Dance: Creative Dance Education
Full-time
One year
September 2025
In a nutshell
This course will support the development of your teaching, challenging you to embed creativity and inclusivity at the heart of your practice. Over three trimesters, you'll explore the approaches, creative practices and professional skills needed to excel in dance teaching and facilitation. Study the art and science of dance pedagogy, considering a wide range of learning needs, teaching styles and modern perspectives on teaching and learning. You can choose to develop your teaching practice for a range of formal and informal teaching environments. Your values and personal teaching philosophies are central in shaping and honing your practice.
Industry collaboration and real-world learning are central to our courses. You'll get an insight into teaching dance in various contexts to suit your ambitions as a dance artist. You'll refine your creative practice in masterclasses, participate in two work based placements and observe professional commissions led by established professionals. These will provide you with invaluable industry experience whilst helping you to identify and support the artistry rooted in dance teaching.
Dance at Salford is a community of lecturers, students, artists in residence, alumni artists and visiting professionals who work together to provide a professional training and education to support your career aspirations. As a postgraduate dance student studying at Salford, you'll have access to vibrant local dance scene with links to local venues and dance organisations. We'll create collaboration and networking opportunities through live dance and music events, as well as access to discounted supplementary training and live performances, creating space to engage with like-minded creative artists.
Our MA Programmes are well respected in the industry, with graduates going on to work with Burnley College, St. Bedes College, Youth Zone Chorley, Active Tameside, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Ruth Jones (Manchester Pride and Manchester Day Pride), Walk the Plank (Green Spaces Dark Skies), The Lowry Creative Education Team, Die Cast Mcr and Coalesce Dance Theatre.
Want to learn more about studying for a master’s in dance education at Salford? Find out more by signing up for an upcoming Open Day.
You can also follow our Dance@Salford Instagram account and find helpful FAQs, learn more about student life at Salford or explore all our Dance courses.
International applicants: Please check the international intakes page for the latest information and application dates.
You will:
- Be taught by practicing dance professionals on a course with a reputation for supporting successful dance teachers and graduates
- Learn as part of a creative university with leading industry partnerships: with organisations such as Arts Council England, Joss Arnott Dance, Company Chameleon and The Lowry Theatre Manchester
- Be given the opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant arts and performance scene in Salford and Manchester
- Combine theoretical modules with real-world industry placements to develop yourself fully as a dance educator
- Elevate your skills and knowledge; opening up wider career possibilities and supporting sustainable careers in dance
- Study full-time or part-time to fit with your current professional obligations
options available
students accepted
This is for you if...
You’re an emerging or established dance educator who would like the opportunity to refine your craft and take your career prospects to the next level.
You want to develop as both a dance teacher and creative artist, enabling you to pursue a long-term career in your field.
You’re interested in the key theories, concepts and practices central to dance teaching and education.
All about the course
Our master’s in Creative Dance Education programme combines theoretical learning, applied practice and teaching placements to support innovation and originality within your teaching practice.
Spread over three trimesters, you will study modules that give you a deeper understanding of modern teaching perspectives, developing learner centered strategies and facilitation styles to help you become an aspirational teacher. Your learning will challenge and expand the creativity within your practice, as well as exploring opportunities and challenges associated with dance in a range of formal and informal teaching contexts. Your MA Creative Dance Education will cover modules on planning, facilitating and evaluating learning, ranging from one off workshops to longer schemes of activity.
You'll have a range of opportunities to put your learning into practice, through two industry placements throughout the year. The placements can be curricular and/ or non-curricular in lieu of your teaching interests and aspirations.
Throughout this MA in dance education you'll explore trends and current issues around teaching dance, including;
- Socially engaged practice
- Dance and wellbeing
- Working with children and young people
- Delivering dance technique
- Inclusive practice
- Safeguarding, policy and legislative frameworks
You'll finish this course by completing a creative research project in which you'll draw on your experience as a teacher and choreographer.
Learn more about each module by reading the full course breakdown below.
Choreographic Practices
This module integrates key concepts, theories and practices inherent in contemporary choreographic practice. It integrates a mixture of practical workshops and seminars over 12 weeks. The practical workshops will introduce a range of approaches to dance-making with specific sessions focused on making work with and for young people. The seminar series will include both screening and discussions of professional practitioners and their work.
