Venice & Lido di Jesolo, Italy

Courses can be solely Drama, Photography or Art, or run as a combined Drama, Photography and Art Course.

The stunning and unique city of Venice will be the focal point for these courses. You will stay in the fashionable seafront resort of Lido di Jesolo at the 3* family run Hotel Coppe with its very modern facilities on a half board basis with close proximity to the beach, shops and local attractions. The hotel has a conference/disco room for our use as well as a rooftop swimming pool. Access to Venice is by coach to the Punta Sabbioni Waterbus Station (25 minutes) and then the No. 1 Waterbus direct to St Marks Square (40 minutes). Daytime and evening visits to Venice are available and the travel costs from your hotel to Venice are included in the price of your tour. Drama students will work to create a piece of self-devised theatre for performance on the final evening and we would naturally recommend a Commedia de L'Arte focus.

The art students will workshop with their art tutor to create an exhibition of work created in Italy or indeed input into the drama performance piece (maybe working on mask design for the Commedia project) and ultimately to perform in the presentation. All students will travel to Venice for the excursion on Tuesday. The art students will travel to Florence for the day on Wednesday as well to look at specific art related sites and galleries.

The photography students will have a full day in Venice as well as an evening visit to Venice to shoot at night; and also a day visit to Trieste or Genoa. The work will again be exhibited at the end of the week.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

• Ferry Crossings
• Luxury Coach transfer from school to Hotel Coppe in Lido di Jesolo
• 6 days/5 nights half-board accommodation at 3*Hotel Coppe
• Fully comprehensive insurance
• Course Leader in attendance
• Course Tutors for Drama / Art / Photography
• Fully structured workshop courses in Drama / Art / Photography
• One full day excursion with coach / waterbus - Venice (for all students)
• One evening excursion with coach / waterbus - Venice (all)
• One full day excursion for art gallery visits with coach / waterbus - Venice (art students)
• Course Certificates
• 1:10 free place ratio for your staff
• Promotional materials and assistance
• Presentation evening for parents and students in school if required

SAMPLE - ITINERARY

VENICE CARNIVAL

The Carnival of Venice is the most important and magnificent of Venetian celebrations, a much appreciated cocktail of tradition, spectacle, history and transgression set in a unique city, a festival that attracts thousands of people each year to the city from around the world.

The carnival has ancient origins, a celebration that greets the passing of winter into spring, a period in which everything is apparently connected including the illusion of the more humble classes becoming similar to the powerful, since everyone is disguised behind a mask. The Carnival of Venice officially began in 1296, when the Senate of the Republic authorized the carnival with an edict declaring the day before Lent as a day of celebration. After a break of almost two centuries, the traditions of the carnival were recovered by the Municipality in 1980 and since then the event has been held with great success each year.

Each year has a different, underlying theme for the carnival, which is developed under various points of view, from one of culture to that of pure spectacle. For two weeks St. Marks' Square, the theatres, streets, squares and public buildings become the protagonists of numerous initiatives and shows: actors, acrobats, dancers and musicians bring a celebration atmosphere to the city for a few days, which is similar to that of the XVII century.

The 2007 Carnival edition was dedicated to Carlo Goldoni. The year 2007 was the three-hundred year anniversary of the birth of Venice's most famous and most representative playwright. The 2007 Carnival was a popular and all-embracing one. It was a mosaic of arts, made up of numerous pieces, with various and entertaining themes: live music, comedy, acrobats, dancing, costume parades with competitions for the most beautiful masks.

St. Mark's Square was, as always, the heart of the celebrations. A large covered stage was built to host the exciting music and dance happenings. World music played the leading role in 2007 with international performers like the Afro Celt Sound System, the Bollywood Brass Band, Roy Paci, Aretuska and many more. Italian Comedy performances were also staged on typical traditional Venetian comedy stages.

Sunday 11th, at 12:00 p.m., the traditional Carnival inauguration with the Volo dell'Angelo: a woman dressed as an angel glides down a rope hung from the top of St. Mark's bell tower, scattering flowers and confetti over the crowd.

But the Venice Carnival means more than St. Mark's Square:

• Children will find an "enchanted forest" with dozens of entertainers and games for the youngest crowd in Campo San Polo.
• Campo Bella Vienna, near the Rialto bridge will host the hottest bands while the Pavilion Italia, at the Biennale Gardens, will be the "Carnival nights" hot spot where night owls can dance from 11pm till dawn with some of the most famous DJs seen around Europe.
• Cannaregio will be the stage for "Venezia Suona" concerts: From Fat Thursday to Fat Tuesday, starting at 4:00 p.m., the Fondamenta di Cannaregio (from the Guglie bridge to the Tre Archi bridge) will host numerous groups with various high quality musical performances.

Anyone wishing to sample aristocracy during the carnival can go to the Venetian palaces which host masked balls and gala feasts in costume. The city is home to various fashion houses where you can hire splendid period costumes, wigs and masks.

As well as Venice, carnivals are also held inland, for example in Mestre, Treviso and on the Brenta Riviera, where you can take part in the beautiful allegoric carriage parades, which only take place during the last weekend of the carnival.

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