Master of Fine Arts in Dance

The Master of Fine Arts in Dance at Saint Mary’s is a terminal degree program in the arts that follows a low-residency model with 60 units of course work and approximately 2 years to complete. The hybrid format includes brief, focused on-campus sessions in January and Summer, and online courses in Spring and Fall. Cohorts begin each year with a 4-week in-person Summer Term intensive. The combination of online and in-person terms favors working adults and highly motivated professionals seeking to sustain their portfolio as they develop their professional careers. 

The Graduate Program in Dance finds its roots in the need for human understanding and expression of the spiritual self. The values of our program are shaped around the quest for truth, authenticity of living, and the building of a community where sensitivity, social justice and global awareness are at the core. The goals of the MFA in Dance enhance the Mission of Saint Mary’s College by fostering diverse ways of knowing; developing self-discovery particularly in dialogue with race, power and privilege; and promoting global awareness through unity and responsibility. 

The nature of the program is student-centered hinging on peer collaboration, faculty mentoring, and student driven projects. We promote a holistic education where the students, in close dialogue with their professors, become seekers of their own truth as they question how to live an authentic life as dance practitioners who are fully conscious of the current social needs. We foster the integration of intellectual and creative skills so the students discover their unique voice as artists while embodying a clear place of sensitivity toward social and ethical concerns. Our program is rigorous in how we support students to be artists who integrate various ways of knowing and the practices of thinking, moving, and creating, while allowing for personal growth and transformation as they delve into their own research, collaborative projects, and community-based learning processes. 

Program Director

Rosana Barragan, rb7@stmarys-ca.edu

Faculty

Rosana Barragan (MFA), rb7@stmarys-ca.edu is a Registered Master Somatic Movement Educator; Dynamic Embodiment™ Practitioner; Certified Teacher of BodyMind Dancing™; and Certified teacher of Rudolf Steiner Curative Education. She is currently a U.S. Fulbright Specialist and has served on the Board and working committees of several International Somatic Organizations. Her graduate dance degree is from the Laban Centre in England. She has worked as an educator and founder of dance programs at universities in South America, has been at Saint Mary’s since 2008 and is currently the MFA in Dance program director. She has several publications on dance and somatics and her site-specific choreographic and installation work has been awarded internationally. She consistently teaches in the MFA program courses such as Choreography; Seminar in Phenomenology; Somatics; and serves as Thesis Chair. 

Cathy Davalos (MFA), cdavalos@stmarys-ca.edu has been at Saint Mary’s since 1997 and is the founder of the dance program. She received a BA in Philosophy and Dance and an MFA in Dance from CSU, Long Beach. As Chicana choreographer, her work emerges from her Mexican voice and the constant rediscovery of identity.  Davalos makes dances that question heteronormativity using a feminist, Latina, and Chicana perspective. She teaches in the undergraduate and graduate dance programs at Saint Mary’s. In the MFA, she consistently teaches courses such as Critical Dance Pedagogy; Laban and Bartenieff Movement Studies; Social Somatics; and serves as Thesis Chair and Thesis Concert Artistic Director. 

Rogelio Lopez (MFA),  rl9@stmarys-ca.edu is a dancer, choreographer, costume, lighting, and scenic designer. Earned an MFA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach. Rogelio has danced professionally for Vox Theater, PTERO Dance Company, Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Keith Johnson, Hope Mohr, Joe Goode, Ledges and bones, Nina Haft, Davalos Dance Company, and many others. He also directs his own dance company, Rogelio Lopez & Dancers, established in 2015. He currently is the director of Saint Mary’s undergraduate dance program. In the MFA, he consistently teaches courses such as Design Methodologies; Costume Design; Choreography; and serves as Thesis Chair. 

Shaunna Vella (MFA), svella@stmarys-ca.edu is a choreographer, performer, teacher and activist, whose work in the Bay Area spans over twenty years. With an MFA in Dance degree from Saint Mary’s College, her academic scholarship focuses on the interdisciplinary praxis of performance as community ritual, queer performance, political artmaking, somatics and embodiment, and the creation of professional dance productions both in the community and in educational settings. She is currently the Program Director for LEAP (Liberal Education for Art Professionals) at Saint Mary’s and teaches in all three dance programs (undergraduate, graduate, and LEAP). In the MFA, she regularly teaches Dance and Performance Studies; Choreography; Dance and Social Justice; and serves on Thesis Committees.

Jia Wu (MFA), jw14@stmarys-ca.edu is a native of China, with a BA in Choreography and Performance from Beijing Dance Academy and an MFA in Choreography from UCLA. She is a choreographer, performer and dance filmmaker, her daring kinetics and provocative works apply Asian dance vocabularies and aesthetics to explore modern issues such as globalization, feminism, and multiculturalism. Her artistic work has been awarded internationally. She has been at Saint Mary’s since 2008, and teaches in the undergraduate and graduate dance programs at Saint Mary’s. In the MFA, she regularly teaches a Summer Choreography course.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. COMPOSE multidimensional (individual and ensemble) original works through research, embodiment, social/cultural context, theory, and choreographic exploration;
2. DEMONSTRATE the use of somatic tools; 
3. EVALUATE works and styles of dance from around the world, using a critical view of dance and social justice to include issues of access, representation, inclusion/exclusion; 
4. APPLY one’s artistic and pedagogical voice to produce impactful work that fosters lasting change within communities.