WATERLOO – Looking to provide youth with an opportunity to hone their skills and develop a deeper connection to the arts, the Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy is now underway with its Summer Program and Speaker Series.
Through the Youth Academy, young performers will have the opportunity to expand their theatre skills, building from a different musical each week.
The one-week summer camps run from July 4 to July 22 at the new arts education facility, located at 145 Northfield Drive West in Waterloo.
There are 18 different summer camps available over the three weeks, cohorted into three age categories: kids (ages eight to 10), youth (ages 11 to 13), and teens (ages 14 to 18).
Attendees in each of three age categories will build on the fundamentals of singing, acting and movement by learning production numbers, solos, scenes and monologues, notes a June 27 press release.
For students who prefer being backstage, the Youth Academy is also offering a “Technical Theatre 101” camp for teens who want to learn more about the behind-the-scenes.
Director of education David Connolly, who oversees the camps for the Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy Summer Program and Speaker Series, said the summer programming is off to a great start so far.
“The first day is always a bit of ‘I’m not sure what to expect,’” he told the Advertiser. “Some of them don’t know anybody and they’re coming into a brand-new environment, but they do have a common interest: they know that they like expressing themselves.
“And by the lunch of the first day, you start to see the ripple and then by Tuesday everybody’s early, and they’re all laughing, and they have new best friends.”
Drayton Entertainment’s one-week summer camps run from July 4 to July 22. The photo above is from the 2019 Drayton Entertainment Youth Musical Theatre Program Workshop. Photo by Liisa Steinwedel
Connolly said the skills learned in arts education are so important in life and includes things like self-confidence, creative thinking, being able to take criticism, and collaboration.
“Really what it is, it’s belonging,” he said. “It’s finding people who like the same thing that you like, where you feel like you’re going to grow as not just as an artist, but as a person, because you’ve taken risks.
“Arts education really forces us to risk failing,” Connolly explained. “It also has a big component of creative solutions. Instead of going the obvious route, you take kind of a creative path.”
With youth being faced with extensive periods of isolation during the pandemic, Connolly said it’s been great to see them in groups with friends, laughing and sharing one common interest.
“It’s just so important for kids at this age,” he said of the interaction component. “We want to keep fanning the flame of this idea that we need to just support each other and that’s what they do when someone gets up to try something they haven’t done before.
“Then the whole room claps for them and that becomes kind of addictive – just that bubble of community.”
There are limited spots still available for the one-week summer camps. Visit Drayton Entertainment’s website to register. The photo above is from the 2019 Drayton Entertainment Youth Musical Theatre Program Workshop. Photo by Liisa Steinwedel
When forming the centre, Connolly said organizers brainstormed to determine what the dream summer theatre camp would be, asking themselves “what (they) would need in the sandbox.
“The facility is just spectacular,” he said. “It just is a dream come true for any arts educator, it’s all brand-new state of the art, the technology is phenomenal.”
Students enrolled in any of the summer camp weeks will be eligible to participate in the Virtual Mentor and Speaker Series. The series includes:
- Jason Robert Brown, July 8 at 2pm;
- Karen Burthwright, July 12 at 11;
- Benjamin Pajak, July 15 at 2;
- Hailey Lewis, July 19 at 11am; and
- Claybourne Elder, July 22 at 2pm.
The series will be presented through Zoom, to “let (students) know that everybody starts somewhere.
“Everybody started in a small town with a big dream,” Connolly explained. “And we have lots of small-town kids in this group that I’m sure will, whether it’s performing or not, they’ll go on to great things.”
Finding a community
Now that the goal of creating the centre has been seen through, Connolly has moved onto a new goal for the facility, which is creating a network of support for the youth coming in.
“The goal is that they find a community… that they share their contact information and a support system to each other as they continue to grow as people and artists and expand their social bubble,” he said.
Artists of any age are empathetic, Connolly explained, which is what makes them a good artist, that their level of understanding of human nature is amplified.
“And so having other empathetic people in your bubble, I think can only make your life and the world a better place,” he said.
“And so we’ve said from the beginning, that we’re kind of here to create generational change and that’s going to come with people feeling supported.”
Building the future of the industry
The youth academy, Connolly explained, is a grassroots effort to create not just future artists, but also, a community that appreciates the industry.
“At the very least, they’re going to appreciate art in a deeper way, because they’ve been through this experience,” he said, adding that as long as there are people to support live theatre, in whatever capacity, that’s really important.
“So we’re really excited just to continue to widen the net of people who understand and appreciate the value of culture.”
It’s been a dream of artistic director Alex Mustakas’ to expand this way, as opposed to getting another theatre, Connolly explained.
“Instead of out, he’s expanding kind of down into the grassroots of the community to make sure that the families of the people who support Drayton entertainment live theatre are supported,” he said.
“We did it right, everything is top of the line,” he added. “You just couldn’t ask for more state-of-the-art space to make sure the kids feel seen.”
There are limited spots still available for the one-week summer camps, which run from July 4 to July 22. For more information and to register, visit Drayton Entertainment’s website.
