CANDI teachers visit Performing Arts school in Hungary to forge new partnership

Performing Arts teachers from CANDI visited a Hungarian Performing Arts school to deliver workshops and create new international connections.

A group of teachers from City and Islington College (CANDI) took a four-day trip during the Easter break to explore a new opportunity for creative and educational exchange with a school in Hungary.

The four performing arts teachers on the trip were Despina Mavrou, Shan Gordon, Tim Chaundy and Blanka Molnar. They are all based at CANDI’s Centre for Business, Arts and Technology, Camden Road (CBAT) and currently deliver the college’s UAL Performing and Production Arts qualifications (Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4).

From 7 to 11 April, the teachers spent time at Nemes Nagy Ágnes Művészeti Szakgimnázium (NNA Performing Arts School) which specialises in drama and dance. The school is the former training ground for CANDI teacher Blanka Molnar and offers performing arts training to both secondary school students and adult learners. 

The trip’s main purpose was to form working partnerships with the staff and students at the school and assess how future exchange trips between the two schools might work. The teachers hope that CANDI students will have the opportunity to visit Nemes Nagy Ágnes Művészeti Szakgimnázium next academic year and work with their Hungarian counterparts on a project as part of a continuous exchange programme. 

The programme will allow students and teachers to develop their artistic and professional skills, further equipping them for the international aspects of the Performing Arts industry. The partnership between the two schools will also give students the opportunity to study and learn within a different cultural context.

During the visit, the teachers stayed in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, and commuted to the school each day. They observed classes and worked together to deliver workshops on acting, voice work and dance. In the evenings, they attended various productions including a contemporary dance theatre production and a musical. The trip enabled staff to develop their teaching practice and consider ways to innovate course design and sequencing. 

Tim Chaundy, Curriculum Leader of Performing Arts and Music, said: “This was a truly amazing and inspiring trip that has sown the seeds of a long-term international partnership between City and Islington College and Nemes Nagy Ágnes Művészeti Szakgimnázium. This partnership will ensure regular opportunities each academic year for the Hungarian and British staff and students to exchange ideas, work in different ways and contexts, form a community and collaborate to create work. It will develop our young people’s understanding of the Performing Arts and open their minds to different perspectives and work that goes beyond mental and physical borders.”    

Take the next step towards this exciting education pathway and apply for Performing Arts and Music and Music Production Courses!

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