Australian Academy of Dramatic Art

Not to be confused with National Institute of Dramatic Art.

AIM Dramatic Arts (formerly known as the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art (AADA)) is a drama school in Sydney, Australia. It offers a degree in acting and theatre-making as a department of the Australian Institute of Music (AIM). Students receive professional actor training alongside classes in directing, design, technical theatre, and creative and critical thinking. Students learn the craft of acting with the creative insight of the creator and producer. Graduates have a range of skills to take full advantage of opportunities in today’s arts and entertainment industry. With a unique teaching program, high-calibre teaching staff, professional standard student productions, and a strong track record of graduate employment, AIM Dramatic Arts is producing a new generation of Australian stage and screen professionals.

Bachelor of Performance

The Bachelor of Performance is a six-trimester degree program intended to train the Actor / Creator / Producer. It is structured as follows:

Performance Skills

Performance Practice

Public and in-house performances are scheduled each trimester. A 'discovery play' and devised work are early explorations of a full-length script and a new piece of physical theatre. A contemporary text is the first season of public performances, followed by the challenge of a classic text. Final year students develop new short works, and they take roles onstage and off in the graduating company production.

Repertoire

Performance knowledge and acting skill are applied in a weekly Master Class. These classes explore ancient storytelling, scenes from Australian plays, landmarks of British and American drama, translations from European and Asian theatre, and classics from across the world stage. Each student rehearses and presents scenes twice per trimester, and all second year students are assigned to direct a scene and pitch their idea for a new theatre company.

Contextual Studies

A lecture series offering current research tools for theatre, film, and contemporary performance. These lectures reveal how writers for stage and screen shape a story; explore the cultural diversity of storytelling; examine the roles of the writer, adaptor and translator; consider how performance research informs acting for stage and screen; and access trade secrets and networking opportunities in weekly sessions with industry guests.

Associated Studies

These practical classes support the creative actor. First year students take Lighting and Sound, Production and Stage Management, and work on a production crew. Second year students study writing for stage and screen, directing, and design, and develop new works in creative teams. Acting for camera adapts students to the demands of screen acting. Dance and singing units complement weekly classes in voice and movement. All students take units in marketing and finance.

Placement

Students undertake a unique interaction with a creative workplace and, often, a future employer. They are matched with leading performing arts companies in Sydney, during or following their final trimester of study. Placement Partners include: Bell Shakespeare, Channel 7, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Fountainhead Casting, Griffin, Performance Space, Playwriting Australia, Powerhouse, Shopfront, Sport for Jove, Sydney Theatre Company, Tamarama Rock Surfers, and Version 1.0.

History

The School

The Australian Academy of Dramatic Art (AADA) was established in 1983 by Ron and Elaine Birkby. Ron Birkby studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in both New York and Los Angeles, the Actors Studio, New York, with Lee Strasburg and was selected for private tuition with Herbert Berghoff at his studios in Greenwich Village. In the 1980s, the school was housed for the first year in Wentworth Avenue, then moved to George Street, Cnr King Street, Sydney, followed by Regent Street, Chippendale, Elizabeth Street, Surrey Hills then Holt Street, Surry Hills. During its early decades it offered Vocational Education and Training (VET) Certificates, Diplomas, and Advanced Diplomas in Acting. In 1987 it became the first private drama school in Australia to obtain Austudy & Abstudy for its students. In 2006, AADA became a department of the Australian Institute of Music (AIM), and was rebranded as Dramatic Arts in 2013. It now offers a government-accredited degree course as a Higher Education Provider (HEP). Australian students have access to Commonwealth Government FEE-HELP to cover the cost of tuition.

The Degree

In 2007, consultation with the theatre industry began to create a unique, university-level qualification. The growing independent theatre scene in Sydney and other Australian capitals was now to be supported by a custom-built training in contemporary theatre practice, "a unique education for the Actor / Creator / Producer". The school took the baton from the University of Western Sydney's now-defunct Theatre Nepean, a remarkable training program that gave the Australian performing arts sector over a decade of graduates who are all-round theatre makers. In 2009, the department accepted its first intake of students in the new Bachelor of Performance degree.

Work on the Bachelor of Performance degree was undertaken by:

Andrew Davidson, Head of Department (2006-2013). Davidson conceived the Actor / Creator / Producer ethos.
Robert Draffin, director of Liminal theatre company in Melbourne, worked with Davidson on the overall structure of the degree.
Assoc Prof Ian Maxwell from Performance Studies at The University of Sydney was a consultant on the Contextual Studies stream.

Campuses

Australian Institute of Music

Main Campus is located at the Australian Institute of Music, 1-55 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills. Established in 1968 by the late Dr Peter Calvo, the campus of the Australian Institute of Music has grown since the 1990s to house a concert hall, dance studio, and multiple classroom, rehearsal and practice spaces. Students have access to an ever-growing undergraduate theatre collection in the AIM Library.

Pilgrim House

Teaching and performances take place at the historic Pilgrim Theatre, located in Pilgrim House at 262 Pitt Street, Sydney. Built in the Italian Palazzo style in 1927-8, the theatre was used as a broadcast and recording hall for live radio during the Great Depression. It was host to international performers including Noël Coward in the 1940s. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and 2GB Radio were tenants until the 1970s. Throughout the 1990s, Sydney Art Theatre was the resident company. The school's lease began in 2004.

Staff

Full-time staff

Peta Downes, Head of Department. Director, producer and academic. Graduate of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) & the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Sydney.
Kim Hardwick, Course Coordinator. Director and producer. Graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) & the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Most recently directed Campion Decent's play Unholy Ghosts for Griffin Theatre Company.
Margaret Spillane, Coordinator (Placement). Arts administrator. Graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

Key Sessional Staff

Kim Hardwick & Lyn Pierse, Teacher (Acting)
Anca Frankenhaeuser, Teacher (Movement)
Alistair Toogood, Antony Grgas & Natasha McNamara, Teacher (Voice)
Cale Bain & Lyn Pierse, Teacher (Improvisation)
Margaret Davis, Lecturer (Contextual Studies)

External links

Coordinates: 33°53′02″S 151°12′33″E / 33.88389°S 151.20917°E / -33.88389; 151.20917

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