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Sally Smart: “First Commissions takes our artists to the world”
Ahead of the First Commissions exhibition in Melbourne on 27 and 28 July, multidisciplinary artist – and Vice-Chancellors Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne – Sally Smart tells Mireille Stahle about the “commission” that launched her career, and how Australian artists are turning their gaze to the rest of the world. The one thing that's critical for a young artist …
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Southbank Campus to open for Open House Melbourne
Open House Melbourne visitors can be among the first to see the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music's new world-class spaces at Southbank on 27 and 28 July, as part of a broader Open House Melbourne program at the University of Melbourne....
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Bill Henson: “There is no formula for how creativity unfolds”
Bill Henson is one of Australia's best-known contemporary photographers – but it was not always thus. As the First Commissions art project launches ahead of an exhibition in Melbourne on 27 and 28 July, he tells Mireille Stahle about his early years as an artist. ...
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First Commissions art project launches in Florence
A major Australian arts project presented by the University of Melbourne has been launched at the feet of Michelangelo’s David, the world’s most famous statement on physical perfection, ahead of exhibitions in Florence and Melbourne this month....
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Jesus Christ! Meet VCA Superstar Robert Tripolino
Robert Tripolino graduated in 2011 with the first ever cohort of Music Theatre students at the Victorian College of the Arts. Now Robert has landed the title role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, at the Barbican, on the West End in London. Here he discusses his serendipitous rise to fame....
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Meet Bethany Fellows, Master of Design for Performance student, University of Melbourne
Although Bethany Fellows knew she wanted to study at the Victorian College of the Arts, she never knew she’d end up studying stage design in the Master of Design for Performance – but from making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to making tiny furniture, stage design was definitely the right choice. It was a circuitous path to studying at the VCA. I …
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Albert Herring by the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music: review
The University of Melbourne's new Master of Music (Opera Performance) proved its mettle in this fully-staged operatic production of Britten's classic opera. ...
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Meet Kliment Poposki, Master of Dramaturgy, University of Melbourne
It was a long journey for Kliment Poposki from science to Dramaturgy, but now he can’t imagine doing anything else. Ten years ago, I didn’t even know what dramaturgy was. Now this has become the most natural space to create, think, even exist in. The immersion into dramaturgy has opened a mode of existence and creation in which I find myself …
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VCA Digital Archive: Chinese families through children’s eyes
The VCA Digital Archive is a living audiovisual record of student films that date back to 1966. The articles in this series respond thematically to the depth and breadth of the collection, which will be available for research from mid-2019. Enjoy!...
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Capital D Disability in Theatre with Julie McNamara at the University of Melbourne
Julie ‘Mack’ McNamara, an Honorary Fellow at VCA Theatre and the Artistic Director of Vital Xposure, one of UK’s leading disability led touring theatre companies. As a Visiting Fellow of the University of Melbourne's Miegunyah Foundation, she talks to Mireille Stahle about making theatre that puts disability first....
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Vale Jonathan Taylor: remembering a giant of VCA Dance
Choreographer and educator Jonathan Taylor was appointed Dean of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1988, and worked at the College until 1997. VCA Dance lecturer Helen Herbertson remembers the former Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre, who died last week, aged 77. By Helen Herbertson The dance community were deeply saddened to hear the news of Jonathan Taylor's …
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I Wayan Dibia: bringing Balinese traditions into performance study at the VCA
Professor I Wayan Dibia is a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and a master teacher from Bali. Each Summer, via the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music Global Atelier Program, students in the BFA (Acting) spend a week in Bali with Dibia, Senior Lecturer in Acting Budi Miller and local colleagues working on their …
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Carol Brown announced as the new Head of VCA Dance
Carol Brown has been announced as the new Head of VCA Dance at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. The internationally-established creative research scholar, academic and professional choreographer will take up the new position of Professor in Dance in mid-2019....
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What is Interactive Composition at the University of Melbourne?
It defies easy definition, but those who have had anything to do with Interactive Composition at The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music know its value. It's a course for innovators, creators, collaborators and ground-breakers. When Interactive Composition graduates leave the University, they go into the world and make their mark....
