The long-awaited National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), the first of its kind, launched its enrollment campaign recently. In his television address to the nation on the 14th of August, the President of Pakistan had announced that he had entrusted Mr. Zia Mohyeddin with the task of establishing a Performing Arts Academy. NAPA will be an autonomous body with a board of governors.
Zia Mohyeddin, whose credentials are impeccable, will be the Chairman of NAPA. He has lined up a strong faculty, including such names as Mohsin Shirazee, Rahat Kazmi, Talat Hussain, Enver Sajjad, Nafees Ahmed, Safia Beyg and Salamat Ali, etc.
The Academy is housed in the striking Hindu Gymkhana building on M.R. Kiyani Road in Karachi and is just a stone’s throw from the Pakistan Arts Council.
The core objective of NAPA is to restore the sanctity of professions relating to the performing arts. The Academy will nurture the talent available across the country through a strong curriculum, offering comprehensive courses and workshops conducted by eminent practitioners in music (vocal and instrumental) and theatre arts.
NAPA offers training in acting, directing, playwriting, speech, diction, mime, stage management and décor and film studies. The department of music will provide courses in classical, light classical, folk and popular music, composition and orchestration.
The two-year course in music and theatre arts will lead to a Diploma which will be equivalent to a degree. Students will spend six semesters of academic as well as practical training. It is hoped that along with this training they will imbibe a sense of culture so that their creative efforts are channeled towards discovering expressions worth the nation’s rich heritage.
The first semester begins on the 3rd of January, 2005.