Here’s how you can celebration National Arts Month virtually
As theater finds its new stage online, so does the way of mastering the craft. While the magic of theater comes from “being in the moment,” digital meeting apps and virtual spaces proved to be good alternatives for the meantime until the stage is able to welcome its audiences once again. For the coming National Arts Month (NAM), that is where the Committee on Dramitic Arts of the National Commission of Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is going.
Tampok 2021, the committee’s flagship project in celebration of NAM, brings a series of online theater courses that go beyond just acting and the things that happen onstage.
“Tampok includes e-Turo Dula, a program that shall offer five online theater courses, harnessing the rich and vibrant praxis of theater makers from various networks in the archipelago,” the committee says. “Each course will consist of 18 hours per session, which will run three hours per week in a span of six weeks, combining synchronous (via Zoom) and asynchronous sessions.”
Led by NCCA executive member, Dr. Jazmin Llana, as the program’s curriculum director, the program will educate dramatic arts students and theater enthusiasts about theater management, community theater, and more. E-Turo Dula faculty includes esteemed theater practitioners Romy Narvaez, Pepito Sumayan, Eric Divinagracia, Tanya Lopez, Rica Palis, Buboy Aguay, Matyline Camfili, Edward Perez, Glecy Atienza, Jerry Respeto, and Philippine Educational Theater Association's (PETA) Beng Santos-Cabangon, Bong Billones, Marichu Belarmino Cariño, and Raul Alfonso.
According to the NCCA’s Committee on Dramtic Arts, a student is allowed to enroll in one course only. A Certificate of Completion issued by NCCA will be awarded to participants who are able to complete and fulfill all the requirements at the end of the course. The courses will start on Feb. 15.
Each course has specific admission guidelines. The following are the common requirements:
- No prior educational qualification except that the student should have reading and writing skills in Filipino and English at junior high school level at least.
- The student is a theater artist or engaged in other theater practice as a teacher, manager, organizer, leader, development worker.
- The student has interest and experience in the subject areas covered by the course and can articulate a brief Statement of Purpose (300 words), declaring why s/he is enrolling in the course and of what use would be the learning after completion.
- The student has internet connectivity capacity sufficient for active participation in synchronous learning activities.
- The student is able to complete the 18 hours (six weeks, three hours/week) of the coursework.
- The student is a bonafide member of a theater/performance collective/group and should be endorsed by the group’s Artistic Director.
- Registration Fee: P150 for early applicants (until Jan. 31); P300 (Feb. 1 to 10); full course fee is P3,000. Scholarship is available for candidates endorsed by their theater organization. Deposit your payment to the YATTA BPI Checking Account Number 9491-0010-94 with Account Name: Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts, Inc. and mail proof of payment (e.g. deposit slip, screenshot) to [email protected]
Click here to know more about the aims and courses of e-Turo Dula.