Key areas of learning may include:
- Creating for non-conventional performance spaces
- Making work for children and young people
- Creating socially engaged work
- Responsible anarchy
- Socio-political choreography and activism
- Cultural voices and discourses in dance
Approaches To Dance Pedagogy
In this module, you will be introduced to the modern perspectives on dance teaching and learning. You'll expand your knowledge of creative and physical techniques implicit in dance workshop development and delivery.
Teaching Strategy and Design In Dance
This practical and theoretical module delves deeper into the concepts and approaches central to dance teaching. Module content will consider the development of a scheme/programme of activity, to progressively build creative skills knowledge and experience in dance.
Dance Teaching Placement
This module embeds the student in a placement within a dance teaching setting. Working alongside established dance teachers and facilitators, you will develop knowledge, skills and experience in teaching dance. You will be supported by a staff supervisor who will support you in connecting the placement experience with your own development as a creative dance educator.
Industry Placement
This module embeds the student in a second placement. During this you will reflect on the culture and working practices experienced within your placement, utilising case study research to interrogate practice and formulate creative responses to challenges and opportunities experienced during your period of study. Your staff supervisor will continue to support you in connecting the placement to your own learning experiences and creative practice.
Practice-As-Research Project/Dissertation
In this final project, you will be asked to propose an area of exploration, arising from your experiences in the previous modules and focused on future work within profession. Upon submitting a proposal, you will be assigned a supervisor to support you on this journey of enquiry. Either individually or in collaboration with others, the results of these investigations will be presented at New Adelphi alongside a wider programme of dance performances and events.
Please note that it may not be possible to deliver the full list of options every year as this will depend on factors such as how many students choose a particular option. Exact modules may also vary in order to keep content current. When accepting your offer of a place to study on this programme, you should be aware that not all optional modules will be running each year. Your tutor will be able to advise you as to the available options on or before the start of the programme. Whilst the University tries to ensure that you are able to undertake your preferred options, it cannot guarantee this.
Be a part of a creative, supportive community
All our Dance courses are delivered by the Salford School of Arts, Media, and Creative Technology. Our focus is to ensure that you have the skills you need to pursue your dreams, and we encourage our students, past and present, to collaborate with each other and achieve great things.
Each year - through the Create Student Awards – our School rewards the incredible achievements and successes of our final year and postgraduate students.
Whatever you choose to study with us, you’ll be mentored and supported by experts. And once you graduate, it won’t end there. You’ll join a thriving alumni network across Greater Manchester and beyond, meaning you’ll be supported professionally and personally whenever you need it.
Dance facilities
This Dance degree course is based at our £55 million New Adelphi building, the home of performance and creativity on campus.
Our range of performance facilities include:
- Dance studios – our industry-standard studios are where you’ll spend much of your time, honing your skills in a professional environment to best prepare you to enter the world of dance.
- New Adelphi Theatre – this 350-seat venue provides an opportunity for you to stage performances in front of live audiences. It also regularly hosts professional shows and performances.
- Studio theatre – this classic black-box performance space offers a more intimate venue than the New Adelphi Theatre. It features flexible seating and staging, so you can shape the space to meet your creative needs.
Explore our Dance facilities at New Adelphi, or take a 360 tour of our New Adelphi building.
Teacher profile
Sarah Jane Lockwood, Programme Leader of MA Dance: Creative Dance Education
Sarah is an experienced dance artist with a background in community arts and performance, dance pedagogy and socially engaged practice. When not lecturing at Salford, she works as a professional dance artist and project evaluator, delivering activity for a range of education and community arts providers across the North of England. In her previous post with Ludus Dance, Sarah worked as a Creative Programme Manager, delivering/managing a range of projects in grassroots, community performance, inclusive dance and talent development contexts. In recent years she has delivered projects in collaboration with Grand Theatre Blackpool, Ludus Dance, The Electric Sunshine Project and Maelstrom Theatre.
Contact Sarah Jane Lockwood or explore the Dance faculty at the University of Salford.
