Scholarships worth $150,000 awarded by VCA

7 Oct 2011
The Victorian College of the Arts’ School of Performing Arts at the University of Melbourne has presented more than $150,000 worth of scholarships to its theatre, dance and production students.

The Victorian College of the Arts’ School of Performing Arts at the University of Melbourne has presented more than $150,000 worth of scholarships to its theatre, dance and production students.

Among the scholarship recipients were joint winners of the $25,000 Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship award Claudia Escobar and Talya Chalef.

The Fellowship is offered every two years to theatre graduates to assist with overseas travel expenses and provide financial support during the formative years of professional development.

Claudia Escobar, who completed her Master of Theatre Practice at the VCA in 2008, is the co-founder of El Tarro "The Smallest Performing Arts Space in the World", which has showcased over 60 experimental performances since 2008 involving 40 performance artists, 60 musicians and 45 visual artists across USA, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Australia.

With the fellowship, Claudia plans to collaborate with Italian Theatre Company Societas Rafaello Sanzio in developing a new piece of theatre with children in Bogotá, Colombia. The project has additional support from the Art and Youth for Peace Foundation which supports child victims of war.

Talya Chalef, who completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Animateuring at the VCA in 2004,
plans to use the funds to finish her Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting at Columbia University (New York City), under the guidance of renowned playwright Charles L Mee and also hopes to develop three performance projects under the guidance of mentors whilst in NYC.

The judges, Marion Potts (Artistic Director, Malthouse Theatre) Richard Murphet (Honorary Senior Fellow, VCA School of Performing Arts) and Geraldine Cook (Head, VCA School of Performing Arts) were highly impressed by the standard of applicants.

Ms Cook said "The prestigious Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship will provide the opportunity for Claudia and Talya to develop their dynamic and significant work internationally and locally. It is an enormous asset to these two artists during the next phase of their professional careers."?
The VCA Performing Arts awards were held on Thursday 6 October at 5.30 pm. For a full list of performing arts award recipients visit www.vca.unimelb.edu.au/news.