Largest African drama school hosts
camp
Helen O'Grady Drama Academy will next week host a
holiday drama camp in Westlands Nairobi, expanding its outreach in helping kids
develop confidence, self-esteem, communication and performance skills using
Australian Actress Helen O'Grady's tips.
Those that attend the camp running from July 16
to 19 July at My School (Montessori) Peponi Rd Westlands, will become part of
the more than 50,000 students attending drama classes each week in 1,400
locations throughout the countries of operation worldwide.
Founded in Australia, the Helen O'Grady Drama
Academy is the only organisation of its kind in Africa, say organisers. It
began when Helen O'Grady, a trained teacher, drama teacher and actress, hired a
hall in Australia and commenced affordable after-school drama classes for young
people from ages 3 to 19+ years back in 1979. To date, her legacy continues as
the school has spread to 10 African countries including Kenya, sharpening
acting and life skills in kids.
According to the organisation, what makes the
Helen O'Grady Drama Academy holiday programme unique is that students not only
receive a top-quality acting education but also receive defined nurturing to
develop their life skills such as confidence, self-esteem, proper speech
habits, creativity and initiative-taking.
The curriculum is divided into various categories
for each age group. The age 3 to 5 group, also known as the Kindy programme,
empowers young children and their natural self through creative drama. It works
with children to build confidence, communication and interactive skills though
drama techniques, such as storytelling, improvisation, devised theater and
play, mime and dance to mention a few.
In the ages 5 to 8 category, kids practice social
skills as they develop clear speech and fluency, in that they would be able to
ask questions, seeks answers and share information with others. Kids
participate in activities such as speech creative movement, improvisation and a
special end of year performance helping them to become more articulate.
For the upper primary category of the age 9 to 12
category, students participate in a wider range of activities such as speech,
drama movement improvisation, snippets and scene starters. At the end of each
year, they utilise all the skills acquired to create short scripted production
performed for parents and friends.
But for this holiday drama camp with training
lasting for three-hours a day, students aged 3 to 12 years will produce a short
scripted play during the week, taught by the academy's specialist teachers.
During each day students also gain experience of
theatrical disciplines, which could include: singing, dance, drama,
mask-making, puppetry, mime, costume design and physical theater.
The highlight of the holiday programme is a
‘workshop’ performance for parents and friends. It also aims to compliment the
work completed during the term-time programme and take students to the next
level of their personal development.
The camp is worth Sh9,900 for the one week course
for children enrolled in the academy while children outside would pay Sh9,950
with students from the same family would get a 10 per cent discount. The
academy would also provide T-shirts to students for the workshop performance.
However, spaces are limited to 20 children per
age-group. For booking and details, the school located at Montessori, Peponi
Road Westlands, can be contacted on 0721 955 308 or harun@dramaafrica.com
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