WAVE magazine researching the future of the Serbian scene (2): choosing between a state-funded academies and a private one

Caught in the Middle

The artists should possess a theoretical and academic knowledge of acting, but also an amount of working knowledge, as well as the tricks learnt at seminars and creative workshops. Some students believe that the only difference between a state-funded and a private academy is that the latter is more expensive, but they are certain the hard work will be worthwhile. Prejudice towards private arts academies remain common, especially among actors who graduated from a state-funded arts academy


By NEVENA ŠARČEVIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


As we saw in the first part of this research, there are several higher education institutions in Serbia which give students an opportunity to study acting - and the number of the privately owned has been increasing lately. The development of the arts schools market and the competition between them has led to numerous discussions on whether or not one should attend a state-funded or a private arts academy. Consequently, this leads to a question what the future of Serbian actors will be like. There is overproduction of actors, which means that a careful selection is needed, and it will be made by directors, producers and other possible employers.

According to Milovan Zdravković, the Theatre Production Professor and the Advisor to the General Manager of National Theatre Belgrade, the artists should possess a theoretical and academic knowledge of acting, but also an amount of working knowledge (including theatre, film and television work experience), as well as the tricks of the trade learnt at creative workshops, professional development seminars and master class seminars. It is necessary to have an insight in contemporary drama aesthetic research, as well as an ability to transfer the knowledge and skills through theoretical and practical trainings in an interactive work with their students.

- The fee is the main problem in private faculties, but I believe that those academies which have an interactive relationship between instructors and students and have appropriate space and technical working conditions justify their presence on the market and in the culture. Unfortunately, there are also some schools which enroll too much students, mostly to boost profit, and this principle cannot produce good results. As for the acting market, there are practically no auditions and, exceptions aside, you can lend a job only thanks to who you know privately - Zdravković comments the state of Serbian scene. Mr Zdravković is also a contributor to theatre magazines Drama and LUDUS. He emphasizes his attempt to help young actors by organising a theatre troop.

- I had a need to do it because of the opportunity for stupendous study and communication. To work in a theatre which works under the classical principle, so-called mainstream principle, did not satisfy my ambitions. They rely on strictly defined work methods, which is logical and does make sense, but working in a theatre troop creates new possibilities in every way: in terms of production, aesthetics and technical issues. Members such as actors, directors, costume designers, set designers and choreographers are more freely engaged. Authors form teams according to similarities in their work methods and aesthetic conceptions. It is easier to cooperate with festival organisers. Everything mentioned is more difficult to achieve in a traditional theatre - explains Milovan Zdravković the importance of private initiative for Wave Magazine. He is led by two principles, two maxims - "Theatre feeds on communication" and "I communicate, therefore - I exist" and he claims they are best applied in a theatre troop. - An initiative came from the Drama Director of National Theatre Belgrade, Kokan Mladenović. The brilliant and a very successful idea was that all academies present their graduation plays at National Theatre Belgrade. It was a practical way to see the state of Serbian academies and the acting potential we have.

Zdravković adds that students studying at art academies must be aware that only complete dedication will bring them good results. A talent is essential, but it is not enough to discover it - it is to be developed, too. Young actors are advised to seize the reins and take things into their own hands and not wait on institutions to help them. The old belief that everything depends on the state and not on the individual still prevails. He often mentions a true story: young ex-Yugoslav actors went to Italy to take part in a festival of theatre troops and they were constantly complaining about the state apparatus. When their colleagues asked what they had done about it, they were left speechless.

- Regrettably, the state influences such a behaviour. For example, it funds and supports commercial events; Guča, Exit, rock and jazz concerts - namely all things that would be of purely commercial value everywhere else in the world and which, through the taxes they pay, could provide for culture. It is a new model in financing section of cultural policy. In other countries, calls for projects that foster culture ask the organiser to invest a certain amount of the means himself, which revives entrepreneur spirit.

The fourth year drama student at the Academy of Fine Arts Belgrade, Lidija Cvetić, says to Wave magazine that she had not been in doubt for long when she had had to choose an academy, because it was a year when one big name director was accepting students - Nebojša Bradić, with his assistant Andrej Šepetkovski.

- Anyway, the private academy has the same curriculum as the state-funded Faculty of Dramatic Arts, so you lose nothing if you choose this school. The only difference is that we pay the fee, but it is the money invested in our education and I believe it will pay off in the end; we will earn it through our roles. That is something the marketing sector of our academy should have in mind as well and summon directors and production company managers more often to our exams and end-of-a-course plays - comments this actress-to-be.

Lidija thinks that private academies burden their students with more work because they want to create a positive image of private schools and its students. When choosing, one should only keep in mind who is the professor of the main subject and who are his assistants because that is what predominantly effects the development of an actor, his skills and his talent.

- The best results are achieved when we are in the creation process together and we bounce ideas around. Scenes are gradually developed through phases and we all learn from it, even when we don't participate in it directly. During the lesson, you should be focused, imaginative and direct. And being direct is what often causes conflicts and emotional reaction, even tears. Our assistant says an actor is the most vulnerable when on stage and just one contemptuous look from the audience can upset you. That is why, when studying acting, you need more understanding and team atmosphere than if studying something else - emphasizes Lidija the importance of team spirit.

Svetlana Sretenović, another young actress, graduated from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, in Branko Pleša's class. Precisely when she enrolled, first private academies began to open and she did not mind it until she started auditioning and saw what competition looks like.

- Prejudice towards private arts academies remains common, especially among actors who graduated from a state-funded arts academy. The main flaw of private academies is that there are fewer applicants to begin with, i.e. - as some like to say - people who enroll private academies are those who failed at state-funded. It might be true. However, there are people who believe that state-funded academies are 'booked' for/with "actors' children". As for the potential differences in the curricula, I don't think there are any major ones. The case in both sectors is that unfortunately many great men such as Branko Pleša, Petar Banićević and Rade Marković do not teach any more and that actors and directors who teach cannot pride themselves on having great professional experience - compares Svetlana for Wave magazine state-funded and private academies and adds that the first private academy with a bad reputation was BK Academy, which in the beginning managed to produce about 60 students per year. - It was very unusual to come to an audition and see a hundred of "BK girls" there, while there were only a dozen of us. Of course, an argument for private academies is that they have to improve the quality of their studies because of the competition on the market.

Srđan Obrenović, a producer, has worked with young actors and acting students many times and he, as he says to Wave magazine, he never cared whose class somebody studied in or which school he graduated from - the only criteria was if the person did the job professionally and to the standard.

- As I cannot choose actors according to their manners and their view of the world, I rely on what I was taught and what I expanded - an idea of good and honest communication and compromising for the success of the project. I attend exams and end-of-a-course plays regularly. I strongly believe that new talented actors should be engaged and I try to help by recommending them for new projects. I have never understood animosity which rules the profession because, if we work hard, we can all be a success."

Srđan stresses that a young actor can not be given a starring role, but he/she must start from the beginning, gradually, no matter which academy they have graduated from. He shows a full understanding of young actors who do commercials or work as radio/tv announcers because "everybody tries to be noticed and find a way into the business". He is certain that it is better to work hard and show an effort than to walk around on other people's premieres, waiting for a job to be offered out of the blue.


(Published: 10.08.2008.)