Acting for Performance Capture
Charles Douglas
Motion capture technology has transformed film, placed the movement of actors at the heart of the ever-growing global video game industry, and is revolutionizing other forms of storytelling. Are you curious about the future of performance? Join movement director and teacher Charles Douglas to explore the medium of performance capture. This practical workshop will introduce students to fundamental language, acting for animation, and some of the technologies involved in this area of the industry. Please wear movement friendly clothing/shoes and bring your curiosity!
Charles Douglas is a Canadian movement director, teacher, and researcher. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he is a Fellow of the RSA and a Chevening Alumnus. He is currently Senior Instructor for Embodied Process at the Vancouver Film School, where he leads performance capture. Credits include: Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios), Resident Evil 4 (Capcom), New Tales from the Borderlands (Gearbox), Finding Pandora X (Double Eye, winner at Venice and Cannes), movement direction for beingAI's digital characters, and several productions with the National Arts Centre of Canada's English Theatre company. Charles wrote the first thesis on movement and performance capture and recently contributed to Julia Bianco Schoeffling's book 'The Art and Business of Acting for Video Games'. Visit: www.charlesdouglas.ca
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
- Movement clothing/shoes
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Acting the Song: Musical Theatre Voice
Arielle Ballance
Get ready to sing! In this fun and dynamic workshop, we will explore vocal technique, singing in harmony, and how to bring a musical theatre piece to life. With the guidance of one of Vancouver's leading music directors, you will learn how to use your voice (and breath) to sing the story of the song. Students will walk away having learned two Broadway musical numbers, gaining confidence in their instrument as well as their acting skills.
No experience necessary - this workshop is for everyone, regardless of musical background!
Arielle Ballance is a music director, music educator, accompanist, and performer. She has called Vancouver home since 2016, making music for companies such as Carousel Theatre for Young People, Theatre Under the Stars, Gateway Theatre and Presentation House. Some of her favourite credits include Company (Raincity Theatre); Stiles & Drewe’s The 3 Little Pigs, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” and A Charlie Brown Holiday Double Bill (Carousel Theatre for Young People); and Anne of Green Gables (Capilano University). She has also been rehearsal pianist and played keyboards for three seasons at Theatre Under the Stars (We Will Rock You, Disney’s Newsies and 42nd Street). Arielle is a two-time Ovation Award winner for Outstanding Music Direction. She also received a Jessie Award nomination for her music direction at Carousel Theatre in 2019.
Arielle keeps herself busy by being an audition, recital, and music festival pianist; teaching piano and voice at Resound School of Music; and arranging harmonies for Vancouver gal group The Dimes. She is also the assistant artistic director of the Burstin’ With Broadway choir in North Vancouver.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
- Water bottle (with water) + straw
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Can You Cut It?
Elia Kirby
Have you ever considered the difference between "being an actor" and "working in the theatre"? One path limits, the other opens up myriad opportunities—including trodding the boards. Learning how to cut wood or weld metal, or about the ins and outs of technical theatre, can open up rich, rewarding, and steady connections to your passion for live performance. It's not giving up on a dream; it's about realizing them.
Elia is the CEO & owner of the GNW Scene Shop in Vancouver. With 37+ years of experience in theatre, art, film, and construction, he knows a thing or two. He employs skilled labour who have artistic practices in their own right, from painters, sculptors, designers, and performers (including a stilt walker). He knows both sides of live performance and wants you to know about opportunities that will support your passions as well as nurture the cultural ecology of your community.
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Character Through Choreography
Nicol Spinola & Nicole Stevens
Students will learn tips and tricks on how to develop their character during musical numbers and auditions. Students will learn a short piece of broadway style choreography and work with workshop facilitators to strengthen their story-telling skills through movement all while having fun and building confidence!
