Past Review
By Diane B (Theatre, Loyola Marymount University) for
Loyola Marymount University: Theater Arts Bonn-Moscow Program
Everyone should study abroad before they graduate. But this program is so valuable because there is a final performance/production that funnels all your experience and training into a project for the final. It gives you the experience of a life time and a chance to become a really good actor. Especially if you are at a liberal arts university, this program is conservatory formatted to give you an intense experience.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Moscow Art Theatre |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The program is rigorous with classes even on Saturdays, but the training you receive is amazing. Especially when we go to the Moscow Art Theatre to study with the Master Teachers at MXAT. And the acting teacher while we're in Bonn is Russian and started us off with great Stanislavski training to prepare us for MXAT. Then we rehearsed for about 7 weeks for our final production, which we performed at a professional theatre in Bonn, Germany, reviewed by local press with great response. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
AIB in Bonn, run by Rainer Zaeck is top notch. Very organized, very caring. And the host families were like a family away from home. The whole program is so well run. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We had our own families with little brothers, sisters, and even a pet dog. Our own rooms and bathrooms and internet. We'll keep in touch with our families for years to come. |
| * Food: |
good food at home and a variety of restaurants in Bonn and Moscow |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We had some amazing excursions in the areas nearby Bonn and Berlin was fantastic. The city is so exciting and we took a bike tour in the spring which was awesome. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
We all wanted to take more German and more Russian! |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | If you're serious about becoming a better actor/artist of the theatre, this is the right program. You learn two major techniques at the same time and have the opportunity to study with master teachers at MXAT and perform in a professional theatre, which are great things to put on your resume |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Stanislavski Acting Techniques |
| Course Department: | THEA398.1 |
| Instructor: | Matuchin |
| Instruction Language: | German & Russian w/ some English and w/ a translator |
| Comments: | Amazing teacher. Funny, engaging and knows his craft of the Stanislavski system. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none! |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Directing for the Stage |
| Course Department: | THEA370 |
| Instructor: | Charlotte Zilm |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | She was fantastic! Really encouraged all students to be unique and original in our ideas and concepts. Our final directing projects were brilliant- each student had a very different concept and there were projects that were very funny and some which were very dramatic. She's a really dynamic German director. We LOVED her! |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Theatre Practicum: Performance |
| Course Department: | THEA451 |
| Instructor: | Diane Benedict |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Great experience to rehearse for a production and put it up for the general German audience in Bonn. We did a tribute to Tony Kushner: What is to be Done? The audience loved the show and we learned so much about AIDS, Nuclear Waste in Russia, and WWII. The movement/choreography was absolutely amazing due to our choreographers, Marcus Pickering and SkaSka. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
European Theatre History |
| Course Department: | THEA430 |
| Instructor: | Elizabet Horn |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Very interesting course. We read a bunch of different plays from various writers from many countries- Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, Brecht, etc., and then would go to see a production, usually in German or Russian. But we would study the play prior and knew pretty much what was going on. Really interesting to see so many different styles. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Brechtian Epic Acting Methods |
| Course Department: | THEA398.2 |
| Instructor: | Andrew Hood |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Really interesting training in contrast with Stanislavski working in the 3rd person and working on camera with video and lots of physical training with choreographers. It was so valuable to learn Stanislavski and Brechtian techniques at the same time. An actor needs both to be successful. Lots of history on Brecht and Berlin and German Theatre. This course ended up counting for our Theatre History requirement due to the heavy amount of reading and critical analysis of German playwrights. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
