.
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