Theatre Arts at Camp…or just Drama at School?

Sometimes, when campers give their reasons for choosing to take programs in Film, or Creative Writing, or Dance with us at camp, they say: I don’t get to do anything like this at my school! True – and a great reason to explore these art forms at camp. But what about theatre? Most young people take drama at school, right? So why do it at camp?

There are a bunch of important reasons – most provided to us by our theatre campers over the years. Firstly, a drama class at school comprises many levels of interest. Some students choose drama in their schools not because they are passionate about it, but because they think it will be easier than alternates (a ‘bird course’). This means that kids who really are interested in theatre or acting, and genuinely want to learn more, can be placed at a disadvantage. The course ends up having to meet the needs not of  genuinely keen kids, but of the majority, who lack real interest. Secondly, while some drama teachers are dedicated and enthusiastic acting and theatre specialists, many have drama as a second teachable – or may not be fully qualified to teach it at all. Not every drama teacher has studied theatre as a specialist subject at university or drama school AND has professional industry experience to share with their students AND attends theatre regularly, ensuring they understand new and exciting trends in performance.

At Centauri Summer Arts Camp, every program may include different levels of experience, but all campers have one thing in common: they WANT to be there. Imagine taking the most enthusiastic drama students from a bunch of different schools and placing them in one space together, to learn and grow as artists – that’s what it means to take a theatre program at Centauri. Furthermore, our programs are specialized. I was on the phone recently with a drama teacher at a well known Toronto arts high school, and I mentioned our Clown and Stage Combat program. She said that even in their specialized theatre programs, students did not receive in four years the number of hours of instruction in those areas of performance that our theatre campers can get in a single 2 week period. The fact is that at Centauri, you often get to explore a specific area of theatre in the kind of detail you won’t receive until university anywhere else. And our staff? All our theatre staff are outstanding and experienced teachers who have specialized theatre qualifications, professional experience in performance, and are connected to theatre as it is happening, right now, in Ontario and further afield. Oh – perhaps there’s one more plus to taking theatre at Centauri: camp is residential, so when you start preparing your final performance, all your fellow actors will be there for rehearsals, all of the time. And you have their friendship and support outside of rehearsals, too, as you build your character and memorize your lines!
Check out our Theatre and Acting Summer Camps here.

Check out our Stage Combat Summer Camps here.

Julie Hartley
Director
Centauri Summer Arts Camp
www.centauriartscamp.com