What's New Down Under?

Same thing that's new here:

IT is interesting to note that 5116 NSW students last year studied drama as an HSC subject – twice as many as a decade ago. There were also more than 700 HSC dance enrolments in 2007, triple the number of 1995.

Talent agencies, dance studios and drama classes are springing up all over Sydney at an unprecedented rate, with the highly regarded NIDA and long-established Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) about to substantially increase the number of their short courses and school holiday workshops such is the demand for acting classes.

Even in this celebrity era, the influx reveals an extraordinary desire for fame.

But does it also reveal an amazing level of naivety on behalf of not only these aspiring youngsters, but parents too?

How many of last year's 5000 HSC drama students will go on to be household names or, at best, have a career in the arts world successful enough to pay the bills? After all, for every Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe there are many, many more "actors" waiting tables.

Even among those who reach the apparent pinnacle of stardom there can also be a high toll, with Britney Spears and Heath Ledger recent examples.

Yet youngsters continue to strive to be the next big thing, perhaps in a belief fostered by the likes of TV programs such as Australian Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

Add to this the number of private schools seemingly outbuilding one another with state-of-the-art facilities such as cinemas, performing arts centres and video-editing suites plus government high schools dedicated to performing arts.

While I applaud teenagers choosing to spend holidays and weekends pursuing something other than loitering in shopping centres or spraying graffiti on trains, I also can't help but wonder if they all have real talent and appeal or are simply delusional in their aspirations?

How often have you been bored by parents espousing how their child is destined for the stage or screen when in fact they can't hold a tune, they dance as though they have two left feet and realistically has more chance of becoming a lesbian than a thespian?

But apparently, to point this out is rude. Instead, I believe you and I would be far better off cashing in on it like a host of others are currently doing. Take Nikki Webster, who rose to fame as the star of the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, and will shortly open a dance studio. Not even the delay in its opening (due to legal issues) has deterred wannabe pop-dancing princesses who ring daily wanting to know when classes start.