Acting students tackle unpredictable audience

Dubai: As the UAE's film industry blossoms, so do the institutions offering training courses for aspiring actors. However, there are some skills that can not be learned in the controlled environment of the classroom.

For this reason, Mina Liccione, Professor of Improvisation at the Abu Dhabi campus of the New York Film Academy (NYFA), took her acting students out of their comfort zone and put them in front of a less than predictable audience.

The amateur artistes put on a performance recently at the Dubai Autism Centre for their final year project, where they learnt that acting is not just about finding a place in the limelight.

"Creating art isn't just about being famous, it's about sharing what you love to do with others and adding a bit of joy to their life," said Liccione. "There aren't a lot of performance troupes in the UAE so to visit centres like the Dubai Autism Centre is a real treat for the kids and staff."

The performance was put together in partnership with Liccione's project ‘Clowns Who Care', which is part of her Dubai-based company, Dubomedy Arts.

Live learning

Apart from providing an opportunity for her students to take part in a humbling experience, Liccione also sought to put their theoretical improvisation skills to the test.

"No matter what kind of live performance you are doing, unexpected things will happen," she said. "You can't learn how to handle such [unexpected] situations in a classroom; one must put those tools into action and live it."

She added that given the nature of the unconventional audience of autistic children, unexpected things were bound to happen and did.

"The children are very interactive and love to run on stage and play with you," she said. "As a student of improvisation this is one of the best ways to learn how to act, or rather, react in the moment."

For Lulu Ali, who is studying for an acting diploma at NYFA and is a first-time live performer, the project was a lesson in self confidence.

"The project made me fight my timidity and not be afraid to show people what I can do as a performer," she said.

Opportunity

Tasked with singing a solo from the Disney animation, Pocahontas, Lulu found the performance to be a step forward in her pursuit of a career in theatre acting.

"My plans are to get into theatre which is really taking off in Dubai and Abu Dhabi," she said. "Many local and international filmmakers want to make movies in the UAE now so there are also a lot of chances here."

Similarly, Alex Polifko dropped out of university in the US to pursue an acting diploma at NYFA in Abu Dhabi because of the potential the budding UAE film industry holds for aspiring actors.

"The UAE is where it's happening right now and I want to be here during the boom," said Polifko. "Eventually I will go back to the US, but for now the UAE film industry is growing and I know a lot of people now and I'm getting some work."