Advanced Diploma in Drama

Purpose:

The main purpose of the Advanced Diploma in Drama is to train performing artists. The practice-based research and integration of theory and praxis will be able to produce well-informed Performing Artists with professional performance skills, able to create original productions and performances. The qualification ensures that learners develop the necessary attributes and entrepreneurial skills of a professional artist and global citizen.

The qualification provides an entrepreneurial approach to the entertainment industry through practice-led further study in an English-speaking dramatic and production-centered conservatory in South Africa. The module structure rests on creating a unique year of study in the Drama and Production Studies Department, where artists collaborate annually to create a business model that functions fully with only the collaborating peer members as participants. As an initiative, auditioning of the national and international learners will take place. Additionally, additional skills, such as singing, dance, educational theatre, and directing diversify occupational attributes.

Rationale:

The rationale for the qualification is to provide learners with tertiary education in the field of Drama, to provide the South African entertainment industry with professionally trained practitioners. The Advanced Diploma in Drama offers the development of learner, vocational, and intellectual needs to be able to enter the workplace and continue in academia for further education and research.

The Advanced Diploma in Drama seeks to produce business-oriented conceptual creators, artistic impresarios, astute producers, well-informed entrepreneurs, all of whom are professional Performance Artists in pursuit of a solid sustainable industry career. The qualification acknowledges national and global creative platforms.

Support for the qualification has been provided by various organizations and individuals within the industry. The curriculum embeds knowledge, entrench organizational skills, source gaps in the market to sustain employment in the entertainment industry, and forward new perceptions and broader contexts based on socially aware endeavors and acquired administrative business skills.

The discipline-specific nature embedded in the coursework will allow for specialist skills and multi-levelled communication to be scaffolded. The qualification will support not only film, radio, and live performance but also create an entrepreneurial presence in South Africa in these related fields.

The curriculum seeks to support a learner-centered approach and engenders self-study, individual accountability, a strong performance ethos, and social empowerment through quality training. The Advanced Diploma in Drama will further address the scarce skills shortage in the Province by introducing mentorship and training skills at this level.

The qualification aims to produce globally aware citizens who articulate with the changing internationalizing trends to source employment opportunities. The collaborative performance approach affords a cross-pollination of ideas perceived as an enriching learner experience that will expand horizons and increase learning, as well as encourage lifelong learning goals.

Typical learners are from communities in the Province who intend to enter the art world as theatre-makers, directors, performers, or trainers in the field of performance. The Advanced Diploma in Drama attempts to consolidate the leadership invoked in these job descriptions.

The Advanced Diploma in Drama initiates a new practice-based performance angle and will articulate with the Postgraduate Diploma in Drama. The learning pathway will progress through the Advanced Diploma to a Postgraduate Diploma in Drama which will allow learners to further their studies at Masters and Doctoral levels.

The qualification provides professionally trained artists for a career in performance, where learners work in the field of film, television, scriptwriting, education, musical theatre, and contemporary dance. The Advanced Diploma seeks to extend the artist's range as a leader, entrepreneur, and trainer.

The qualification responds to national needs in the performing arts through the authentic experiences provided for learners, for example, live public performances reviewed by the media, participation in festivals, exposure to assistant teaching in classes, and creatively engaging performance fields.

The qualification provides an articulation pathway to further research-driven study and widen industry access to meet the national imperative of employability. The design of the qualification is an integral part of the national academic vision to offer regional access to further higher education full-time study, through the one year Advanced Diploma in Drama.

The qualification will consider market demands and artistic aspirations according to the milieu and socio-economic flux and centers on entrepreneurship and employability/sustainability within a professional-oriented industry where artists work as independent contractors.