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Winging It – a web series produced by the University of Melbourne
"Heaven has been corporatised, and no-one hates his job more than Michael ..." Winging It is a seven-part web series developed as part of a Faculty of Fine Arts and Music interdisciplinary collaboration. Meet two of its writers, and watch the first episode, below. By Thuy On The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music's inaugural Web Series, an ongoing annual project that …
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Let’s get digital: an archive of work by VCA film graduates, coming soon
2019 will see the much-anticipated launch of a Digital Archive featuring work by VCA Film and Television graduating filmmakers across the decades. By Donna Lyon-Hensler The Victorian College of the Arts Digital Archive Project is a historic, social and cultural time-capsule consisting of short films created by graduating Film and Television students. With works dating back to 1966, it aims to provide …
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Meet Tyran Parke, the new Head of Music Theatre at the University of Melbourne
Award-winning singer, actor, director and recording artist Tyran Parke will be stepping into the role of Head of VCA Music Theatre in January 2019. He talks to Thuy On about his plans … and why he hates the word ‘vision’. By Thuy On Tyran, 2019 sees you entering your first year as Head of VCA Music Theatre – how did this come …
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Tiriki Onus: five questions for the Acting Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne
The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, percentage-wise, has the highest number of Indigenous students of any faculty at any university in Victoria, and now there are plans to rename campus paths and walkways with local Indigenous place names. Acting Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, Tiriki Onus, tells us more. ...
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Flamingos, giants, and School of Rock: backstage with VCA Production students
Without sound designers, stage managers, and set and costume designers, many stage, screen and music performances would never get off the ground. We spoke to three graduating Production students about their profession, philosophies, favourite projects, and what's on the horizon for next year....
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Explainer: what is artistic research?
The role of artistic researchers is not to describe their work – it's something else entirely....
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In Pictures: Folio Live
Over five evenings in November, Interactive Composition students from the University of Melbourne took over Grant Street Theatre with collaborative sound and media works which incorporating sound with film, animation, dance, theatre, installation, visual art, production, songwriting and performance. Here are some highlights from Folio Live 2018 by photographer Sav Schulman....
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Meet Tom Richards, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) graduate, University of Melbourne
Tom Richards auditioned three times before getting into the VCA's Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) – so has it been worth it? ...
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Meet Sarah Vickery, Master of Directing for Performance student, University of Melbourne
Directing plays for Mardi Gras, tackling the challenge of academic study, and developing work that tackles provocative social issues – for Victorian College of the Arts student Sarah Vickery, theatre directing is much more than a job....
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101 Sensations: on tour with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Asia
Between 23 September and 29 September 2018, the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performed in Singapore and Shanghai, the first time it had ever travelled overseas. This is the story of that tour....
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Arts explainer: what is social practice?
We hear a lot about social practice in the arts, but what actually is it? We asked course coordinator of the University of Melbourne's new Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in Social Practice and Community Engagement Dr Danny Butt....
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In Pictures: Into the Woods
This month, graduating Music Theatre and Production students put on a sell-out season of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods. Directed by Gary Young, director of the national tour of Mamma Mia! and Kellie Dickerson, Musical Director for The Book of Mormon, this smart and fractured fairytale was an exhilarating experience for all....
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In Pictures: The Skin of Our Teeth
In September, VCA Acting Company 2018 and graduating Production students staged a production of Thorton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, directed by Melbourne Theatre Company Associate Director Dean Bryant. Here are a few highlights from the season by photographer Drew Echberg....
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A tour of Melbourne’s Arts Precinct and the people who make it
The reimagining of Melbourne's Southbank is a source of disruption, possibility and hope for the people and organisations of the Arts Precinct. ...
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Margot Fenley to step down as Head of VCA Music Theatre
Head of VCA Music Theatre Margot Fenley has announced she will step down at the end of 2018 to take on a new teaching position within the discipline....
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VCA Dance – on board with the Travelling Dance Studio in Berlin
Some 22 VCA Dance students recently took part in the annual Travelling Dance Studio program in France and Germany, honing their knowledge and skills in ways that will benefit them in Australia. ...
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Jonathan Mills: How the University of Melbourne’s Southbank campus benefits the city’s Arts Precinct
Sir Jonathan Mills AO is a prominent Australian-born composer and festival director, and joint Enterprise Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. Here, he discusses how the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music fit into the city's vision for a revitalised …
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A new era for VCA Dance
Head of VCA Dance Jenny Kinder has announced she will step down from her role at the end of 2018. Associate Professor Kinder, who has been Head since 2000, said she felt “extraordinarily fortunate” to have led the discipline for more than 18 years....
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Meet the family: Ron and Margaret Dobell on why they love VCA Music Theatre
Their support of VCA Music Theatre has transformed the lives and careers of emerging artists, but the Dobells' influence goes way beyond the financial....
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Acting it Out: a new VCA Theatre initiative to increase diversity
The Victorian College of the Arts' new outreach program aims to support students from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds. ...
