Above: pool (no water) at NIDA as part of the 2019 Student Production Season. (photo: Patrick Boland).
NIDA’sfirst-everVirtual Open Dayin June was an outstanding success, withover 1300 online visitors across four days.The event encouraged potential students to engage in interactive Zoom sessions, online streams from the website,course presentations,QandAsessionsand alumni panels.
‘NIDA usually welcomes over 2,000 visitors to its Kensington campus in Sydney for its yearly Open Day’, said NIDA CEO Liz Hughes. ‘With this Virtual Open Day, anyone keen to explore potential pathways to a career in the performing arts was able to take part, from anywhere in Australia and the world. We were excited to invite everyonetoNIDA, wherever they were located.’
NIDA’s intensive and practice-based education is directly relevant to both the performing and screen industries. Industry specialists lead masterclass modules, students partake in ambitious high-quality productions and industry leaders are guests throughout students’ education.
Live activities included course presentations for each of the 15 undergraduate, post-graduate and VET courses NIDA offers, as well as panels with prominent Alumni talking about their NIDA experience and how it contributed to their career.
Particularly valuable for potential students and theirsupporterswas the unique opportunity to join live 60-minute interactive Q&A sessions with NIDA teachers from each course. An ‘Info Desk’ chat room was open all day to help direct visitors to the relevant live sessions and answer questions related to admissions and selection process.
Members of the community of all ages curious to explore their own creativity also had a chance to experience NIDA’s world-renownedtraining methodsby booking a spot on a free NIDA Open online workshop. Free classes included improvisation, script analysis and TV presenting, as well as Play Date, NIDA Open’s brand-new series of online classes for pre-schoolers and their carers.
All the resources are onlinehere, including videos of course and alumni talks and student projects.
