Scholarships worth $150,000 awarded by VCA

7 Oct 2011 - The Victorian College of the Arts' School of Performing Arts at the University of Melbourne has presented more than $150,000 worth of scholarships to its theatre, dance and production students. The Victorian College of the Arts' School of Performing Arts at the University of Melbourne has presented more than $150,000 worth of scholarships to its theatre, dance and production students. Among the scholarship recipients were joint winners of the $25,000 Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship award Claudia Escobar and Talya Chalef. The Fellowship is offered every two years to theatre graduates to assist with overseas travel expenses and provide financial support during the formative years of professional development. Claudia Escobar, who completed her Master of Theatre Practice at the VCA in 2008, is the co-founder of El Tarro "The Smallest Performing Arts Space in the World", which has showcased over 60 experimental performances since 2008 involving 40 performance artists, 60 musicians and 45 visual artists across USA, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Australia. With the fellowship, Claudia plans to collaborate with Italian Theatre Company Societas Rafaello Sanzio in developing a new piece of theatre with children in Bogotá, Colombia. The project has additional support from the Art and Youth for Peace Foundation which supports child victims of war.