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North Carolina School Of The Arts




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North Carolina School of the Arts













School colorsPantone Blue
School Mascotthe NCSA "Fighting Pickles"
Motto''A Passionate Preference''
Enrollment (2004-2005)
College Freshmen accepted:42%
College Freshmen enrolled:179
Degree-Seeking Undergraduates:720
Graduates:101
Highschool:about 250








Photographs

The New Music Building

Daniels Plaza

The front of the ACE Theatre, which also acts as a set for many films.

A long shot of the film village, showing the ACE Theatre and the warehouses and soundstages where filming occurs.

Performance Place.




An arts conservatory of international renown, the North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in 1965 after nearly a million dollars was raised to win the new school for Winston-Salem. In 1972, the School became part of the prestigious University of North Carolina system.


ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The School’s mission is unique: to train students from middle school through graduate school for professional careers in the performing, visual, and film and television arts. Performance is an integral part of the training program, and students, faculty and guest artists present more than 400 public performances and screenings annually in the School’s facilities in Winston-Salem, as well as across the state and the Southeast, in major U.S. cities and overseas.

Five professional schools make up the North Carolina School of the Arts: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. With its full academic program, the School is accredited to award the high school diploma, the College Arts Diploma, the Professional Artist Certificate, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Students must audition or interview for admission to NCSA. Of the more than 1,000 students enrolled, half come from two-thirds of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Half come from 45 other states (from New York to California) and nearly two dozen foreign countries (from Germany to Japan).

Students study with resident master teachers who have had successful careers in the arts – from New York City Ballet to the Los Angeles Philharmonic – and who remain active in their professions. Noted guest artists such as filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Mandy Patinkin frequently bring lessons directly from the contemporary arts world.

School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others. Among the best-known are Gillian Murphy, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre; Tony Fanning, art director for theatre and film (WAR OF THE WORLDS); Mary-Louise Parker, Tony Award-winning actress (“Proof”); David Gordon Green, filmmaker who made the critically acclaimed GEORGE WASHINGTON, ALL THE REAL GIRLS, and UNDERTOW; and Lisa Kim, violinist with the New York Philharmonic.


MISSION STATEMENT

The North Carolina School of the Arts is the University of North Carolina’s conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the professional training of students possessing exceptional talents in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Students enter NCSA when they are ready for focused, intense professional development at the baccalaureate level and in select programs at the master’s and high school levels in its schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking, and Music.

Committed to the idea that art combines craft, imagination, passion and intellect, the faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum; research and creative opportunities in the arts; student life programs and support; dedicated staff; outstanding facilities; community service activities; guest artists and teachers; and distinguished alumni. Students emerge transformed, poised to become leaders and creators in their chosen fields.

Founded by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the State of North Carolina and the region, NCSA offers numerous public performances, both on- and off-campus, community education in the arts, as well as faculty and student lectures and workshops. The School collaborates with educational, cultural, civic, business and other partners to promote the universal importance and innovative impact of the arts to our society.


PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES

NCSA offers many performance opportunities throughout the course of a schoolyear. Dance students have three seasonal performances: Fall dance, Winter dance, and Spring dance. They also perform the Nutcracker every christmas, and have many other minor performances throughout the schoolyear. Music students have the chance to perform infront of their peers every wednesday at performance hour, and students are usually in a large ensamble, such as jazz band, orchestra, opera, or wind ensamble. These ensambles each perform several times a year.

The school of Design and Production is an instrumental part of any production involving scenery. You can see their sets in most dance, film, and drama productions. In addition, they provide sets for the two operas NCSA produces each year with the help of the Fletcher Opera Institute. The Drama school frequently puts on productions of plays and musicals in Performance place.

Last but not least, the Filmmaking school is host to the ACE Exhibition Complex, where students can display their work and watch others. This complex, along with the Steven's Center, is host to the RiverRun Film Festival every spring.


PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS

There are five professional schools of the North Carolina School of the Arts:
  • School of Dance

  • School of Design and Production

  • School of Drama

  • School of Filmmaking

  • School of Music



SUMMER SESSION

NCSA offers five week summer courses in dance, filmmaking, visual arts, and drama, as well as two week courses in voice and guitar, and a three week course in stage combat, to middle school, high school, and college students seeking intensive study in the arts. All summer programs are highly reputable, and a great introduction to an art form for some, and an opportunity to delve into a discipline for others.


NOTABLE ALUMNI



STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

NCSA has many active student organizations, including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Pride (NCSA's Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender support organization)

  • the NCSA Democrats

  • the NCSA Republicans

  • the Kudzu Gazette (School Newspaper)



FACTS

Founded: In 1963 and opened in 1965, established by the N.C. General Assembly

Mission: To train students for professional careers in the arts

Status: Public, coeducational, one of the 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina

Campus: 67 acres in Winston-Salem, N.C., near Old Salem, a national tourist attraction

Accreditation: By the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar: Three terms (fall, winter and spring, August/September to May/June)

Schools: Five – Dance, Design and Production (includes Visual Arts), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music – plus High School and Undergraduate Academic Programs

Enrollment (fall 2004): 1,057 includes 266 high school/middle school, 684 undergraduate, 96 graduate, 11 special.

Student Profile (fall 2004): 556 from North Carolina; 501, out-of-state. From 66 North Carolina counties, 45 states, 21 foreign countries. 201 in Dance, 196 in Design and Production, 128 in Drama, 240 in Filmmaking, 253 in Music, 37 in Visual Arts. 554 male; 503 female.

Faculty Profile: 172 includes 135 full-time, 37 part-time. Resident faculty is complemented by 200 notable guest artists each year.

Student/Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Average Class Size: 10

Tuition (2004-05):
  • ), $6,583 (out-of-state)

  • Undergraduate: $2,755 (in-state), $14,035 (out-of-state)

Graduate: $3,167 (in-state), $14,601 (out-of-state)
  • The state of North Carolina now pays the full cost of attending NCSA (tuition, fees, and room and board) for all in-state students who are accepted into the high school program.


Facilities: Eleven performance and exhibition spaces comparable to the best in the industry

Endowment: $15.3 million (as of June 30, 2004)

Operating Budget: $27.3 million (as of July 1, 2004)

Degrees, Diplomas Awarded:
Dance – High School Diploma (8th-12th grades), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), College Arts Diploma
Design and Production – B.F.A., College Arts Diploma, Master of Fine Arts (three years)
Drama – High School Diploma (12th grade only), B.F.A., College Arts Diploma
Filmmaking – B.F.A., College Arts Diploma, M.F.A. (two years)
Music – High School Diploma (9th-12th grades), Bachelor of Music, College Arts Diploma, Master of Music (two years), Professional Artist Certificate (one year, post-master’s)
Visual Arts – High School Diploma (11th & 12th grades)


EXTERNAL LINKS