About Alexandria Nova

Alexandria Nova is a network of North European directing programs. It aims to create an international and diverse learning environment for the relatively small directing programs of each national institution and make a leap forward in the awareness about pedagogical methods used. We will share practical and pedagogical knowledge, describe and share working methods and gather together understanding about the art of directing.

This is done through a series of workshops, symposium, seminars including students as well as teachers from all partner institutions. The goal is to create a vivid interactive digital platform, a new library called Alexandria Nova, where students and teachers share ideas, methods and exercises in a playful way. The network will also publish a book with articles and essays by teachers involved in the project, as well as other artists, scientists and students.

Contact

For any further information on the Alexandria Nova Project and Network please contact regie@hfs-berlin.de

Image by ©OpenStreetMap contributors

Participating Schools

Photo by ?, Danish National School of Performing Arts

Den Danske Scenekunstskole, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Danish National School of Performing Arts is an artistic educational institution governed by the Danish Ministry of Culture. The school provides a modern artistic learning environment that nurtures new modes of thinking, artistic expressions, and social engagement.

With higher education at bachelor, master, and diploma level on campuses in Aarhus, Fredericia, Odense, and Copenhagen, the school educates pioneering artists who hold solid practical and theoretical knowledge about their own subject matter and a critical awareness of the role of art in society.

Through research and the development of new works of art, knowledge, and methods covering a broad spectrum of disciplines within performing arts, the school’s faculty and students develop its subject areas and make an impact on art and cultural life, nationally and internationally.

Uniarts Helsinki, Finland

The University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) provides the highest level of education in music, fine arts, theatre and dance in Finland. Uniarts Helsinki is an international forerunner in education and research in the field of arts and strengthens the role of art as a force that reforms society. Established in 2013, Uniarts Helsinki consists of the Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy and Theatre Academy.

Photo by Veikko Kähkönen, Helsinki University Of The Arts

Photo by ?, Iceland University of the Arts

Listahaskoli Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland

The Iceland University of the Arts is a self-governing institution providing higher education in fine arts, theatre, dance, music, design, architecture and art education. The role of the Iceland University of the Arts is to encourage progressive thinking in the arts and to stimulate innovation and development in different fields. The IUA offers education in the arts at the university level and conveys both knowledge and professionalism in the arts to Icelandic society. It operates in a global environment and measures itself against academies that excel in arts education in neighbouring countries.

Three main values guide the focus and direction of the Academy in all of its work: Curiosity, Understanding, Courage

In Theatre and Performance Making, students obtain a good foundation for diverse professions within the broad spectrum of theatre and performance with emphasis on contemporary theatre practice. The core of the programme is the artistic development of the theatre and performance maker. The focus is on students as authors developing an artistic vision and approach towards the medium, and the aim is that they become, at the end of the course, independent and creative theatre and performance makers. Students are introduced to different methods, ranging from traditional directing to contemporary theatre practices, with the aim of acquiring knowledge of the medium and its possibilities.

Stockholms Konstnärliga Hogskola Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH) provides education and conducts research in the fields of circus, dance, dance pedagogy, film, media, opera, performing arts and acting. Through our pioneering educational environment and innovative research, we aim to increase the power of the arts. A leading Arts University, we address and confront the challenges of society today.

Photo: Stockholms Konstnärliga Hogskola

Photo: Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch

Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch, Berlin, Germany

Today, the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art trains students in four departments: Acting, Directing, Puppetry and Dance.


The focus of education at the HfS Ernst Busch is the personality of each student and each student, and this from the first to the last day of study. The teaching of skills and knowledge at the highest level by instructors, most of whom are themselves active in theater practice, is the one main pillar of the educational concept.
The second pillar is the close, intensive contact between lecturers and students. Thanks to excellent teaching and outstanding support structures, the HfS Ernst Busch exerts an enormous attraction on applicants and renowned professionals from Germany and abroad. Conversely, many colleagues from the university work as sought-after guest lecturers at partner institutes around the globe.
Teaching and learning on a sound basis, and experimenting in a practical manner, that is the claim of Ernst Busch.

Kunsthogskolen i Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Since its founding in 1953, the Academy of Theatre has been Norway’s leading educational institution for the acting professions. The Academy offers a three-year Bachelor’s course for actors and directors and a two-year Master’s course in theatre, specialising in acting, direction, stage writing and stage design. The department also offers a practice-oriented teacher training course (PPU) for drama teachers.

The Academy embraces both traditional and experimental techniques. Our primary goal is to help our students develop all the skills they need for a career in theatre, uniting the traditional craft that has long underpinned our great theatrical institutions with the best of the more experimental and creative techniques coming from the independent field.

fThe Academy offers not only a valuable vocational education, but also a first-class arts education. We aim to encourage and develop our students’ artistic abilities, giving the theatrical world not only the supply of new talent it craves, but perhaps also some fresh perspectives it doesn’t yet know that it needs.

Lietuvos Muzikos ir Teatro Akademija, Vilnius, Lithuania

The Faculty of Theatre and Film trains highly skilled specialists in theatre, dance, cinema, art history and theory, and arts management. The faculty was established in 1991 and initially drama theatre actors were trained there. However, over several decades it has developed into the main centre in Lithuania for the education of professionals of stage, film and related professions. 

The faculty consists of five departments: Acting and Directing, Film and Television, Dance and Movement, Art History and Theory, and Arts Management. Around 350 students are studying at the faculty and about 100 teachers work there – leading specialists with the highest national and international awards who take an active part in the processes of the contemporary arts as well as in the search for new pedagogical methods.

Sao Paulo Theatre School, Sao Paulo, Brazil

SP Theatre School was founded in 2010 and currently has 372 regular students in eight courses (Acting, Mime, Direction, Dramaturgy, Scenography and Costumes, Lighting, Sound Design and Stage Techniques), besides about 1600 students every year in its extension courses. The institution has several international partnerships in all the continents and its singular pedagogical system has been object of studies worldwide. 

Photo: Sao Paulo Theatre School

This project is funded by an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Grant