(2015 NLDTF/ACT
Scholarship winners: Carla Smith; Caleb Heynes & Andiswa Mbolekwa. Pic by Debbie
Yazbek)
Deadline: May 31,
2016
Along with funding from the National Lottery Distribution
Trust Fund (NLDTF), the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) will allocate an
additional 14 performing arts scholarships in 2016.
In his thank-you address at the 2015 Scholarships finals on October
12, 2015, ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs announced that in 2016 the careers of more than
14 young performing artists would be fast-tracked through a massive fund
injection from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (now the National
Lotteries Commission).
He shared his thoughts with the audience saying that, “art
is the manifestation of our social fibre” and that it is “integral to the human
identity”, and just on that basis it is vital to support the arts. He further
thanked the NLDTF for their hand in giving others what he believes is the
greatest gift of all, “the gift of education”. Jacobs also stressed that
opportunities granted to the youngsters will help bolster the quality of output
in the arts sector in the long run.
This will be the largest number of scholarships the
organisation will have allocated annually since the programme’s inception in
2009. Over the last seven years ACT, together with the Dramatic, Artistic and
Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) and Nedbank Arts Affinity, has invested
more than R1.5 million in young performing artists’ careers.
An exciting detail that has been added to the existing
format will be that the 2016 programme will see ACT cater for performing arts
students in their first and second year of undergraduate studies, in addition
to Grade 12 learners who are interested in pursuing a career in the performing
arts in South Africa.
A range of Dramatic Arts, Singing, Acting, Dance and Musical
Theatre Scholarships between R30,000 and R60,000 will be allocated to reach a
combined value of R750,000.
National auditions will be hosted from June to August 2016
and participants will be given a 6-month period to register for the programme
as of December 2015, with registrations set to close on May 31,2016.
For more information, visit www.act.org.za
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