HIGHER EDUCATION NIDA’s unique brand of education and training were transposed online for entire terms in 2020 to manage the restrictions of the COVID lockdowns. With rapid innovation and considerable agility, we were able to maintain high levels of engagement across all courses – with students, with industry and with audiences – while prioritising the safety of our students and our community. A rapid reworking of NIDA’s approach to practice-led education enabled all operations to shift online for the entire second term and saw the midyear season of student productions staged digitally via Zoom, Twitch and YouTube. Staff and students maintained an impressive quality of work through these platforms before the easing of restrictions in July enabled a welcome return to face-to-face teaching for the second half of the year. Some of the highlights of industryaligned projects, collaborations, mentorships and opportunities in 2020’s Bachelor and Masters courses are outlined below. ACTING The Acting centre incorporates Acting, Movement, Singing Actor and Voice training and delivers: → Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting); and → Master of Fine Arts (Voice) degrees. The 2020 cohort benefited from a broadening of resources, reference points and texts through: → A new stream exploring contemporary and classic First Nations texts – led by Guy Simon, Russell Smith and Dalara Williams; → International perspectives from POC writers led by Angela Sullen; → Voice coaching with Liz Himmelstein, one of Hollywood’s leading voice coaches; and → support for students’ mental health through ‘de-roling’ techniques.
Image, this page: The Master and Margarita (Photo: Lisa Maree Williams) Image, opposite page: triple j Unearthed music video shooting for Telescreen (Photo: Patrick Boland)
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Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
Master of Fine Arts (Voice)
The BFA (Acting) course was restructured and reinforced for more integrated learning experiences and new supports for transition into industry.
While international placements were put on hold due to border closures, MFA Voice students continued to receive industry-aligned extensions of their training through:
First year Acting training now includes: → A ‘History of Self’ project which invites students to explore and share cultural heritage; and → Intimacy training to equip them with the skills and techniques to manage personal boundaries and intimacy requirements in performance. Second-year Acting students deepened their practice-led learning through performances of: → Russian Projects, directed by Clara Voda and Jeremy James, for rehearsal studio audiences; → A Comedy Project, directed by Alison Bennett and Philip Quast; → American Song Book collaborations with John Bashford and Chris King; and → End-of-year productions (developed and delivered in workshop format due to COVID restrictions). Third-year Acting students extended and further developed their practice through: → A streamlined American play project; → The ever-popular Articulate project; → A hugely successful collaboration with the writing team at Boomshaka on their graduation showreels (all made publicly available online).
→ Masterclasses with Frankie Armstrong; and → Professional placements across the three seasons of productions – the Digital Theatre Festival, October Season of Student Productions and the Festival of Emerging Artists. New end-of-study initiatives were introduced to support graduating students, including: → 1:1 mentor session with industry heavyweight Simon Burke; → A screen casting workshop delivered by Anoush Zarkesh; → Industry readiness masterclasses with Kip Williams (STC), Andrew Henry (Red Line), Ann Robinson (Mullinars Casting Consultants), Tasha Harrison (United Management), Nikki Barrett (Barrett Casting) and Lee Lewis (QTC). CREATIVE PRACTICES Creative Practices delivers: → Master of Fine Arts (Cultural Leadership); → Master of Fine Arts (Directing); → Master of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance); and → Common Subjects to all Masters and Bachelor students.
