School Holidays Programs
This school holidays we will be running a range of programmes, over the four weeks of January. This time each programme will be geared more towards a single topic or discipline, so that students can choose the thing they like the most. The on-line enrolment form is at the bottom of this page.
Week One: Monday January the 2nd till Friday January the 6th
Screen Acting Intensive -Years 5 to 8 (school year in 2012)
9am till 2:30pm
Teacher – Cara Phillips
In this class, Director Cara Phillips will work with participants on screen acting techniques, using monologues and scenes. Students will do most of their work on camera, to get used to the medium, and by the end of the course will film some of the scenes and monologues. They will also learn about improvisation for film. Cara Phillips is the director of two feature films, both in post production, one of which will have it’s premiere screening at Bohemia Cinema in Fremantle early in 2012. Cara has worked with student actors for 14 years, and has directed many stage and screen productions with young actors. In 2011 Cara was the Facilitator of the Screen Acting course at the Film and Television Institute in Fremantle. This class is limited to 16 participants.
Week Two: Monday January the 9th till Friday January the 13th
Screen Acting Intensive – Years 9 to 12 (school year in 2012)
11am till 4:30pm
Teacher – Cara Phillips
As above, except that with the older age group, Cara will work more in depth on acting techniques, and hopefully work through more scenes. As with the younger age group, students will end up with some of their work on DVD. This class is also limited to 16 participants.
Performing Arts Experience – Years 3 to 7 (school year in 2012)
9am till 2:30pm
Teachers – Cara Phillips, Michael Keen, Tim Bowles, Narelle Fouche, potentially others.
This programme is a mixture of different classes, but unlike the last school holiday programme (for those of you who were there), this time there will be fewer different classes, so that students can learn more skills in each discipline, rather than just having a taste of many different things.
Each day the students will participate in acting class, and musical theatre class, both taught by Cara Phillips. (Cara’s acting bio is above. Cara studied singing for ten years, and has been singing on stage since she was 5. In 2009 and 2010, Cara worked solely as a professional singer in China.)
The students will then have two dance classes, Jazz and Hip Hop, both taught by Michael Keen. Michael trained at WAAPA and the Performance Company, and has danced professionally around Perth. He is trained at Hip Hop, Ballet, Contemporary and Jazz.
The final class for the day will alternate between circus disciplines, balloon twisting and mime. Professional balloon sculptor Narelle Fouche will teach the students the craft of balloon twisting, and Tim Bowles, actor, singer and fantastic teacher, will teach other circus disciplines.
Week Three: Monday the 16th to Friday the 20th January
Indi Film Making – Years 8 to 12 (school years in 2012)
11am to 4:30pm
Teacher – Pete Phillips, with a few sessions with Cara Phillips
Students in this course will learn all aspects of making their own film, from directing, to cinematography, to editing, and even acting. All students will take turns in each of these roles, so that they can get as much experience as possible. They will also be involved in making a short film over the time of the course. It will be a very hands on course, with the students getting to use professional indi film equipment. After this course, the students will be equipped to tell stories, through film, using whatever they have available.
Pete Phillips has been part of making two Independent Feature films (with Cara Phillips!) Both were shot overseas. Pete has had the arduous task of being Director of Photography, Sound Mixer, Sound Recorder, Editor, Studio Music Technician and Producer, often all at the same time! So he is very well qualified to explain the nature of indi film production.
Cara Phillips will teach a few classes on Directing Actors.
Places in this course are limited to 12.
Musical Theatre – Years 8 to 12 (school years in 2012)
11am to 4:30pm
Teachers – Cara Phillips, Mahalia Bowles, Tim Bowles, Thomas Pidd.
As the title would suggest, students in this course will focus on singing, acting and dancing – all at the same time. During the course, students will work on a group song and dance number, as well as individual or pair songs, chosen to suit each student.
Places in this course are limited to 16.
Week Four : Monday the 23rd of January to Friday the 27th of January
School of Hip Hop – Years 8 to 12 (school years in 2012)
11am to 4:30pm
Teachers – Michael Keen, Leo Hernandez, Nate Hoyle
This time around, the School of Hip Hop will be more focussed, so that students can progress in certain skills and choreography. Each day there will be two hip hop choreography classes, a popping class, a breaking class, and an acro class. (Students don’t need to have experience in acro.)
Michael, Leo and Nate all dance in the Perth Hip Hop scene in their different disciplines. They are all experienced and enthusiastic teachers, who have been dedicated to their craft for years.
Potential Adult Acting Classes
Pending interest, Cara will teach two day long intensive workshops for adults. These will be held on Saturday the 7th of January and Saturday the 14th of January, from 10am till 5pm. The topic will be improvisation for screen, with a focus on the technique of Mike Leigh. Cara has devised almost all her projects over the last 12 years using this technique. Mike Leigh works extensively from character to create stories, and although in two days we won’t be able to apply the method properly, we will still create some characters and work with them on screen to come up with some scenes. Participants will need to come to both workshops, as the second one will build on the first.