NICOL SPINOLA: Calling Vancouver home, Nicol Spinola is a theatre and dance practitioner who fell in love with the arts at a young age. Beginning as a competitive dancer, Nicol quickly transitioned into teaching and has continued to teach for over 20 years in studios in Canada and Japan. Nicol is also an adjudicator and travels across Canada to share her love and knowledge with young dancers. As a professional choreographer, Nicol’s most recent highlights include productions of Something Rotten, Mary Poppins, and Cinderella (Theatre Under the Stars) all three winning Ovation Awards for Outstanding Choreography, Mamma Mia (Chemainus Theatre Festival), 13 the Musical (Bring on Tomorrow Co), Enron (United Players) Annie, Legally Blonde and Shrek (Align Entertainment), 9 to 5 (Capilano University) & Rock of Ages (Renegade Productions). As a performer, Nicol’s work has brought her across the world on countless stages both locally and abroad; and on-screen with Walt Disney Entertainment, CBS, NBC, 20th Century Fox, and Alliance Atlantis. Nicol is the Co-Managing Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer for Raincity Theatre Company, where she produced and choreographed sold-out productions of Sweeney Todd, Company and Cabaret, winning a total of 5 Jessie awards & 3 Ovation awards. Nicol is also the owner and co-founding director of Camp Cue, an overnight musical theatre camp for kids and teens where campers get to participate in workshops and classes led by industry professionals all while being in the great outdoors! www.campcue.com
NICOLE STEVENS: From Coquitlam, British Columbia, Nicole Stevens was singing before she could even walk. Her love of musical theatre started at a very young age, landing her a spot at the Canadian College of Performing Arts. She later completed the Broadway Teacher’s Workshop and has now been an inspiring musical theatre teacher for over 20 years in Canada.
Nicole has performed on stage in several shows for prominent B.C. theatre companies, including Theatre Under the Stars’ Grease! and Legally Blonde, Fighting Chance Productions’ Little Shop of Horrors and Nunsense, APPLAUSE’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown and RCMT’s West Side Story.
Nicole has also worked with numerous local high schools, middle school and elementary schools across the lower mainland, choreographing and directing The Wizard of Oz, Footloose, Beauty and the Beast, Grease!, The Pajama Game, Seussical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Centennial in Coquitlam, Beauty and the Beast and Fiddler on the Roof for Riverside in Port Coquitlam, The Wizard of Oz, Beauty and The Beast, Annie, Seussical, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella for the Vancouver Talmud Torah, and The Wizard of Oz at Berkshire Park Elementary with over 200 students performing.
In addition to her work with local schools, Nicole has been choreographing and directing shows for the Lindbjerg Academy for over three years, including their productions of Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast and Music Man.
Participants to Bring:
- Notebook, pen
- Shoes they can dance in.
- Clothes that make them feel comfortable but can move easily in.
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Collaborative Theatre Creation: Create your own everything!
Sara Vickruck
Come ready to play and explore, creating scenes and generate ideas collaboratively together. These techniques will give you new tools when creating your own work, whether you need to generate fresh ideas, or explore a concept you might already have. Especially good for group collaborative creation.
Sara Vickruck is an award winning queer multi-disciplinary performer and creator, living and working on the territories of the Halkomelem peoples. They have toured across Canada with many different productions including Poly Queer Love Ballad, a slam poetry musical they co-created with Anais West. Most recently Sara performed as Mercurio in Roman and Juliet at Bard on the Beach and won a Jessie Award for their sound design for Zee Zee Theatre’s Men Express Their Feelings. Find their music on Spotify or Apple Music, and watch them on Disney+ in Turner and Hooch the TV series. @saravickruck on instagram and twitter.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
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Creating Authentic Characters (Character Acting)
David C Jones
“An inspiring combination gentleness, hilarity and challenge.” said one student about David C. Jones’s class.
Who are all the people that live inside you? Inspired by actors like; Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis and Toni Collette, David has been transforming his look, sound and movement for decades on stage and film.
In this popular and highly rated class you will unlock your creativity and find a higher plane of spontaneity as you burrow into the habits, tensions and world views of different characters. Learn the technique to creating and maintaining them for both scripted work and improvisation.
An “inspiring combination of hilarity, gentleness and challenge” is how David C. Jones (teacher and coach) is described. David has taught workshops across the country and around the world and is performance and confidence coach for performers and public speakers. As a facilitator he has designed or adapted programs to cover a wide range of topics from self-esteem and empowerment to team building, and as a teacher he works in a variety of performing arts, acting, scene study, text analysis, and improvisation. His authentic character workshops and status and body language classes to awaken the creative spirit. He has worked on set as an acting and sometimes a comedy coach. He is currently a teacher at the Vancouver Film School (and won Teacher of the Year in 2018) and a graduate of Studio 58. He also recently graduated from Rhodes Wellness College – Life Coach Certificate.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
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Home Wreckonomics: Knuckle Sandwiches on Stage (Theatrical Battle!)
Robinson Wilson
STAGE COMBAT: UNARMED/ MARTIAL ARTS/ FOUND WEAPONS
The Students in this class will be taught a series of basic to advanced stage combat techniques incorporating barroom brawling, items commonly found in character environments, with elements of filipino martial arts such as Kali, Arnis and Escrima.
These martial arts have been featured in such films as the Matrix Trilogy, Bourne Identity trilogy, The Hunted, and The Chronicles of Riddick.