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Hollywood actor Jane BadlerHains: from V to the VCA
Earlier this week, actor, singer, producer, and philanthropist Jane BadlerHains visited the Victorian College of the Arts to share the story of her decades-long performing career with our Acting students – and to announce a new relationship with the Faculty. ...
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How to digitally render Ned Kelly as a woman going to a ball
In this video, as part of our ongoing How To series, VCA Production Lecturer in Design Anna Cordingley demonstrates how to digitally render a costume design. Find out more about Production at the Victorian College of the Arts. See also: How to make an acid dance track with the Roland TB-303. How to create backing tracks with the Boss RC-30 Loop Station. …
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Martyn Myer: ‘A world-class cultural capital needs a world-class arts training faculty’
Philanthropists come in all shapes and sizes, but for Martyn Myer there's only one approach: roll up your sleeves and don't take no for an answer. ...
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Hell’s Canyon playwright Emily Sheehan and actor Conor Leach in conversation
Hell's Canyon, the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights' Award-winning play by Victorian College of the Arts graduate playwright Emily Sheehan, will show at the Old 505 Theatre in Sydney and La Mama in Melbourne in August and September. Ahead of their 1 August opening night, writer Sheehan and VCA Theatre graduate and Hell's Canyon actor Conor Leach talk about their teenage selves, writing …
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Listen: How to turn musical “failure” into a rewarding career
Susan de Weger is not your typical classical musician. The self-confessed “failed musician” now helps young musicians connect with modern audiences and compete with digital disruption....
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Staging change: supporting diversity in Australian theatre
The Victorian College of the Arts is offering a Diversity in Theatre program from August to September to support authentic representation of people of colour on stage. Cessalee Smith-Stovall, Book of Mormon performer and Diversity in Theatre project coordinator, tells us more....
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The theatre of fake news: Polygraph speaks truth to a post-truth era
In a time characterised by fake news and political dishonesty, how are we to understand truth? Such is the subject of enquiry in Polygraph, part murder mystery, part love story and full boundary-pushing physical theatre that speaks truth to a "post-truth" era....
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William Tell-all: behind the scenes of the epic Victorian Opera production
Victorian Opera's latest production is set to be bigger than Ben Hur. Ahead of opening night on 14 July, we caught up with former Melbourne Conservatorium of Music student and William Tell cast member Jeremy Kleeman to find out more....
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Five questions for Chris Kohn, Coordinator of the Master of Directing for Performance
Victorian College of the Arts tutor and PhD candidate Chris Kohn is currently researching the connections between collaborative theatre creation, ethics and intellectual disability. He told us about how his interest in these areas shaped his career as an award-winning stage director and dramaturg. What inspired you to work with children in theatre, and particularly children with disabilities? I was inspired by …
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In Pictures: A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line, presented by graduating Music Theatre and Production students, wrapped on 20 June after a sell-out season. Here are some highlights from photographer Drew Echberg....
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Meet Kim Ho, Master of Writing for Performance student
Having majored in English and Theatre studies and having already written two full-length plays, Kim Ho decided to apply for the Master of Writing for Performance to gain more control over his writing craft – and found himself in the surprising company of acrobats, musicians, and mining company employees....
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Five Deadly Questions for Richard Frankland
Associate Professor Richard Frankland is Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne. He's also a key figure in ongoing talks with the Victorian Government to establish a treaty or treaties to acknowledge the unique position of Aboriginal Australians, and a participant in the Victorian Government's recently-launched Deadly Questions initiative. ...
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Four decades of VCA Dance artists and where they are now
As the VCA Dance 40th Anniversary Celebration (10 June) approaches, we ask some former students about their memories of the Victorian College of the Arts, and what they've been doing since. ...
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Patrick White Playwrights’ Award recipient Kim Ho: putting cross-cultural stories centre stage
Kim Ho is a Melbourne-based playwright, actor, and the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Patrick White Playwrights' Award for his play Mirror's Edge, which explores the interplay of Anglo-European, Chinese, and Indigenous cultures in Australia across three centuries. Here, he talks about the catalyst for writing the play, and his commitment to addressing cross-cultural issues – even if they're uncomfortable....
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The Crucible: outworn or reborn?
It's the 17th-century witch-hunt story everybody knows, but what relevance does Arthur Miller's play The Crucible have today? Acclaimed theatre director Adena Jacobs explains how she's given the story a new setting in an upcoming production by the Victorian College of the Arts' Production and Acting Company 2018....
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How to throw a stage punch (and keep your teeth)
In this video, as part of our ongoing How To series, VCA Theatre Tutor (Stage Combat) Lyndall Grant demonstrates how to throw a realistic (but safe) stage punch....