What about after uni?
Employment
After graduating with a master’s in dance education, you’ll be perfectly positioned to teach dance in a range of working environments. You may choose to pursue a career as a dance teacher in a school or college, a dance instructor or a choreographer, to name just some of your options. You’ll have a deep understanding of pedagogical approaches, understanding of current practice, policy and legislation in the arts, as well as transferrable skills preparing you for a wide range of careers across the sector. Your ability to research, develop and deliver ideas in a creative and professional way will be highly valued by many employers.
Further study
Graduates showing strong academic and research skills can pursue a further academic research path through our doctoral (PhD) programmes on a full-time or part-time basis subject to a satisfactory proposal.
Career Links
Studying on this course will equip you with a wide range of transferable skills that can be used in a variety of roles and industries. You'll be able to generate, develop and present your ideas to a professional standard, as well as have strong research and evaluation skills, all of which are highly valued by employers.
Our annual dance artist-in-residence scheme which has included companies such as Company Chameleon, Hawk Dance Theatre, Kapow Dance Theatre, as well as independent dance artists. As part of this scheme, our dance students benefit from workshops, apprenticeships, performance and project opportunities, mentoring opportunities. Each academic year, we run a range of Masterclasses to develop your knowledge of the wider dance ecology and to assist you in developing your personal career trajectory.
Our faculty and extended dance team are all active and influential members of the UK's professional dance community. We are committed to keeping our alumni community connected, advocating for our Dance@Salford graduates through signposting and linking students to professional opportunities and collaborations.
What you need to know
Applicant profile
To gain a place on this MA Creative Dance Education degree, you’ll have to submit a personal statement and meet our entry requirements when you apply.
Within your personal statement (up to 500 words), we’ll want to understand:
- What motivates you and what current experiences do you have in terms of dance education?
- How have you been involved and what did you do?
- Why do you want to work in the performance and dance education sector?
- Why is the University of Salford and this degree the right choice for your future goals?
Applicants will then be potentially asked to take part in an informal group interview-either live or on camera, and provide us with:
3-5 minutes of digital footage links of relevant examples of working practice and/or the dancer moving including a recorded introduction- self-tape- to your digital portfolio.
Please introduce yourself and offer an insight into the work that will be viewed articulate your role in the work shown (dancer, choreographer, teacher), the theme or focus of the practice, commentary about the context of the work.
Examples of footage links may include:
- Showreel- with examples of multiple aspects of your work.
- Technique class footage - All dance training styles accepted
- Teaching footage – With a group or an example of you teaching practice to camera.
- Solo or group choreography
- Digital performance work.
CV
An up-to-date CV outlining your dance education, training, and professional experiences to date / link to professional website include relevant links examples of working practice/digital footage of work.
Once you’ve made your application to study with us, we’ll contact you and let you know the next steps.
We welcome applicants with prior PGCE/PGDE dance/performing arts qualifications, who may be eligible to ‘top up’ to the MA Creative Dance Education with the award of credit via Accreditation of Prior Learning from parts of the course on the basis of postgraduate certificated learning already achieved.
Standard entry requirements
Applicants to this programme must have a good degree in a dance-related subject
International students
If you are an international student and not from a majority English speaking country, you will need IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5. We accept qualifications from all around the world. Find your country to see a full list of entry requirements.
We also accept a range of other English language qualifications. If you do not have the English language requirements, you could take our Pre-Sessional English course.
Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)
We welcome applicants with prior PGCE/PGDE dance/performing arts qualifications, who may be eligible to ‘top up’ to the MA Creative Dance Education with the award of credit via Accreditation of Prior Learning from parts of the course on the basis of postgraduate certificated learning already achieved.
The Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) process could help you to make your work and life experience count. The APL process can be used for entry onto courses or to give you exemptions from parts of your course.
Two forms of APL may be used for entry: the Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL) or the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).
How much?
| Type of study | Year | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time home | 2025/26 | £9,100.00per year |
| Full-time international | 2025/26 | £17,000.00per year |
Additional costs
You should also consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits.
Scholarships for international students
If you are a high-achieving international student, you may be eligible for one of our scholarships. Explore our international scholarships.