There is an enormous emphasis placed on actor safety and control, story development and the responsibility between actor and director. No bandaids will be needed. Not even the really neat spray-on kind.
Robinson is a Martial Arts Teacher and Fight Director currently residing on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
As a Fight Director, his work includes teaching at Vancouver Island University, Fight Direction for Bard on the Beach, Western Canada's largest outdoor Shakespeare Festival, and Industry Safety Consultancy for Actsafe BC, the governing organization for Workplace Safety in the Entertainment Industry of British Columbia. He has provided Historical Weapons Consultation and Fight Direction and to over 70 productions since 2001.
As an international guest instructor, he has delivered martial arts workshops in Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, for theatre schools, professional stunt groups and the Nordic Stage Fight Society. In 2022 he delivered a 5-day immersive workshop at the Oslo Teatersenter, in conjunction with Arctic Action, the Taurus award nominated stunt team from Northern Norway.
Robinson has 25 years’ experience in the Filipino Martial Arts of Kali, Arnis and Escrima, and the Indonesian art of Silat, and has participated in several Dog Brothers Full Contact Stickfighting events. He is a certified teacher in Kombatan Arnis, Modern Arnis and Modern Cimande Silat. He has developed his own system for theatre and film choreography, Pagsamahin Arnis, which means "to blend, to combine".
As a guardian of the weapon arts legacy of the Philippines, Robinson thanks everyone who has supported his lifelong journey to share these thrilling arts.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
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How to make the AUDITION your friend
Raugi Yu
Raugi Yu will lead you through to discover…What is an audition? What is expected of you? How to prepare and who are you inside it all?
Raugi Yu originally from Montreal, is a graduate of The Dome Theatre program at Dawson College and The BFA Acting program at UBC. He has acted in various theatres across Canada and the U.S. Moving seamlessly between stage and film. You may recognize him from roles in, The Shoplifters, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time(Arts Club) and Coriolanus (Bard On The Beach). Most recently as Charles in a national tour of, Bad Parent, the latest play written by Ins Choi(Writer and Creator of Kim’s Convenience)
On screen: Mr. Young, jPod, Kung-Fu. Most recently as Director for a feature film, Attic Trunk, that dropped on Apple and Amazon Prime on March 21.
Raugi is also an instructor and educator of acting from coaching private clients to creating curriculum at various schools.
Raugi currently teaches Acting at The Canadian College Of Performing Arts among other schools.
His favourite teaching and learning tool is genuine curiosity from the heart and he is always curious about, “Who am I?”
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
- Taking notes on an electronic device is acceptable.
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Intro To Improv
Blind Tiger Comedy
In this Intro to Improv workshop, you'll get the chance to step into the wonderful world of improv - no matter your experience or background. Led by our experienced and hilarious comedians, these workshops will help you step out of your comfort zone in a fun and supportive environment, learn what makes an improv scene tick, and have a great time all around!
Hey there! We are Vancouver’s home for improv and sketch comedy classes led by world-class comedians from many award-winning Canadian groups, including Hip.Bang! and The Sunday Service.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
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Musical Theatre Improv
Peter Abando
Want a workshop that evokes joy AND fear? Come along and learn techniques for improvising musical theatre! We'll work on skills from simple improv song structures to creating an emotion-based character solo. We'll be moving, vocalizing, acting, and singing; different approaches to inspire our songs and make listeners wonder if they were really improvised at all!
When he's not teaching K-7 music in West Van, you can find Peter composing, improvising, directing, or performing music somewhere around Metro Vancouver. Peter is also a teaching artist for the Vancouver Opera, and an accompanist/teacher for Gateway Theatre's Academy. He's currently composing for two new musicals with local playwrights and collaborators. More recent productions include Something Rotten! with TUTS, a special charity concert of Dear Evan Hansen with Laughing Matters Theatre, 9 to 5: The Musical at Capilano University, and the Ovation nominated 2019 Vancouver Fringe hit, Amélie, with West Moon Theatre. Peter has also attended Chicago's Second City Training Center and is a frequent flyer to the Broadway Teachers Workshops in New York City.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- A water bottle - to stay hydrated!
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Play Like Nobody's Watching
Gordon White
Cultivate your funny bones in this introduction to clowning workshop! You will play with the fundamentals of character, being ‘in the moment’, and connecting with your audience.
If you’re called an ‘idiot’ in this class…it’s a compliment!
Gordon is an actor & physical comedian, as well as a former featured clown in 4 different productions at Cirque du Soleil. Other credits include many principal roles in theatre, tv, and international festivals & corporate events.
