Joining the Dramatic Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), Nedbank has come on board in support of the ACT Scholarship Programme.

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is delighted that the Scholarship Programme will double its output in 2010 by awarding two performing arts scholarships to learners in their final year of secondary education who wish to pursue undergraduate studies in the performing arts at an accredited tertiary institution. Individuals under the age of 25 with performing abilities who are not considered to be professional and who not are currently registered for a degree are also eligible and are encouraged to enter.

To qualify, learners are invited to participate in a national competition where they will be assessed on their singing, dancing and acting potential.

‘The ideal candidate will be competent in all three disciplines with exceptional talent in at least one of the areas of performance,’ says Nomalanga Nkosi, Programmes Manager of ACT.

The registrations are now open until 14 June 2010 and regional rounds will be hosted in urban centres as follows:

Durban - 09 and 10 July

Cape Town - 16 and 17 July

Johannesburg - 23 and 24 July

A subsequent round of auditions will be hosted at the South African National Schools Festival in Grahamstown from 4 to 6 July.

Rules of the competition, guidelines for preparation and the relevant registration forms are available on the ACT website. For more information please follow this link:

Selected finalists must be available for the final round which will take place in Johannesburg at the end of September 2010. ACT will cover the costs of travel and accommodation for finalists.

For more information please visit

Note to the editors:

About the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT)

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is South Africa’s premier, independent arts funding and development agency. The primary aim of ACT is to increase the amount of funding available for arts and culture initiatives, and to apply these funds to innovative, sustainable projects that make a meaningful contribution to society.

Structured ACT funding programmes support projects that contribute to improving the quality of life in communities where it is most glaringly needed. This is done in conjunction with extending support to innovative projects, which renew and advance the arts in South Africa. In all these endeavours, ACT covers the broad spectrum of the arts from grassroots and community-based projects to professional initiatives.

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About the Dramatic Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO)

DALRO is a multi-purpose copyright society administering various aspects of copyright on behalf of authors and publishers. Our main areas of administration are reprographic reproduction rights (photocopying from published editions), public performance rights (including stage rights for book musicals and dramas) and reproduction rights (whether for publishing or copying) in works of visual art. For more information please visit

About Nedbank

Nedbank is a Founding Trustee of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). The Nedbank Arts Affinity programme was started in 1994 and comprises a suite of banking products including credit cards, savings accounts, current accounts and the recently launched investment accounts. When a client uses any of these banking products Nedbank makes a donation to ACT on behalf of and at no cost to the client. One of four multi-award winning programmes, the Nedbank Affinity programme has raised over R120 million for arts and culture, sport development, helping needy children and the environment.

Support ACT by opening a Nedbank Arts Affinity account, credit card account, savings account and/or investment account today and support South African creativity through your everyday banking. Visit a Nedbank branch or call 0860 DO GOOD (36 4663). For more information please visit