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After-School Classes

Dare to Imagine!

Encouraging and promoting self-expression and social growth in supportive, age-appropriate classes

Let your imagination soar! These fun-filled courses will take students through many aspects of the theatre including: drama games, improvisation, character and scene development, singing, dancing, play-writing, and stagecraft. The courses culminate with an end-of-term performance for families and friends. An After-School Walking Shuttle may be available from your child’s school to their ACTE class.

Day: Mondays or Wednesdays

Location: Bloor/St. George

This fun-filled class will allow the young artist to explore and develop new drama skills through drama games, improvisations, storytelling and singing. Families will be invited to an open-house class at the end of each term.

Day: Tuesdays

Location: Little Italy, Manning/Ulster

In this class, students will be involved in the entire process of putting on a play and will have the opportunity to gain a lot of experience in acting skills, dance choreography and singing techniques.

We have witnessed a tremendous growth in skill and confidence, new friendships, and a sense of being part of a community as the year progresses. Therefore we recommend that students commit to the full-year experience. However, this course will be divided into three terms for those who need flexibility.

Term 1: Students will work towards a musical that will be performed TWICE in mid December. In addition, students will have an opportunity to perform in the eagerly-anticipated ACTE Cabaret in November.

Term 2: Students will delve deeper into a more advanced show that will be performed TWICE at the end of April.

Term 3: This term will be dedicated to learning fun drama games, improvisation skills and learning a group musical number. There will be an open-class presentation on the last day of the term.

Annex Young Players Wednesdays

Grades 2-5 | Wednesdays, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm | Bloor/St. George

Day: Wednesday
Location: Annex, Bloor/St. George
Grades: 2 - 5

This fun-filled class will allow siblings and friends from a wider age group to be together in a class. In this class, students will be involved in the entire process of putting on a play and will have the opportunity to gain a lot of experience in acting skills, dance choreography and singing techniques. 

We have witnessed a tremendous growth in skill and confidence, new friendships, and a sense of being part of a community as the year progresses. Therefore we recommend that students commit to the full-year experience. However, this course will be divided into three terms for those who need flexibility.

Term 1: Students will work towards a musical that will be performed TWICE in mid December. In addition, students will have an opportunity to perform in the eagerly-anticipated ACTE Cabaret in November.

Term 2: Students will delve deeper into a more advanced show that will be performed TWICE at the end of April.

Term 3: This term will be dedicated to learning fun drama games, improvisation skills and learning a group musical number. There will be an open-class presentation on the last day of the term.

Day: Monday

Location: Bloor/St. George

This creative class will allow the young artist to explore and develop new drama skills through drama games, improvisations and storytelling. This is for the student who wants to focus on writing and acting (no singing or dancing). Students in this class will collectively a create a play that will be performed in mid December. 

Annex Young Players Thursdays

Grades 4 - 6 | Thursdays, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm | Bloor/Spadina

Day: Thursday
Location: Annex, Bloor/Spadina
Grades: 4 - 6

In this class, students will be involved in the entire process of putting on a play and will have the opportunity to gain a lot of experience in acting skills, dance choreography and singing techniques. 

We have witnessed a tremendous growth in skill and confidence, new friendships, and a sense of being part of a community as the year progresses. Therefore we recommend that students commit to the full-year experience. However, this course will be divided into three terms for those who need flexibility.

Term 1: Students will work towards a musical that will be performed TWICE in mid December. In addition, students will have an opportunity to perform in the eagerly-anticipated ACTE Cabaret in November.

Term 2: Students will delve deeper into a more advanced show that will be performed TWICE in early May.

Term 3: This term will be dedicated to learning fun drama games, improvisation skills and learning a group musical number. There will be an open-class presentation on the last day of the term.

Day: Tuesday

Location: Little Italy Manning/Ulster

In this class, students will continue to hone their acting, dancing, and singing skills and will focus on more mature musical theatre content,  complex characters and more challenging vocal arrangements. 

We have witnessed a tremendous growth in skill and confidence, new friendships, and a sense of being part of a community as the year progresses. Therefore we recommend that students commit to the full-year experience. However, this course will be divided into three terms for those who need flexibility.

Term 1: Students will work towards creating, starring and hosting the eagerly-anticipated ACTE Cabaret in November. Students will also be involved in chosing  the musical that they will be performing in term 2.

Term 2: Students will delve deeper into a more advanced show that will be performed in early May.

Term 3: This term will be dedicated to learning fun drama games, improvisation skills and learning a group musical number. There will be an open-class presentation on the last day of the term.

After-School walking shuttles available

Too busy to get your child to class? We have you covered!

ACTE offers a walking service that picks up students after school from their local schools and brings them to their drama class. 

Palmerston: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays: Dramatic Play, Play Creation, Annex Young Players.

 Huron, Howlett Academy, Paul Penna, JICS: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: Dramatic Play, Play Creation, Annex Young Players.

The fee is:

Term 1: $97.50 (15 classes)

Term 2: $97.50 (15 classes)

Term 3: $32.50 (5 classes)

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.

"I just wanted to thank you so much for all the attention and care and excitement you have given my children this year! They looked forward to acte every week - it has been the highlight of a difficult time. Every production has been extraordinary. We are so grateful for ACTE."
Annex Young Players Mom