Performing Arts students win European prize

Talented students from Northumbria Performing Arts have won a prestigious prize at the Dionysus International Student Theatre Festival in Croatia.

Held in Dakovo, Croatia, the annual festival is hosted by the Academy of Arts in Osijek, and brings together student groups from across Europe to share their practice and develop new networks. A group of third year students from Northumbria’s BA (Hons) Performance course took part in daily workshops with professors from the other participating drama schools and gained a range of new skills including stage combat. Other groups at the festival were from Croatia’s three drama schools in Osijek, Split and Zagreb, as well as from the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania. The Northumbria performance was extremely well received, and won the sole award for ‘Best Performance’. This is the second time that Northumbria has been awarded this prize and means the University’s students will be invited to attend the festival again next year.

Dr Kate Craddock, who accompanied the students on the trip, said: “I was so delighted for the students that they won the festival prize. They worked so hard, and even adapted some of the text for the international audience at the festival by incorporating words of Croatian into their performance.

“The festival offered the students a unique experience to immerse themselves in a different culture over a very intense few days, and the students really made the most of this opportunity, by meeting other young people from across Europe and sharing their different approaches to theatre.

“I am also pleased to announce that as of next year we will have a formal Erasmus partnership with the host university in Croatia, which will give Performing Arts students even more opportunities to add an international dimension to their experience as an undergraduate.

“I am already excited that another group of students from Northumbria will be given the opportunity to attend the festival next year. It can really be a highlight of their studies.”

One of the participating students, Krystina Robinson stated: “I honestly enjoyed every moment and would do it all again in a heartbeat. It's something I will never forget for the rest of my life.”

For more information about the festival, check out the Facebook page here:https://www.facebook.com/Festival.Dioniz/.

Northumbria offers a range of courses in the Arts and was recently rated Top 10 in the UK for research power in the Research Excellence Framework 2014. To find out more about studying Performing Arts at Northumbria go to:www.northumbria.ac.uk/npa