His one-man physical comedy shows have been featured on the main stages at the Singapore International Arts Festival, Montreal’s Just for Laughs, The Vancouver Comedy Festival, Seattle’s Bumbershoot, The Winnipeg International Mime Festival, and Festival d’ete in Quebec City.
Gordon has taught Clowning, Physical Comedy, Improv and Mime, at schools, universities and theatre companies across Canada.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
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The Art of Water Activated Makeup
Shaina Azad
Experience the magic of creating captivating and unique makeup looks with water activated Hydra Liners that will transport you into a world of imagination and fantasy. In this seminar, you’ll learn techniques and tips for creating bold and dynamic makeup designs that will leave a lasting impression for all theatre fans. From intricate patterns to daring color combinations, this seminar will take your makeup skills to new heights and leave you feeling inspired and confident. Join us for an unforgettable journey into the world of avant-garde makeup artistry.
“If we’re not making our customers laugh and smile, then where’s the fun in all of this?” says Shaina
Azad, SUVA Beauty Founder and CEO. Shaina places customers as a number one priority, and she ensures that is upheld with SUVA Beauty’s colorful product range and humorous social media content. “This vibe pulses naturally through the brand because it’s all inspired by my Fijian background,” Shaina says. “Fiji is super colorful, vibrantly welcoming, and Fijian people just know how to have a good time!” As a former professional makeup artist, foreign correspondent journalist, NPO co-founder, and marketing strategist in the Middle East and Canada, Shaina brings years of experience to SUVA Beauty. With this experience, Shaina continues to forge multi-million dollar partnerships and prides herself in ensuring that each SUVA Beauty project is set up for successful global distribution.
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The Prop Shop
Caroline Alarie
Explore the creative process of prop building during this hands-on introduction to prop building. Discover how to start from a drawing or image and progress to a completed object using different materials, techniques and methodology.
If you are a maker, this is the place to be!
Caro is a DIY expert born and raised in Montreal and earned diplomas in Fine Arts and Stage Craft from College Lionel-Groulx in Québec, where she worked on numerous television shows, concerts and stage plays. She also enjoyed a long career as an animator for popular children's tv series after receiving her diploma in 3D animation from Vancouver Film School. But she missed the hands-on work of Stage Craft, and returned to her career in theatre a few years ago.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
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Yoga and Mindfulness: A Balanced Lifestyle
Kylie Railton
Come join Kylie for a rejuvenating workshop where we will have a gentle practice, meditation, breathing and discuss the importance to taking these practices off the mat into our day to day lives.
E-RYT-500, RCYT. YACEP
Kylie started dancing at the age of 3 training in a variety of styles from ballet to hip hop. After high school she continued to study, teach and perform throughout British Columbia, North America and Asia. As the Yoga scene began to grow in Vancouver in the new millennium Kylie started practicing as an alternative to dance and instantly fell in love. She started teaching kids yoga in 2015 and is amazed by how much children have taught her with their creativity and positivity.
With 21 years experience working with children in classrooms, daycares and as a nanny Kylie continues to provide a safe and respectful environment for children to explore through breath, meditation, mantras, crafts and movement.
In Kylie’s spare time she loves to get out into nature for hikes, camping, swimming and sunsets at the beach, which has shown her that meditation can be found all around us; its about taking the time to stop close our eyes and breathe in the sounds surrounding us.
Participants to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Notebook, pen
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Your Story, Your Voice
Deb Williams
Personal Storytelling is good for you!! Not just “eat your veggies” good-for-you, but “I love my life” good-for-you! In this exciting storytelling workshop, Deb will share her decades of storytelling experience, giving you tools to create and share compelling stories. This inclusive and supportive workshop is focused on learning and growth.
The workshop is both challenging and loads of fun. Suitable for beginners and experienced storytellers.
Deb Williams is an award-winning actor, playwright, producer, and comedienne, working across Canada and the world for the past 35 years. Deb is one of the co-creator/stars of the 5 Mom’s the Word plays, enjoyed by nearly 2 million people in 19 countries and 14 languages. Deb is a co-founder and the Artistic Producer of The Flame, Vancouver’s premiere storytelling event, finishing its 14th season. Besides MTW Deb has written “Broccoli and Butterflies” and “Drift Wood” for TYA and co-written “Wince” and “StayFresh Special”. Her one-person show “Taking Off” premiered at the Belfry Theatre in 2016 and she has been an Associate Artist at the Belfry theatre for the past decade. Deb Graduated from Studio 58, and is a community organizer and builder, creating art, festivals and celebration where ever she lives. She is the mother of 2 grown children.
Participants to Bring:
- Notebook, pen
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