In France there's literally just ONE (at least for music): Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris
You either get in or your career is over before it starts.
Oh, sure, there are other schools... but they don't matter. If you didn't go to the national conservatory, you might as well just show up to auditions with no degree at all. You might get some gigs, might become a regular member. But you're never going to be a director or a conductor of a program worthy of note.
And they're even MORE snooty on the non-performance arts side. To be blunt, it seems like the criteria in France for being recognized as a good artist is to remain relevant AFTER YOU DIE.
There is a saying in Russian Ballet:
"Want to be the best? Be the best. There's more waiting in line."
("bud' luchshim!"..... annnnnd someone runs off the staging crying; they do not fuck around)
It's a complete inversion of how arts are treated in the US. They work from the stance of the OPENINGS being scarce and leave it to the aspirants to motivate themselves. It's ruthless, but it produces the best.
Art "education" is different from all other forms of education in that it's basically a screening process rather than instruction. You don't teach people to paint or sculpt, you just say "impress me". Exclusivity is a feature, not a bug. Ideally you'd get rid of the non-performance art schools entirely and just have competitions and galleries of increasing selectivity and prestige.
That's a nice idea and everything, but this is too centralized imho.
Too centralized?
In France there's literally just ONE (at least for music): Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris
You either get in or your career is over before it starts.
Oh, sure, there are other schools... but they don't matter. If you didn't go to the national conservatory, you might as well just show up to auditions with no degree at all. You might get some gigs, might become a regular member. But you're never going to be a director or a conductor of a program worthy of note.
And they're even MORE snooty on the non-performance arts side. To be blunt, it seems like the criteria in France for being recognized as a good artist is to remain relevant AFTER YOU DIE.
There is a saying in Russian Ballet:
"Want to be the best? Be the best. There's more waiting in line."
("bud' luchshim!"..... annnnnd someone runs off the staging crying; they do not fuck around)
It's a complete inversion of how arts are treated in the US. They work from the stance of the OPENINGS being scarce and leave it to the aspirants to motivate themselves. It's ruthless, but it produces the best.
Art "education" is different from all other forms of education in that it's basically a screening process rather than instruction. You don't teach people to paint or sculpt, you just say "impress me". Exclusivity is a feature, not a bug. Ideally you'd get rid of the non-performance art schools entirely and just have competitions and galleries of increasing selectivity and prestige.