Creative Sparks: Arts Classes for 55+

Acting

Setting the Scene uses improvisation, hands-on exercises, monologues, and short scene studies, you will work on exciting material to help you develop your powers of observation, imagination, play, and concentration. Meeting every Thursday over the course of ten weeks, we will explore the foundations of performance—action, objective, given circumstances, close listening, and script analysis to allow you to immerse yourself more fully in a scene or monologue. Whether you already have some stage experience or are completely new to acting, this course promises a supportive and fun environment, designed to enhance your performance skills.

Note: Please bring a notebook and a pencil to each class. The play scripts used will be provided. Please wear attire that will allow you to move!

Actor/Director-Facilitator

David Jansen has performed leading and supporting roles in theatres across Canada and the U.K., including the Stratford Festival, the Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage, Tarragon, Mirvish Productions, Soulpepper, and The Peter Hall Company. He has also appeared in numerous TV series, including the upcoming Amazon Prime/MGM series The Greatest. He recently directed Bakkhai at York University, in addition to directing digital productions of Tabia Lau’s The Antigone Play and Aaron Jan’s HAGS at York. He adapted/directed The Oresteia at Randolph College, and has directed at Thousand Islands Playhouse, George Brown Theatre School, TMU, Summerworks, and for BeMe Theatre in Munich. David has also taught across all levels of actor training at York University, Randolph College, TMU, George Brown, and the University of Toronto. He is currently teaching at Brock University and is thrilled to be facilitating this course for Kick Start Arts.

Songwriting

This workshop series uses musical improvisation, lyric writing activities, peer-to-peer feedback, digital recording, and other techniques to build skills in music and lyrical composition. Participants will develop compositions during and between sessions, that will be shared as works-in-progress and as final pieces at the series end.

Note: Feel free to bring instruments if you wish. It is not required. There will be instruments (guitars, little synthesizers, lots of percussion and a drum) available. You may wish to bring a notebook and pen to jot down ideas as they appear. Phones may be used to record audio as work is created.

Musician-Facilitator

Michael O’Connell has been composing and performing since the age of 13. From early stages opening for Nash the Slash/FM, to the 90s recording and touring with national sweethearts Black Cabbage (Guelph) to his latest project Culture Reject – a moniker he has held as an international touring and recording artist (Specific Recordings/FRANCE). Michael’s musical style has always been in the realm of pop music with deep influences of folk, jazz, americana, hip-hop, punk, post-punk, rock, soul and new wave. Michael is an incredibly gifted facilitator and has done extensive work coaching folks of all ages to tap into their inner musician. Check out one of Michael’s songs here!

Visual Arts – Altered Books

This visual art workshop invites you to use books as the jumping off point for artistic expression while exploring various art forms to explore a theme that’s important to you. Altered books refers to a piece of art created by taking a pre-existing book and altering it through various artistic processes. In the ten weeks, you will use books as the “canvas” to explore painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and found poetry, all inspired by the written word. Whether you are new to visual arts or experienced in creating, you will feel supported in learning new techniques and expanding your creative practice.

Note: All materials are included in the fee. You are free to bring your own book to alter if you wish, but there will be some available as well. You will be using paint and visual art materials which might get on your clothes – so dress appropriately for the fun of that!

Visual Artist-Facilitator:

Leslie Ashton is a visual artist and puppeteer. She began her career as a performer and theatre artist, creating masks, building puppets, and painting backdrops, throughout Quebec and Ontario. More recently, she has been working on personal projects, creating art interacting with and using books, making collages, painting, photography, printmaking and textiles. She is inspired ever day by nature and the written word. For Leslie, art is the best way to share stories, understand others, and learn about our world. She collaborates with her students using many mediums including; paint, photography, puppetry, collage and textiles. She brings her curiosity, sense of humour, energy and a willingness to every workshop – meeting students where they are, right now.  (She’s also working on a little side project, drawing every person in Toronto. She only has about 2.9 million to go.)