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The Victorian College of the Arts, a faculty of the University of Melbourne, is Australia's premier visual and performing arts training institution. Located on a nine acre site in the heart of Melbourne's vibrant arts precinct beside the National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Rd, the College is unique in Australia as it offers training across all major artistic disciplines.
The VCA is a multi-disciplinary environment which offers undergraduate and postgraduate coursework and research degrees and diplomas in Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Film & Television, Production, Puppetry, Community Cultural Development and Indigenous Arts Management. These programs are studio and performance based.
All undergraduate degree programs include a compulsory common cross-disciplinary curriculum which examines the interaction between artistic practice and wider social, political and cultural contexts. This is offered through the Centre for Ideas. The Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development supports the VCA's indigenous students and artists from the wider community. In January 2007 the VCA will become a faculty of the University of Melbourne. The amalgamation has been implemented in a way that preserves the distinctive character and mission of the Victorian College of the Arts while extending its capacity to fulfil the special role it has within Australian arts education integrated into Australia's leading University.
The VCA's immediate neighbours include the National Gallery of Victoria, the Malthouse complex, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Chunky Move, The Australian Ballet School, Arts Victoria, Opera Australia, ABC and SBS, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet, State Orchestra of Victoria, The Arts Centre, Hamer Hall - Melbourne's concert hall - and the headquarters of Melbourne's festivals. Students of the VCA use these cultural institutions as a dynamic extension of their studio life. Access to these works and having the time to look at them, to experience and hear them is a vital way to acquire the visual and performing arts education artists need. Tickets are often made available to students, professional companies rehearse in the VCA facilities and visiting artists undertake master classes.
Studying at the VCA
Contemporary educational concepts such as mentoring by established artists, learning through discovering, practical training infused with intellectual, reflective and critical inquiry, and respect for the concept of multiple intelligences, flow through all schools of the Victorian College of the Arts. Staff are selected for their own national and international artistic achievements. They are also committed and experienced teachers. Curricula is developed under strict performance measures, monitored both by the VCA's own Board of Studies and the Academic Board of the University of Melbourne, which awards all VCA degrees.
What VCA expects of its students
All courses are practice-based and intensive. Written work is part of all assessment processes. Teachers expect that students will bring their own analyses and perspectives to coursework, and will present their own theories and points of view. Private study and classes involve an average of 40 hours each week.
How VCA students are selected
The VCA evaluates prospective students according to discipline-specific criteria, based on their demonstrated talent and an assessment of their potential to benefit from the education and training they will receive. This is assessed on presentation of folio at interview, or audition performance quality. In some cases, particularly in the case of postgraduate courses, prior experience is also considered. The different application procedures for each school are referred to later in this brochure and detailed on the VCA website.
Objectives of the Faculty
* to foster the development and improvement of, and to provide for education in, the creative, performing and other arts, and for general education for people undertaking courses in those arts;
* to advance learning, knowledge, appreciation and competence in activities primarily or substantially directed to the creation, design, composition, interpretation, display, publication, performance or management of works of an aesthetic nature and of their conservation and elucidation;
* to organise, conduct and participate in public performances, exhibitions, conferences, lectures, demonstrations, experiments, training and other activities relating to the arts;
* to promote critical enquiry within the College and in the general community; * to consult and collaborate in the interests of the community with other arts organisations and people.
Faculty courses
Undergraduate
* Bachelor of Dance
* Bachelor of Dance (Honours)
* Bachelor of Dramatic Art
* Bachelor of Film and Television
* Bachelor of Film and Television (Honours)
* Bachelor of Fine Art
* Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours)
* Bachelor of Music Performance
* Bachelor of Music Performance (Honours)
* Bachelor of Production
Postgraduate
* Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Arts Management
* Graduate Certificate in Visual Art
* Postgraduate Diploma in Visual Art
* Postgraduate Diploma in Choreography for the Screen
* Postgraduate Diploma in Classical Ballet Teaching
* Postgraduate Diploma on Community Cultural Development Practice
* Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Dance Teaching
* Graduate Diploma in Film and Television
* Postgraduate Diploma in Film and Television (Producing)
* Postgraduate Diploma in Music Performance
* Postgraduate Diploma in Opera
* Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation
* Postgraduate Diploma in Production
Higher Degrees
* Master of Animateuring
* Master of Choreography
* Master of Community Cultural Development Practice
* Master of Dance (Performance)
* Master of Dramatic Art (Direction)
* Master of Film and Television
* Master of Film and Television (Producing)
* Master of Fine Art
* Master of Music Performance
* Master of Puppetry
* Master of Sound Design
* Master of Theatre Design
* Master of Visual Art
Common Curriculum
The common curriculum was established in 2001 as an affirmation of the principle of collaborative arts practice and research in the 21st Century. The VCA is committed to providing a course of study that advances both specialist arts practice and offers a broad educational program. The common curriculum is designed to enable students to consider the arts within larger social, political and cultural contexts. The close relationship between intensive specialist arts training and critical studies reflects the College's commitment to artists who are highly skilled and culturally and technologically literate.
The VCA is committed to offering interested students access to new technologies that are increasingly becoming part of the contemporary arts world. Subjects provide undergraduate students with formal opportunities for interdisciplinary arts practice and for exploring ideas and values that inform contemporary arts practice. In their final year students undertake professional studies to develop an understanding of the economic and organisational realities of the arts industry.
