Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation

The Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation brings together Choreographers, Dance Animateurs, Theatre Animateurs, Directors, and Actor and Voice Trainers in a flexible program which enables distinct discipline specializations as well as cross-collaborative and interdisciplinary projects through common subject areas. Nurturing and developing arts practitioners who will contribute through leadership, research, performance development and/or pedagogy to Australian culture in the arts, in particular those aspects of culture and society that lie outside the dominant paradigms.

On completion of the course, students should:

• have developed and refined individual leadership abilities and capacities for initiating and realising projects in performance and/or performance pedagogy within and across a range of cultural and social contexts;
• have extended their skills and expertise in all aspects fundamental to their primary performance discipline – namely choreography, directing, animateuring or performance pedagogy;
• have acquired relevant skills in other disciplines;
• be able to foster creativity and experimentation, both individually and through collaboration with artists from their primary discipline area and other disciplines;
• have developed research skills at both a theoretical and practical level appropriate to postgraduate study;
• have acquired a greater understanding of the cultural context of the arts of performance at state, national and international levels.
• have achieved proficiency in eliciting ideas from people and implementing appropriate processes to develop artistic performances;
• have acquired a practical understanding of group dynamics and communication skills needed to develop productive work processes within a collaborative context;
• have developed effective entrepreneurial, planning management and promotional skills appropriate to projects, to ventures in arts training and to small arts organisations;
• have acquired a capacity with which to target, connect with, nurture and develop an audience.

Animateuring (Dance/Theatre)
Animateuring involves the creation of new performances through the mobilisation of expressive, artistic and imaginative faculties in a variety of artistic and community contexts, the ability to work individually or in small groups, the capacity to work within and across art forms, community ownership of process and performance outcomes and collaboration within communities interested in developing and realising various forms of artistic performance. The animateur is a skilled performance artist (Dance and/or Theatre) with a central commitment to artistic leadership. He or she may be involved in various ways with the processes of creation, direction, facilitation, and performance. The role played is a pivotal one, with the success measured not only in artistic terms, but also by other indicators such as level of community support, participation, ownership and achievement of social and political goals.

Choreography
The choreography specialisation aims to facilitate proficiency in all aspects fundamental to dance and movement design with a high standard of compositional realisation through an examination of the processes of dance making and dance, the concepts of “choreographer’ and “dancer” and the training of the “body” of the dancer to manifest ideas and values.

Directing
The Directing specialisation aims to equip students with the skills to operate systematically and imaginatively as directors with individual vision and skills in artistic leadership, who may operate within the existing theatre professions, but who will essentially bring to the art form new initiative and creative energy.

Actor Training
This specialization offers a strong foundation for talented persons committed to developing themselves as actor trainers. As such, it is designed to equip them to operate systematically and imaginatively as trainers/directors within the existing training profession and performance industry, as well as stimulating them to re-appraise existing teaching practices and initiate new developments.

Voice Training
This specialization is designed to provide study and practice in voice for individuals who wish to follow a career in voice teaching. It is particularly likely to appeal to professionals who already have a knowledge and interest in the voice, eg. actors, directors, drama teachers, trained singers.

Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation

Entry Requirements

• an undergraduate degree or equivalent, in a discipline relevant to the specialization within the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation for which the applicant is applying; or
• at least five years of relevant documented professional experience in an area relevant to the chosen specialization within the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation for which the applicant is applying.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

At the completion of the course students should be able to:

• exhibit sound theoretical and practical knowledge of their discipline including relevant professional knowledge, skills discipline and ethics as they relate to a practicing visual/performing artist;
• demonstrate capacities for artistic imagination, creativity transformation and interpretation;
• demonstrate practical skills in respect of critical analysis, problem solving, report writing, team work and oral and written communication;
• demonstrate a flexible and innovative approach to the national and international challenges for the professional visual/performing artist in the 21st century;
• work at various levels, both as an individual and as a team member, in a wide variety of visual/performing artistic environments;
• contribute to a range of visual/performing arts environments as artistic collaborators and leaders;
• demonstrate an open, independent and inquiring attitude towards contemporary cultural developments and new ideas;
• critically and creatively engage with topics of cultural significance across communities;
• understand and appreciate how the visual and performing arts connect with the broader society and contribute to its social and economic development;
• understand their relationship with and responsibility to their cultural environment and society.