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The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. NIDA is located adjacent to, and has a strong relationship with, the University of New South Wales. It is a member of the "Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence".^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Admission 3 Campus 4 Courses 4.1 Full-time 4.2 Short courses 5 Staff 6 Program 7 Productions 8 Graduate careers 9 Alumni 10 Notes 11 External links

Established in 1958, the institute was opened in 1959 with only 23 students and 2 staff members. The only course offered was in acting. Over the years, courses in areas such as production, design, directing, and theatre crafts were added.

Admission into NIDA is extremely selective, and its auditions highly competitive: on average, only one out of every hundred applicants is accepted. Each year approximately 24 actors, 13 production students, 8 designers, 4 properties students and 4 costume students are admitted. Every 2 years, up to three people are usually admitted to the scenic construction diploma course. Graduates from the institution's three year tertiary education program have gone on to national and international success.

In April 2002 the new NIDA complex was opened. NIDA’s facilities include:

• A 725-seat proscenium arch style theatre with stalls, two galleries, a large stage, fly tower and orchestra pit (Parade Theatre)
• A self-contained flexible studio theatre, seating 155, with a wrap-around mezzanine and steeply raked seating (Parade Playhouse, formally the NIDA Theatre)
• Two intimate 80-120 seat spaces with flexible seating arrangement (Parade Studio and Space)
• Reg Grundy Studio for film and television training and production
• A new library to accommodate NIDA's expanding theatre and media collection of books, videos, CDs, audio-visuals and multi-media
• New rehearsal rooms for training, outside hire, and NIDA's Corporate Performance and Open Program courses.
• A foyer space for formal occasions such as product launches, conferences, and sit-down dinners for 300 people.
• Scenery, Properties and Costume workshops for manufacturing and maintaining production elements of NIDA productions
• Lighting and Sound studios for the training of students

NIDA provides excellence in training for entertainment professionals including; full-time courses, short courses and corporate performance coaching. The award winning theatre complex hosts in-house and commercial productions. NIDA houses Australia's largest performing arts library and a broad range of theatre resources and archives.

Full-time courses at NIDA include:

• Acting
• Directing
• Design
• Voice Studies
• Production
• Movement Studies
• Production Crafts – Costumes
• Scenery Construction
• Production Crafts – Properties

The institute also offers a wide range of short courses, each relating to the dramatic arts. Such subject areas include Acting, Design, Production, Directing, Voice all of which are offered to members of the general public.

NIDA has many prominent industry professionals visit the institute throughout the teaching year to assist in the training of students in their selected fields. The current (2007) fulltime staff are as follows:

Director: Aubrey Mellor OAM
Deputy Director: Peter Cooke
General Manager: Elizabeth Butcher AM

Head of Acting: Tony Knight
Head of Voice Studies: Bill Pepper
Head of Movement: Julia Cotton
Head of Design: Peter Cooke
Head of Directing: Helmut Bakaitis

Head of Production: Moira Hay
Head of Stage Management: Sophie Clausen

Head of Production Crafts: Nick Day
Head of Costumes: Fiona Reilly
Head of Properties: Krishna Thomas
Head of Scenery: Tony Pierce

Head of Open Program: Amanda Morris
Head of Corporate Performance: Barbara Warren
Head of Administration: Julia Selby

Operations Director: Russell Mitchell
Technical Manager: Robert Kelly
Facilities Manager: Peter Fisher
Venue Manager: Les Currie

Each course is dependent on all the others. Actors, stage managers, designers, costume makers, crafts people, and people who look after the audience, are all part of an interdependent team. The creative and professional dynamics of that team is the core of good theatre. Play productions are NIDA's most important teaching activity, with around 25 plays being produced at NIDA each year.

Each course is centred on training practitioners for work in a demanding and unpredictable industry. Each day provides students with a structured series of activities, which balance the acquisition of vocational skills with artistic excellence.

All the full-time courses are conducted in two modes. The first, the Teaching Program, consists of formal class work, practical instruction, seminars and research, often supplemented by periods of secondment in the industry. As part of the teaching program, students attend formal classes, seminars and/or discussion groups each morning.

The second mode, the Production Program provides practical learning experiences. Each student is given the opportunity to practice the intellectual, imaginative and technical skills acquired in the Teaching Program, working in the performance, design, manufacture or management of productions for presentation to the general public. Production work involves afternoon, night and weekend rehearsals or performances.

The NIDA School Year consists of three terms of 11 - 16 weeks. Courses usually commence in early February and end in mid-November.

Play productions are NIDA's most important teaching activity. Actors in particular learn by repetition, by performing a role many times in the theatre before different audiences. Once they have acquired the basic skills, students in the other courses learn by taking on the kind of responsibilities they will be faced with in the industry.

All NIDA plays are a microcosm of the industry, with every element of the production from lighting and set construction to costumes and properties being produced by the students.

Graduates of the NIDA full-time courses go on to work in a range of careers, in industries including film, theatre, television, opera, dance, animation, puppetry and events.

Career options for the NIDA graduate include:

• Actor
• Movement Coach
• Voice-over artist
• Voice Coach
• Performance Artist
• Choreographer
• Stage Manager
• Director
• Production Designer
• Scenery Maker
• Set Designer
• Special Effects Technician
• Costume Designer
• Properties Maker
• Lighting Designer
• Scenic Artist
• Sound Designer
• Costume Maker

NIDA courses are professionally effective and there is a high rate of employment of graduates in the expanding Australian and international arts entertainment industry.

Notable graduates from NIDA include Mark Ferguson, Mel Gibson, Toni Collette, Baz Luhrmann, Matthew Gregory, Judy Davis, Cate Blanchett, Emilie de Ravin, Hugo Weaving, Philip Quast, Colin Friels, Steve Bisley, Tom Burlinson, Yves Stening, Richard Roxburgh, Noel Hodda, Tom Long, Sam Worthington, Bridie Carter, Ed Kavalee, Dennis Olsen, Caroline Craig and Clarissa House.

1. ^ Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts - Arts training bodies

• NIDA Official website(Retrieved 6 August 2007)