Leading theatre organisation Vivo D’Arte is launching an innovative, new one-year professional development course for young performers who are aged 18 and over.
As well as providing unparalleled training across a wide range of disciplines, the course has been designed to provide significant exposure to theatre professionals throughout the year. The course begins in September 2022 and will run for 35 weeks until July 2023. Auditions will be held over the next three months.
Vivo D’Arte has a long tradition of successful productions, including five-star, critically acclaimed performances of Parade (2017) and Rent (2018). They are also well-known for their Stage Experiences, which showcase up and coming performers and are performed annually at Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre. Past students have gone on to perform on the West End in productions including Hamilton, Book of Mormon, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.
Successful applicants will spend four days a week at Vivo D’Arte’s headquarters, Hamilton House, in Aylesbury and will work term-by-term, with each term culminating in a specific outcome. These include three, full-scale musical productions, one of which will be a site-specific immersive production. At least one of the productions will take place in the West End.
Dan Cowtan, founder and Artistic Director of Vivo D’Arte, as well as the course lead, is excited about the opportunity he is creating for performers: “The course is something we have long been thinking about at Vivo. We want to use our significant experience and success to offer the chance to young performers to develop and gain exposure to industry professionals. The course would particularly suit those who have trained at colleges and conservatories but felt that they were not showcased in an appropriate way. Or for those who a traditional three-year training structure is not, for whatever reason, suitable. We can’t wait to get started.”
As well as the performance specific parts of the course, which will provide students with credits on their CVs and Spotlight profiles, there will be detailed training on non-performance-based aspects of a career in the arts. This will cover a wide range of elements, including how to set up as a self-employed performer and how to succeed at self-promotion. In addition, the shows will be set-up on a profit share basis, helping to make the training more affordable.
To find out more about the course or to register for an audition, you can visit the One Year Artistic Development Programme website at www.vivodarte.org.
