Artistic Education of Excellence …
For 34 years now I have been both fascinated and intrigued by what inhibits and what releases an indivudual's deepest creative drive and achievement. What are the key contributors and/or conspirators which allow someone to step into their inner resources and untaped potential?
A few come to mind:
An environment that calls you to account…
This means a vibrant, challenging yet resolute dynamic surrounds you which helps move you from what you think is possible to what is indeed possible. The very nature of the creative enquiry around you is robust and powerful, so both you and others leave the comfort zone and enter the stretch zone – here self-percieved boundaries fall away as new possibilities of engagement are embraced. Real, authentic exploration is activated and each person’s natural ability and instinct simply kicks in.
An enquiry worth pursuing…
There is no cure for curiosity and once a creative mind and appetite is alerted to something more, something bigger, something new, the rest takes care of itself. But the outcome must be something enticing and enriching. The pursuit of why we do what we do as humans, what drives us and how we react under certian stimuli, has always fascinated actors and audience alike. Indeed, it is the only real reason theatre/film and TV exist – to hold a mirror up to nature – our human nature – and for us to contemplate who we really are and what we’re really capable of – good and bad, enlightened and toxic. My life’s pursuit has been exploring these ideas with actors around the world.
Obligation-free…
Now this is a fascinating dynamic. To be truly free, creatively and imaginatively, you must be free from obligation; free from looking ‘good’, free from avoiding to look ‘bad’, free from pleasing, being worthy, being ‘right’ or trying to be ‘enough’. Yes we all have pressures and we have goals and desired outcomes from what we wish to achieve in the pursuit of art. But nothing must come in the way of our authentic interface with the material at hand. We are committed yes, but not tied to nor manipulated by external or internal obligation. Any educational environment of note understands this intrinsically.
Australian actors have been making an enormous contribution on the world's stages and screens for 3 decades or more: none more so than the last 10 years. Take your artistic education seriously. Make sure you know the culture of the school you are applying for. Know what they stand for. Know what they hold true and value most. This is an extraordinary industry and you may well find your way to making an extraordinary contribution to it.
Dean Carey
Creative and Founding Director, Actors Centre Australia
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