The program has two main objectives:
* To offer each student the opportunity to enhance his or her critical, analytical, research, literacy and presentation skills.
* To offer each student the opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaborative encounters and practice.
Bachelor degree candidates are required to undertake 12.50 credit points from the common curriculum in each year of study for successful completion of a three year undergraduate degree.
Common curriculum structure
Students enrolling and re-enrolling in Bachelor programs in 2006 are required to take the following subjects at first, second and third year levels.
First year subjects
754-101 The Artist in the World part 1
754-130 The Artist in the World part 2
The Artist in the World
This subject will introduce students to keywords and concepts as a toolbox for thinking about the specific art practices of dance, music, drama, visual arts, film and television, and will provide opportunities for students to attend lectures by leading local and international visiting guest artists.
Second year subjects
754-202 The World in the Artist 2A
754-203 The World in the Artist 2B
The World in the Artist
Second year students choose two weekly seminar subjects from a selection exploring visual, performance and digital arts analysis, research and practice.
Third year subjects
754-301 Collaboration Contract
754-302 Professional Development
Collaboration Contract
This subject requires students to form small groups of up to 15 students, reflective of the diversity of Schools in the Faculty, to devise and undertake a collaborative project.
Professional Development
The aim of this lecture based subject is to provide students with an integrated and generic introduction to the key issues and skills necessary to build specialist skills and enhance career opportunities. Lectures are presented by invited experts in the field and focus on practical, professional, legal and presentation issues, complementary to existing subjects offered in each School. A series of extracurricular workshops on presentation, website, negotiation and time management skills are also offered.
Student Total Time Commitment
In order to successfully complete courses in the Faculty, students are expected to commit to between 35 and 40 hours each week of semester in a combination of formal contact plus private study/rehearsal both on and off campus. Intensive night and weekend work occurs as students prepare for productions and assessments. The time commitment on these occasions is increased.
Dance
Bachelor of Dance
Studio practice provides the foundation for developing the dance artist at the VCA. Daily technique classes in ballet and contemporary dance form the paradigm for training versatile, kinaesthetically, intelligent dance artists and are closely interrelated with studies in choreography and performance. Students in their first and second year of study may elect from a selection of Allied Dance Studies, giving them the flexibility to pursue their own interests in contemporary dance or ballet. Allied Dance Studies includes Duo, Pas de Deux, Ballet Repertoire, Contemporary Repertoire, Improvisation and Pointe. Students also undertake studies in Performance Management, Career Planning and Management, Music, Dance Analysis, Kinetic Studies and Production. Throughout the course students have regular performance experience replicating the professional environment.
Students are encouraged to take risks and challenge their own practice by engaging with new processes and physical methodologies.
By third year there is a greater emphasis on developing artistic autonomy. By working with emerging and leading Australian choreographers in preparation for the diverse challenges of current dance practice students maximise their potential to become dancers of technical excellence and artistry.
Course Objectives
The objectives of the course are:
* To produce professional dance practitioners including performers, choreographers, collaborators and artistic leaders with a high degree of expertise
* To encourage the simultaneous development of students' conceptual and technical abilities by providing practical and theoretical dance studies across various aesthetic domains
* To foster a spirit of inquiry and initiative towards the development of dance * To encourage individual talents in both performance and creativity
* To encourage students to develop an awareness of their relationship and responsibility to their cultural environment and society by providing opportunities for informed critical enquiry, social interaction and cultural exploration during their studies
* To enable students to prepare themselves for postgraduate study
At the completion of the Bachelor of Dance, students should be able to:
* Demonstrate extensive ability within particular contemporary movement and ballet techniques and a high level of kinaesthetic awareness in all their practical work;
* Exhibit extensive practical and theoretical knowledge of dance across its various aesthetic domains, including current professional dance practice, relevant skills in allied disciplines and developments in the field;
* Demonstrate capacities for artistic imagination, creativity, transformation and interpretation;
* Demonstrate practical skills in respect of critical analysis, problem solving, report writing, team work and oral and written communication;
* Embody an informed respect for the principles, discipline and ethics of the practicing, professional artist;
* Demonstrate interpretive abilities in performing new and existing performance work;
* Participate effectively as a team member in projects with a shared focus;
* Demonstrate with a flexible, imaginative and innovative approach to explore, investigate and resolve unfamiliar problems and challenges;
* Confidently communicate, both orally and in writing, opinions, ideas and observations with regard to their dance practice and that of others, in group and individual situations;
* Contribute to a range of performing arts environments as artistic collaborators and leaders;
* Demonstrate an open, independent and inquiring attitude towards contemporary cultural developments and new ideas;
* Independently research and investigate areas of theoretical and practical relevance from a wide range of sources;
* Critically and creatively engage with topics of cultural significance and effectively participate in or contribute to contemporary cultural discourses;
* Develop effective planning, management and self-promotional skills.
Status: Official 2007 Last Modified: Tuesday October 31 22:21 SGML to HTML Conversion: Information Division - CWIS (SDI) Authorised by: Academic Registrar Enquiries: http://unimelb.custhelp.com/
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