The curtains are lifting for a new theatre school in Okotoks.
Dramavita Studio Theatre opened in early January, offering youth an opportunity to study all aspects of dramatic production.
“When I first started teaching, I wanted my own space, and that was 20-something years ago,” said De Reid, who taught drama in the public school system in Calgary for over 15 years.
“I love working with people, particularly kids, because they have such an intuitive sense of play and experimenting. They’re not afraid to do things. Us adults? We have that kind of barrier that kids don’t.”
To that end, the teacher’s goal for her studio, located in the Stockton Point business park, is meant to be a sandbox for young people to explore various facets of the theatre craft.
“My students said they loved being in a space that allowed them to explore different things and do it in a way that nothing is taboo,” Reid said. “And it gives them a place to kind of understand the human condition; what makes them tick? What makes other people tick? How they impact those other people.
“It’s a very freeing space.”
And for the purposes of being that free space, the studio is equipped accordingly.
After entering a lobby similar to that of a dance school, what follows is a costume wardrobe and prop room.
“I have basically every prop you can imagine. I started collecting when I first started teaching,” Reid said. “After a hundred shows I stopped counting how many costumes I had.”
The wide array of material lends to exercises for the students.
“It’s so much fun, because the kids come in and they’re allowed to pick something,” she continued.
“They pick one thing then they have to tell a story about it, and I do that for props too, because kids love to tell stories.
“It’s one of the first steps in their kind of confidence evolution.”
That growth is a key goal in Reid’s studio.
“There’s no better place than up there (on stage) to learn about yourself,” she said. “You learn what your limits are, you learn how you work, you learn how you speak, you learn how to stand, you learn about the world.”
Once out of wardrobe, Reid has outfitted the performance space with theatre lighting and the associated instrumentation for students to learn technical theatre skills.
Her own theatrical journey started early.
“In Grade 4, I was the narrator in The Nutcracker, and I was on stage and thinking ‘I really like this, this is really cool,’” Reid said. “I think that was the first moment I was bitten by theatre, and it wasn’t until high school that I actually started doing shows that I started doing shows.”
Reid has started out offering various programs ranging from early elementary to junior high, with Teen Works classes for grades 9-12.
For more information visit Dramavita.ca.
