NIDA students took flight in an ARTS8 weekend intensive collaboration at Flying Fruit Circus.
Photo: NIDA BFA (Acting) student Micaela Ellis (left, on shoulders) in action at Flying Fruit Fly.
This month two students from NIDA, Micaela Ellis (BFA, Acting year 2) and Ayah Tayeh (BFA, TTSM year 3),took part in an ARTS8 weekend intensive collaborative project in Albury at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.
ARTS8 (the Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence), supported by the Australian Government, presents opportunities to work with partner organisations to further learning and networking opportunities and has conducted several collaborative projects since 2016. Together, over two days, students of The Australian Ballet School, the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Australian National Academy of Music, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association Dance College, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, the National Institute of Circus Arts and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, independently created and documented an original work.
Photo: NIDA BFA (Technical Theatre and Stage Management) student Ayah Tayeh (in hoop) in action at Flying Fruit Fly.
The students created works around the theme ‘Belonging’, with the outcome a number of different performances in multiple parts of the venue. Ayah Tayeh said that the most amazing part of the experience wasn’t the final project but ‘how we got there’.
‘We spent a lot of time discussing and sharing what Belonging meant to us and then trying to interpret that into performances or exercises. It was such an interesting flow of ideas because we had such a diverse group of people to collaborate with ranging from dancers, musicians, circus performers, and performing artists. I learnt that even though we’re all under the arts umbrella, our methods and practices are vastly different. Discovering how much we could push the limits as a group was truly incredible. Not only did I learn about everyone else’s disciplines, but through the exercises and exploration we did I also learned about my own abilities and who I am as a collaborator.’
Micaela Ellis said that the weekend taught her about the value behind passion and discipline, ‘which I think are two sides of the same coin’.
‘The commitment that each artist had within their own craft and then to the collaboration was, to put it simply- inspiring and really encouraged my own attitude towards my. It was a great way to experience the wider artistic community and how we’re not so different but have the potential to create something really beautiful and meaningful.’
Photo: ANAM students in action at Flying Fruit Fly.
Travelling with the NIDA students, Executive Director Learning and Teaching, Dr Melissa Laird, said, ‘The collaborative model supports students’ critical and flexible thinking, engages with a range of discipline skills and new knowledge, and promotes practice as academic enquiry. It enhances collaboration through embodied learning in which students learn a range of shared creative and performing arts languages that will support their career trajectories to industry and potential future study.’
Photo: The entire group of ARTS8 students and teachers at Flying Fruit Fly.
To find out more about NIDA full-time courses and 2020 enrolments, click here.
For more information about ARTS8 here.
