ACTE has been serving the Annex, Seaton Village, Little Italy, Christie Pits and Swansea communities since 2003. Our mission is to always be a child-centred program that offers supportive, inclusive courses that spark the imagination and enhance students’ self-confidence, leadership and team-building skills.
Our Story
Once Upon A Time...
After university, Michal originally planned to pursue her acting career but discovered that what felt most meaningful and most authentic to her was when she was teaching drama to young people. Her students’ energy, creativity, and their openness to explore and create excited her and brought her back to her own beginnings when she and her sister used to make up shows and record them on their ghettoblaster (ask your parents what that is).
Thus, in the fall of 2003 ACTE was born. Michal wrote a fun show for her students – Once Upon A Fairytale – a show that is still a favorite amongst the ACTE students today. Word got around about this upcoming performance and by the winter the group doubled in size. Michal adapted the show to accommodate the new students and in March they performed ACTE’s very first show in a theatre for their families and classmates. It was nerve-wracking, exciting, empowering and rewarding for the performers to have their classmates in the audience. It was a huge success! Everyone was recognized for their hard work. From that year forward ACTE has been fortunate to nurture and inspire thousands of Toronto children and youth through an array of ACTE programs: musical theatre, improvisation, creative drama, playwriting, collective creation, dance, glee choir, cabaret, film-making (two-time award winners at the Children’s Sprockets Film Festival), private audition coaching, online musical theatre film acting, and stagecraft workshops.
Benefits of Drama
Drama can:
a) Offer a sense of community
b) Bring students out of their shell
c) Boost a positive self-image
d) Stimulate the imagination
e) Develop leadership and team-building skills
f) Help improve ability to concentrate and focus
g) Augment oral and written skills
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! No previous experience is necessary to join any ACTE program. Our courses welcome both complete beginners and experienced students. This makes for a great dynamic within our groups.
Our teacher to student ratio is 1:8.
There is always a singing and dancing component. If certain campers are not keen on singing or dancing, we will create a special role for them so that they are happy and comfortable with what they are doing.
We offer a walking shuttles from schools that are up to a 20 minute walk from the students’ local schools. Check to see which classes offer pick-ups from your child’s school
After reading the script we ask our students to list their top 3 roles. It gives us an idea of the types of characters that they are interested in. We try our best to fit them into one of those roles. At times we pick a role that they might not have chosen for themselves but that we think will challenge them further or will teach them about the importance of ensemble work. Everyone gets at least one role and a lot to do on stage. The main characters are always shared among several performers, each taking on the role for a few scenes. There are no “stars” or “leads” and everyone gets an opportunity to shine.
Our mission is to always be a child-centred program that offers supportive, inclusive courses that spark the imagination and enhance students' self-confidence, leadership and team-building skills.