Actors read the text and make the final preparations to go on stage, while the public sits in the audience ready to follow the presentations and applaud the work of the artists on stage. This could be an account of a theater festival in the city, but it is part of the specific skills test for the 25 places on the Performing Arts course offered by the Unicamp entrance exam.
The specific selection exam for performing arts for the 93 candidates approved for the second phase of the entrance exam began on Monday (23) and ends this Wednesday (25), on the premises of the Institute of Arts (IA) and the Faculty of Education (FE). According to the coordinator of the performing arts selection, professor Mario Alberto de Santana, the objective of this phase is to select candidates who can take full advantage of the research artist training offered by the university. “It is essential that the selected candidates have some experience of the profession they chose, whether through workshops, free courses, reading, knowledge of theory or dramaturgy.”
The selection in performing arts consists of a theoretical test, based on a previously offered bibliography involving authors on the theatrical panorama and artistic language. Those who pass this exam will then participate in a class test, which consists of carrying out practical classes with three pairs of teachers from the Performing Arts department, where each candidate's repertoire and capacity in different technical and creative aspects will be assessed. .
And finally, the stage test is held, where candidates present a previously prepared scene to an examining panel of nine teachers, and are attended by an audience made up of students from the course. Each presentation lasts around five minutes, and candidates can choose one of the 30 authors offered in the entrance exam bibliography, including Shakespeare, Molíere, Chico Buarque, Oswald de Andrade and Nelson Rodrigues. On stage, the actor/candidate has a maximum of one table, two chairs, an actor to replicate, light and sound.
For professor Mario Alberto de Santana, the candidate must have a reflective capacity that contemplates the themes and authors that are worked on throughout the course in different areas, such as dance, interpretation, direction, music and singing. “This selection is essential so that our students can take advantage of the pedagogical project and graduate as purposeful performing arts professionals, passionate about the activity they will carry out. We do not select the best in y or x, but the candidates who may be most prepared so that our training can take them to a professional condition of excellence".
One of the candidates for the course, Leonardo de Souza Gomes, aged 20, came from São Paulo to take part in the entrance exam. A member of a theater company, Leonardo highlights that he decided to take the performing arts course due to the excellence of the training offered. “I discovered Unicamp through friends who came to study and spoke highly of the arts area, they always recommended it to me, until I decided to come because of the quality of the course. I am passionate about acting, especially contemporary theater, but I am willing to learn everything the course teaches.”
Another characteristic of the selection is the active participation of veterans of the performing arts course. Some participate as replica actors when requested by the candidates, while others follow the stage test in the audience of the Institute of Arts auditorium and support the candidates in different ways throughout the process. “Veterans open their homes to welcome candidates who have nowhere to stay in Campinas. Furthermore, they help, prepare and watch the scenes. Our senior students take care of the candidates in such a way that when they enter their first year they already know each other. This solidarity aspect unfolds throughout the course”, says Professor Santana.
The list of those approved in the 1st entrance exam will be published on February 13th on the Permanent Committee for Unicamp Entrance Exams (Comvest).
