Gallery 7 Theatre and Performing Arts hosts its 11th annual Summer Drama Blast, starting July 6.
This is a camp-style program providing children and teens the opportunity to explore all things dramatic in a life-affirming positive environment, said Gallery 7 executive artistic director Ken Hildebrandt.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids and teens to learn theatre skills from experienced theatre artists, and a great chance for them to develop important life skills such as teamwork, self-confidence and communication,” he said.
For children ages six to 12, Summer Drama Blast offers generalized performance camps that allow children to explore their artistic abilities while learning both basic and intermediate performance skills such as blocking, line memorization, characterization and play development.
Each camp ends with a short performance where campers can showcase to family and friends what they’ve learned throughout the week.
For teens ages 13 to 18, Summer Drama Blast offers more advanced camps in performance, musical theatre and Shakespeare.
These intensive camps are ideal for young people looking to build on their high school theatre experience, preparing for college and professional theatre training or for those seeking deeper involvement in community theatre.
Veronica Hargrave, a theatre student at Trinity Western University, will lead Creative Explosions for ages six and seven.
Ron Jackson, a recent theatre graduate and teacher from the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), will lead Dramatic Rumblings for ages eight and nine, while Maddison McArthur, a UFV theatre graduate with a host of acting credits, will lead Stage Eruptions for ages 10 and 11.
Director, actor and teacher Megan Mackenzie will lead Dynamite Playmakers for ages 12 and 13.
Leading the Musical Theatre camp are Charlene Crawford and David Rosborough, both of whom have extensive experience directing musical theatre productions.
Ron Jackson, who also has experience performing in plays by the Bard, will lead the Shakespeare in Performance camp.
The camps run from July 6 to 24 at the Community Arts Addition, 2329 Crescent Way in Abbotsford.
For more information, including pricing, visit gallery7theatre.com or call 604-504-5940.