Lindy Davies and the VCA
Tue, 8 Nov 2005, 11:32 pmWalter Plinge2 posts in thread
Lindy Davies and the VCA
Tue, 8 Nov 2005, 11:32 pmI would warn any potential student from applying to the VCA and especially training with Lindy Davies. The VCA is not transparent. You never honestly know how you are progressing at the school. It is insane of the VCA to take on over 30 student in the first year and graduate, in some years, only 9 students. This is very convenient for the VCA to collect fees from students during their first and second years and then fail them just before they are ready to have their industry showcase. It bemuses me as to why Lindy Davies cannot choose actors through the lengthy audition process who she expects can succeed at her school. Why does she make mistakes with every two out of three people that she selects for her school? You would think acting is rocket science. There will be many students and parents who will celebrate when she finally retires and the VCA becomes a more respectable institution. I can't believe the University of Melbourne has not acted to remove her from her post. Until she retires I would advise students to head off to NIDA!
Re: Lindy Davies and the VCA
Mon, 14 Nov 2005, 05:20 pmWalter Plinge
First off I would like to congratulate you for speaking out about this issue, it is very difficult to say something negative about an arts institution without it looking like sour grapes or revenge. I agree with you on many of the points. The VCA course is structured so that you work your ass off every day only to find that even though you are doing everything everyone else is doing (Emotion Sculptures, Becoming a wooden pole, and trying to be as left wing as humanly possible) all of a sudden you discover that the 'work' wasn't 'dropping in' to you as well as others.
Admittedly I left after six months, but that was only because I firmly believe that acting ability is not some mystical gift bestowed upon us by a benevolent and omniscient deity, that only the lucky few shall receive in some sort of lottery at the school. At the time, a lot of doubt had crept in about whether or not I could act, and it took some time away from the place to realise that yes I could, but just not with VCA's method.
A lot of people have similar stories about VCA, and I saw a lot of very talented people be passed over in favour of others with similar levels of ability for no obvious reason. There is no doubt however that the people who graduated three years later were a very talented group, however, it is true that 30 began, and 8 finished, for reasons unknown.
The most important point I can make however is to Derid, and I assume you have just completed your first and final year. Don't give up on your aspirations, there are plenty of other courses, and other avenues to explore - and don't let the whole experience discourage you, as it does to a lot of people who are 'culled'. VCA teaches you a method - or approach to performance if you will. If you already have that established through experience or other training before entering the course, that is where you run into difficulty, as I did. Being asked to abandon everything you had learnt before and knew worked in favour of lying on the floor and thinking for hours on end about the 'world of the play' is a very difficult thing to do, and one that I believe is impractical regardless. However this is my opinion, and I know quite a few people who did find the process useful, but also people who didn't. In the end, acting and approaches to performance are all different, with none more valid than any other.
Admittedly I left after six months, but that was only because I firmly believe that acting ability is not some mystical gift bestowed upon us by a benevolent and omniscient deity, that only the lucky few shall receive in some sort of lottery at the school. At the time, a lot of doubt had crept in about whether or not I could act, and it took some time away from the place to realise that yes I could, but just not with VCA's method.
A lot of people have similar stories about VCA, and I saw a lot of very talented people be passed over in favour of others with similar levels of ability for no obvious reason. There is no doubt however that the people who graduated three years later were a very talented group, however, it is true that 30 began, and 8 finished, for reasons unknown.
The most important point I can make however is to Derid, and I assume you have just completed your first and final year. Don't give up on your aspirations, there are plenty of other courses, and other avenues to explore - and don't let the whole experience discourage you, as it does to a lot of people who are 'culled'. VCA teaches you a method - or approach to performance if you will. If you already have that established through experience or other training before entering the course, that is where you run into difficulty, as I did. Being asked to abandon everything you had learnt before and knew worked in favour of lying on the floor and thinking for hours on end about the 'world of the play' is a very difficult thing to do, and one that I believe is impractical regardless. However this is my opinion, and I know quite a few people who did find the process useful, but also people who didn't. In the end, acting and approaches to performance are all different, with none more valid than any other.