Lisbon Performing Arts College intends to bring London-style dance and musical theatre professional training to Europe with the objective of producing industry-ready creative artists with a wide palette of performance skills for stage, television and film. The diplomas will be accredited by the highly acclaimed Urdang Academy of London.
Urdang Academy was founded in a time of great social upheaval in 1970, and based on the principles of breaking the mould of traditional elitism in the theatre dance arts. Its vision has always included diversity as an aim, in pupils, faculty and teaching repertoire, and thus produces a high caliber multi-faceted employable graduate class of singer-actors that dance, and dancers that can sing, equipped for starring roles in West End and touring shows, cruise ships, television and films.
The Lisbon Performing Arts College is founded on the premise that there are many talented young artists who desire to become professional all-round performers but have no access to such courses in the UK and where better than to be based in Lisbon. Lisbon is a great city for inspiring artists and is internationally recognised as a wonderful place to live, full of a rich global history and natural beauty. The institution wishes to share this experience with both national and international students and faculty, and to participate in the cultural exchange of the city.
The teaching will be in English by an international faculty and guests, with the view to producing confident skilled performers, able to work internationally in all areas of the industry at the end of the three-year diploma. There will also be a one-year foundation year for those who wish to get a flavour of the course, with access to continuation into the second year and beyond.
The theatre craft repertoire, for example, will be based on past and current West End hits and will be led by a Portuguese star of the West End, Ricardo Afonso. The college is grateful for the support and encouragement of Jazzy Studios, whose network of high-quality studio facilities will be greatly appreciated, and is proud to announce its first patrons are Kerry Ellis, actress, singer and musical theatre star, and Claudimar Neto, dancer and graduate of Urdang.
As well as reaching out to potential students, LPAC would welcome contacts from those in our community who feel that they have professional experience to offer in this area, or from interested parties who may be willing to sponsor a talented potential student without the necessary financial resources.
The first auditions will be held in Lisbon on Saturday, May 29 at Jazzy Dance Studios, Santos, and on June 6 in Porto at Jazzy Porto. Other dates will follow at the beginning of July. Registration for audition is via [email protected]
Contact 913 832 335 for more details, or search the site www.lisbonperformingartscollege.com
Article submitted by Lisbon Performing Arts College
