Central School Of Ballet Announces Virtual Conservatoire, A New Digital Collaboration With UK'S Top Conservatoires

Central School of Ballet, along with five of the UK's leading Conservatoires, has announced an ambitious project to provide new state-of-the-art facilities using digital technology. The creative collaboration will allow the consortium's students and partners to learn, train and perform across multiple locations in real time.

Entitled Virtual Conservatoire, the four-year project is a collaboration of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS), Central School of Ballet, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Royal Academy of Music (RAM) and Royal College of Music (RCM) and backed by HEFCE Catalyst Fund.

Together, the six Conservatoires are transforming their facilities into state-of-the-art digital spaces resulting in a new template for conservatoire training, which pioneers digitally enabled pedagogy and practice, and the scope to transform live performance art into a multi-location experience.

To mark the culmination of the project, following a series of student scratch nights the consortium joined with immersive theatre makers Raucous, to produce and perform 'Otis and Eunice'. In a world-first, the production involved two interconnected shows performed simultaneously to two audiences, in two venues, from two different cities, giving audiences a dual perspective on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The shows, which were performed in Bristol and London on 29th and 30th March, demonstrate the potential of the Virtual Conservatoire to bring together the best creative talent, marry multiple disciplines, including dance, music and drama, and push the boundaries of the development, performance and audience's experience of art. Six of Central's dancers took part in the performance, all from the second year of the three year degree course in Professional Dance & Performance; Irena Cashman, Holly Moon-Griffith and Ryu Maeda performed in Bristol while Siena Pledge, Kate Hester and Joe Watson performed at the RCM in London.

Leanne King, Virtual Conservatoire project lead for Central said: "The Virtual Conservatoire has provided Central's students with the opportunity to gain a valuable range of skills. The mix of disciplines and chance to work with others in leading organisations has been particularly stimulating for all of us involved. This is a pioneering project that will inform our students' development as professionals in the future."

Sharon Clark, Creative Director for Raucous, said: "This has been an extremely vibrant and vital project to work on with the Conservatoires - exploring how we can work with the schools to convey two distinct theatre stories which can 'interrupt' each other using live streaming.

"It has been fascinating to create with students a live experience that can transform how they will think about performance in the future and how they can collaborate digitally to take their theatre making in new and unexpected directions. It has been a forward thinking and bold artistic undertaking."

Heidi Hall, Director of Central commented: "We look forward to incorporating the new technology and innovative practices into our undergraduate and postgraduate courses when we move into our new premises in London's South Bank in Southwark."

Following the successful launch of the programme, the consortium plans to continue to extend the reach and impact of the Virtual Conservatoire. The consortium will use the programme to create relationships with sector and industry partners and audiences globally, who will be able to access and experience learning and performance, enhanced by engagement with additional online collections and resources.

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