The dual course in Stage & Costume Design at Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design (ABK) is unique in Germany and is run in close cooperation with the ADK. The five-year training leads to an academic degree, the German Diplom, in Stage & Costume Design.
Students begin their course with a general training in the arts and are able to draw on a wide range of classes and workshops at the Stuttgart Academy alongside students from the other liberal arts. After this foundation course lasting two semesters, they move onto a specialist course in Stage & Costume Design.
During this phase, students tackle semester projects to create scenery and costumes for stage plays and operas. This creative work is accompanied by classes on theatre theory and history, applied theatre studies, art history, and the history of costumes and styles, as well as seminars in dramaturgy and other courses including film set design, technical drawing and theatre law.
In their final semester, students again engage in practical exercises, providing the sets and costumes for stage plays, short films and art performances. During this period, they can opt to join projects at ADK or at the Film Academy of Baden-Württemberg. They can make use of the Theatre Tower and a costume workshop in Ludwigsburg or an experimental theatre with its own stage workshop in Stuttgart. Contributing the scenic elements for stage productions involving students of Directing, Dramaturgy and Acting plays a key role at this point, as it is not unusual for the working relationships forged during these ventures to continue into professional life after graduation.
