Art: Summer Drama Camps
Summer drama camps teach kids valuable skills on-stage and off and build their self-confidence. Students learn from professionals in the theatre industry as they explore many facets related to staging a successful production, including acting, costuming, directing, movement, voice, set design and sound/music. Typically, students present their production to family and friends at the end of the camp.
There are numerous summer acting camps for tweens and teens in Alberta. The following is just a sampling of what is available.
Summer Theatre Camps in Calgary
The Calgary Arts Summer School offers three theatre-related summer day camps:
• Musical Theatre Showtime (9 – 19 years): Students plan, produce and present a scripted musical production in six days. The musical was commissioned especially for this program.
• Improv Camp (8 – 12 years): Students create and develop their own characters, write dialogue and put together skits in this four-day camp.
• PlayWriting Camp (7 – 12 years): Students create, rehearse and perform their own unique play at the end of this five-day camp.
EPCOR Centre – SummerACT runs four summer day camps during July and August. Each camp runs for two weeks:
• SummerACT for Kids (7 – 12 years): Students explore a different art form each day, from drama to dance and from movement to visual arts.
• SummerACT for Teens (12 – 14 years): Students explore acting, voice, character development and the technical elements required to successfully present a production.
• Musical Theatre (9 – 14 years): Students study acting, dance and singing while they put together a mini-musical to be performed at the conclusion of the camp.
• Theatre Boot Camp for Teens (15 – 17 years): Students study acting, ensemble work, script analysis and more. They will perform their production for family and friends at the end of the camp.
Quest Theatre runs four-day camps throughout July and August:
• Journeys (6 – 9 years): Students explore art, movement and story-telling in this one-week camp.
• Treks (10 – 12 years): Campers will learn about character development, improv, set building and more in this one-week camp.
• Expeditions (10 – 14 years): Students learn about all aspects related to performing their production at the end of this two-week program.
• Odyssey (14 – 18 years): Students learn about all aspects related to performing their production at the end of this three-week program.
Summer Acting Camps in Edmonton
The Citadel Theatre runs more theatre summer programs in Edmonton than any other summer camp. Camps are offered in July and August:
• Theatre Explorer (6 – 7 years): Students study mime, improvisation and storytelling in these one-week camps.
• Musical Mayhem (6 – 7 years): Kids explore puppets, singing, movement and more in this five-day camp.
• Drama Adventures (8 – 10 years): Kids explore movement, mime and storytelling and present their drama to family at friends at the end of this week-long camp.
• Musical Theatre (8 – 10 years): Students explore musical theatre as they plan, produce and present a Broadway production in this week-long camp.
• Comedy and Laughter (11 – 13 years): Campers explore improv, clowning and sketches in this one-week program.
• Musical Theatre Intensive (11 – 13 years): Participants delve deeper into musical production in this two-week intensive program.
• Styles of Acting (13 – 15 years): Teens explore different types of acting to create a unique performance at the conclusion of this one-week program.
L’UniThéâtre offers a multi-disciplinary camp for Francophones in Alberta. Students explore singing, dancing, theatre and visual arts. This two-week program runs in August. Students are grouped together according to the number of years they have studied French.
Northern Light Theatre Performance Camps for Young People runs one camp for kids ages 5 – 9 and another one for tweens and teens ages 10 – 16 every August. These performance camps blend history with drama. Campers work with Maralyn Ryan, one of the leading threatre instructors in Alberta.
Summer Theatre Camps in Red Deer
Artstrek is Theatre Alberta’s summer musical theatre program that runs every July at Red Deer College. Artstrek offers two programs, Exploration I, a six-day summer camp for kids 13 – 15 years of age and Exploration II, a seven-day summer camp for teens aged 16 -18 years of age.
Treehouse Youth Theatre’s Main Stage program runs a summer musical theatre camp in July. Students aged 12 – 17 will work with Artistic Director Matt Gould on all aspects of presenting a musical.
Registering for a Summer Theatre Camp
Summer acting camps do fill up quickly so early registration is advised. Check the camp websites for detailed information. Summer drama camps range from $120 to $600. Some offer scholarships and financial aid.
Summer drama camps aren’t for everyone. Parents should research which summer camp is best for their child, tween or teen.
Whether the goal is to learn a new skill, prepare for an acting career or improve one’s performance, summer acting camps are a wonderful way to develop one’s artistic, communication and social skills. They also offer the valuable opportunities of making new friends and working with world-class actors, instructors and choreographers.
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