MA Screendance

1. Making Screendance (60 credits)

This module focuses on the fundamental elements of screendance making processes. It encourages you to apply discussion, self-reflection and critical thinking to the development of your creative projects. You will develop practical skills, synthesise research and investigate your practice.

2. Situating Screendance (30 credits)

Situating Sreendance, 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 (30 credits)

This module 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 - Frame Rush - with your cohort, inviting and selecting international work and connecting with professionals across the field.

4. Final Project (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.

Our Audio Visual (AV) room provides students with a range of equipment to support their learning and artistic practice. A selection of excellent quality, independent filmmaking equipment is available to book through our online booking system free of charge. This includes high-end equipment reserved exclusively for the MA Screendance students.

A full-time member of staff and technical teachers are available to advise on technical problems and support students in realising their ideas.

There is a wide range of equipment available, including:

• Digital cameras (Blackmagic 6K Pro, Sony FX30, Sony A7 III, Canon 5D, 360 cameras, and more)
• Manfrotto tripods
• Video accessories (Wally Dolly, DJI Ronin Gimbal, C-Stands, external monitors, & various lights)
• MacBook Pro laptops
• Edit suite with iMacs
• Sound equipment (Zoom recorders, booms and various mics)
• Projectors

The standard minimum entry requirements for this course are:

• BA (Hons) degree or equivalent academic qualifications

• Alternative qualifications and experience will also be taken into consideration

• Personal statement

• Showreel or selection of prior work

If you don't meet the above requirements, you might still be considered with additional strengths or alternative evidence such as:

• Related academic or professional experience in in dance, film, arts, media, fine arts, performance, or similar field

• The quality of the personal statement

• A strong academic or other professional reference

• A combination of these factors

English language requirements

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Student Visas

If you are an overseas student, you might require a Student Visa to study with us.

Examples of Prior Work in Application

You will be selected based on a collection of movement-focused, moving image works (e.g. screendance, experimental film, short film, installation) submitted via an online link (on Dropbox, Vimeo, YouTube, or your own website, for example). Please include examples of film, video, moving image or installation work you have already made. These could be as director, choreographer, cinematographer, performer, collaborator, and others. You will also need to indicate the role you have undertaken on the production and any other relevant information. Each submitted item must have original titles and credits.

Personal Statement in Application

You should also prepare a personal statement (200 - 400 words), discussing your interest in screendance, relevant experience or abilities, what you would like to achieve on the programme, your career aspirations, as well as why you think you are ready for a Master’s programme and your reasons for choosing London Contemporary Dance School.

Interview

You will be required to attend an interview (on-site or via Zoom/Google Meets). This is an opportunity for the us to learn more about you and your experience and interests, what you expect from the programme and how you intend to fund your studies.

If you are an overseas student who requires a student visa, you must study full-time and complete the course within 12 months. Part-time study is not possible.

First, you are required to complete our online application form where you input details about yourself, your educational and employment history, examples of prior work and a personal statement about why you want to join our MA Screendance.

You will then be contacted by our admissions team who will let you know if you have been invited to an interview with us. This will be hosted online by the Course Leader along with another member of the MA Screendance faculty.

After the interview, please allow up to 2 weeks to hear an outcome from our admissions team.

£11,900 – UK students
£24,000 – Overseas students

Find out more about our financial support for your studies.

I don’t have a prior filmmaking or dance degree, is this course right for me?

Yes! Students on the MA Screendance come to the course from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, including performance, choreography, experimental film and visual art.

On the course you will deepen your technical skills, including working with a variety of digital video cameras and editing software. We will guide you through all the stages of production, from having an idea to distributing your finished film.

You will learn how to create choreography for the screen, devise collaborative processes, engage and direct performers and production teams, budget and schedule, film on location, and employ various editing and postproduction processes.

Through a range of different learning modes, including individual and group work, seminars, self-directed study and tutorials, we encourage you to build upon your ideas, interests, skills and artistic practice.

Do I need to have my own equipment?

LCDS has specialist equipment specifically for the exclusive use of the MA Screendance cohort, as well as a wider pool of shared equipment.

This includes: a range of up-to-date digital cameras, including Sony, Canon and Blackmagic; lenses; sound recording, grip and lighting equipment; video tape cameras; and Macs for editing. Each student receives an Adobe Premiere subscription whilst on the course and a small budget to support their individual production.

What does the schedule usually look like?

The MA is a full-time course, with a mixture of taught sessions and self-directed time.
The scheduled sessions usually take place between 10.00-18.00 and add up to about 20-30 hours per week.

There is also designated studio space most days to work on projects and tasks, and you can book additional studio space when needed. The library has computers and a quiet space to work and research.

The weekly schedule changes in response to the units – e.g., in Term 3, the focus is on your own work on the Final Project, with fewer scheduled sessions.

Do I have to focus on a particular role in the filmmaking process?

No. The course is designed to develop your voice as a filmmaker. You will also sometimes support the work of your fellow students in the cohort, and can learn through taking on roles such as performer, cinematographer, lighting designer, assistant director, editor etc. But there is no requirement to take on specific roles (other than the lead in your own projects!).

How big is the cohort?

We usually have 10-15 students a year.

How much of the course is delivered remotely?

Most sessions take place on-site at one of LCDS’s venues. Currently the Situating Screendance (Unit 2) sessions with Cara Hagan are online, as she is based in New York, USA. Some of the classes and tutorials also take place online.

We aim to provide a physical space on-site to attend scheduled online sessions, so that attendance isn’t reliant on a quiet space or strong Wi-Fi signal in your own space.

What kinds of roles can I take on after the course?

Have a look at some of our alumni profiles to see what work they have pursued upon graduation. These include freelance artist and filmmaker, educator, in-house filmmaker for arts institutions, intimacy coordinator, marketing professional, performance-maker, artist-curator and academic.

During the course you will build a confident screen-based practice; expand your network of peers, professional artists and mentors; and be equipped to work in a wide range of current practices and fields. You will leave with a substantial portfolio of work to showcase your unique voice and abilities as a maker.

Are there dance classes as part of the course?

There are choreographic workshops and movement practices as part of the course.

There isn’t a daily “morning class” as you would find in a dance programme. Instead, the MA is designed with the interdisciplinary nature of screendance at its heart, working across physical and image-making practices.

Have a question we’ve not answered?

If there is anything else you want to know, please email us at lcds@theplace.org.uk, or contact course leader Katrina.Mcpherson@theplace.org.uk.