A day in the life of a VCA student

Open Day at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), like the courses offered there, is a unique experience: all students and staff will take part in classes and other activities as if it were a normal day. 

All the classes on Open Day at the VCA are the same as its normal Monday program, so visitors get a truly authentic look at and experience of what study at the VCA is like. 

Visitors will be able to view classes across the VCA, from its Fine Arts programs to acting and dance, from film and television production to all styles of music. There will also be tours of the costume workrooms, design and dance studios and other facilities.

Robert Favretto is a second year Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre Practice) student. He said his normal VCA Monday included a four-hour body and voice class in the morning, followed by a four-hour acting and performance-making class in the afternoon and early evening. 

“On Open Day, all performance studios are open while classes occur, giving the public and prospective students easy access to a close-up viewing of the training VCA Theatre offers,” he says. 

“Depending on the class, a lecturer may explain a particular dramatic concept to give context to what is being viewed.”

Mr Favretto says last year, Open Day visitors had the chance to ask questions regarding anything about the project, course or school in general after viewing some classes. 

“Questions varied from audition information to the struggles of student life, with some willing members of the public being invited to take part in brief improvisational activities that gave them a firmer understanding of the nature of the Bachelor of Fine Arts through hands-on experience,” he says. 

“Though we train in a variety of forms and performance languages, Open Day visitors are guaranteed to witness a strong warm-up of body and voice and rigorous energy and presence exhibited in a practical manner on the studio floor.”

This year, Mr Favretto’s class has already completed an extensive, semester-long study of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, performing the play and subsequently adapting their work into film and devised theatre performances. 

They also took part in a Biomechanics intensive, as well as frequent body and voice classes that extended their physical and vocal ranges.

Mr Favretto says Semester Two promises many great opportunities.

“We will take part in an on-site devising task in the township of Avoca, and our first public performances under guest direction in the One Act Plays,” he says. 

After graduating, Mr Favretto hopes to work as both an actor and theatre maker in different media. 

Admission and enrolment information is available all day for all VCA courses, including the Bachelor of Fine Arts and the VCA’s graduate courses, at the Victorian College of the Arts, from 10.00am. 

Information about scholarships, student loans, course advice, enquiries, enrolments and student support services will be available in the Ground Floor Seminar Room, the Hub, Dodds Street.

www.vca-mcm.unimelb.edu.au/

www. openday.unimelb.edu.au/