UndergraduateMusic & Performing Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design for Performance)
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Sydney, NSW, Australia
About this program
NIDA's Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design for Performance) trains designers across set, costume, lighting and increasingly video and projection, in combination rather than as separate specialist tracks, on the reasoning that a designer who has never had to think about how lighting or costume interacts with a set is only half-trained. Over 3 years, students take on key design roles across NIDA's public season, working directly with directing, acting and technical production students under real staging conditions, with a final-year placement alongside a design professional or professional arts company.
NIDA notes it has recently been named among the world's Top 10 costume design courses, and graduates have gone on to design for companies including Cirque du Soleil and Bangarra Dance Theatre, and on productions such as Hamnet, Elvis, Aladdin, The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge! and Game of Thrones, with alumni recognised at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, AACTAs and APDG Awards.
Entry is by merit selection through an online application with an artist statement and digital portfolio, followed by a callback interview for shortlisted applicants.
Fees & duration
English test scores
Verified nida.edu.au ↗
Course structure
Study plan in 4 parts
- Design Studio
- Representation
- Dramaturgy and Analysis
- Production Techniques
- Story and Place
- Encountering Performance
- Winjara
- Performance and Ideas
- Design Studio
- Dramaturgy and Analysis
- Production Techniques
- Film Studio
- Story and Place
- Experimental Art Movements and Practice
- Contexts of Performance
- Student Led Project
- Design Practice
- Film Practice
- Professional Practice (including a final-year placement with a design professional or professional arts company)
- 3 years full-time
- on campus
Admissions
NIDA's general entry requirements (Year 12 completion or equivalent, minimum age 18 by 31 March of first enrolment year, evidenced interest in the performing arts) plus course-specific selection: an online application with an artist statement and digital portfolio (Round One), followed by a callback interview for shortlisted applicants (Round Two). International applicants must also complete a Genuine Temporary Entry (GTE) interview.
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