Australian Academy of Dramatic Art???

HEY ALL

My brother and my brother in law both went to AADA and they both did not complete the course for various reasons.

However their feedback for AADA is basically the Academy is great for students with little to no acting experience as they satrt with the basics. Ig you have done any form of Acting in the past, youmay find the first six to eight months quite tedious as they go through ideas and methods that you may already be aware of.

However this can be true of any Acting course. NIDA has the reputation but there are a number of Acting schools on the fringe that are coming into their own. Australian Academy of Dramatic Arts, Australian academy of Performing Arts, Actors College of Theatre and Television etc.

It depends on what you are after. NIDA has the repuation of teaching you one acting method throughout the three year course so that basically, you are stripped of any knowledge you had (or thought you had) and are taught from the ground up, all in the same way. This helps you to focus and "perfect" one solid technique throughout the three years which can be very helpful.

We all know however that there are many techniques. ACTT and AADA for example provide you with several techniques, then you can choose which is best for you. This can also be helpful as you will meet actors in the industry who all work in different ways and so you are malleable in this regard (method, mamet, practical aesthetics etc)

WAAPA is most reknowned for its Musical Theatre Course - so if you are looking to be involved in the professional Musical Theatre Industry, this course holds the highest reputation and it is very competetive to get into (but let's face it, to work in the theatre and make a viable living, most actors will make their money from musicals)

VCA (Melbourne) has a great acting course but again, it is most reknowned for its dance course. A lot of people say ACTING = NIDA / DANCE = VCA and SINGING / MUSICAL THEATRE = WAAPA

My advice would also be to look into smaller establishments like The Actors Centre (The Journey is a fantastic one year acting course), ACTT, PACT Theatre etc.

And you will find many of the acting teachers who teach at one school also teach or direct shows at other schools as well. I know of many teachers that work at AADA and ACTT. NIDA directors also direct shows for The Actors Centre etc - as they say, take it where you can find it.

Email me if you woul dlike any more info. As I said two of my relatives have attended AADA (my brother found the tedium of the first year the main reason he left but then again, he was a fairly accomplished actor at the time and had been involved in shows etc before) and I went to ACTT.

Cheers
Jonathon
Anderson & Burdon Productions