ABOUT THE CLASS

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Discover ways to approach a character and a scene that will help to unlock future acting work.  Participants will explore both text-based and physical theatre approaches to working through a scene and learn a variety of new exercises.  No experience necessary!

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up by emailing superiortheatrefestival@gmail.com with the subject STF Masterclasses

Take as many or few as you want, first come first serve

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Donna Marie has been teaching Acting for 19 years!  She is an Educator, Director, Choreographer, Producer and Performer. She is the Artistic and Managing Director or Superior Theatre Festival, Artistic Producer and Co-Founder of Present Danger Productions and a core artist of [elephants] collective which created A Wake for Lost Time, a 24 hour performance piece which has been in residency with Theatre Passe Muraille and Hub 14.

Donna Marie’s career has taken her right across Canada, the United States and to Europe (Paris, Belgium and Luxembourg) working in dance, drama, musical theatre, industrials, opera, and film. Selected credits include Night Wings, Salt-Water Moon, James and the Giant Peach (STF), girls! girls! girls! (SummerWorks 2013), Medea (Studio The-atre), Living with Henry (Best of Fringe, Next Stage and NYMF 2012), The Murmuration of Starlings (New Works Festival), How I Learned to Drive (U of A), Death and the Maiden (U of A), Fool for Love (Playwright’s Project), Embedded (U of A), Low Level Panic (U of A), Strange Mary Strange (SummerWorks 2011), Aftershock (Summer-Works 2010), Candide (U of T Opera MFA), Honk (DaCapo Productions), Footloose (Rose Theatre/BMT), Perfect Life (Poor Alex Theatre),You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (DaCapo Productions), The Vagina Monologues (TBVPAC), Gone for a Dance (Samsa Films). She has performed in various mega-musicals: Crazy For You (Mirvish Productions), Sunset Boulevard (Live Entertainment) and in other productions at the Charlottetown Festival and Magnus Theatre.

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She is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at the University of Alberta and a passionate Arts educator. Donna Marie has taught for the last nineteen years with the Lakehead Public School Board, TCDSB (Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts),  the University of Alberta, and the Randolph Academy as well as at many other dance studios across Canada. She has taught dance for 25 years all across the country and she is also an inaugural member, of and on the Steering Committee, of the Directors Lab North, a part of Director’s Lab West and the prestigious Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. 

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ABOUT THE CLASS

Prepare to have a lot of FUN!  After being in big Mega-Musicals across Canada, Donna Marie will share some of her insights into how to explore both scenes and choreography from the contemporary musical cannon.  Participants will learn how to work through a scene and then learn choreography from the variety of musicals explored during the class. No experience necessary!

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up:

Register with Suzanne Kukko at  807-887-3135 ext 26,  edo@nipigon.net

First come first served

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Donna Marie has been teaching Acting for 19 years!  She is an Educator, Director, Choreographer, Producer and Performer. She is the Artistic and Managing Director or Superior Theatre Festival, Artistic Producer and Co-Founder of Present Danger Productions and a core artist of [elephants] collective which created A Wake for Lost Time, a 24 hour performance piece which has been in residency with Theatre Passe Muraille and Hub 14.

Donna Marie’s career has taken her right across Canada, the United States and to Europe (Paris, Belgium and Luxembourg) working in dance, drama, musical theatre, industrials, opera, and film. Selected credits include Night Wings, Salt-Water Moon, James and the Giant Peach (STF), girls! girls! girls! (SummerWorks 2013), Medea (Studio The-atre), Living with Henry (Best of Fringe, Next Stage and NYMF 2012), The Murmuration of Starlings (New Works Festival), How I Learned to Drive (U of A), Death and the Maiden (U of A), Fool for Love (Playwright’s Project), Embedded (U of A), Low Level Panic (U of A), Strange Mary Strange (SummerWorks 2011), Aftershock (Summer-Works 2010), Candide (U of T Opera MFA), Honk (DaCapo Productions), Footloose (Rose Theatre/BMT), Perfect Life (Poor Alex Theatre),You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (DaCapo Productions), The Vagina Monologues (TBVPAC), Gone for a Dance (Samsa Films). She has performed in various mega-musicals: Crazy For You (Mirvish Productions), Sunset Boulevard (Live Entertainment) and in other productions at the Charlottetown Festival and Magnus Theatre.

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She is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at the University of Alberta and a passionate Arts educator. Donna Marie has taught for the last nineteen years with the Lakehead Public School Board, TCDSB (Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts),  the University of Alberta, and the Randolph Academy as well as at many other dance studios across Canada. She has taught dance for 25 years all across the country and she is also an inaugural member, of and on the Steering Committee, of the Directors Lab North, a part of Director’s Lab West and the prestigious Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. 

ABOUT THE CLASS

This workshop looks to explore the role of a set and costume designer in creating worlds and the characters that inhabit them.  Drawing from her own work, Set and Costume designer Nancy Perrin will help explain the processes and relationships that are key in creating exciting theatrical experiences.  From the words on a page to magic on stage, the designer must juggle many priorities from the script, budget, varying artistic visions and skill levels.  Beyond Nancy sharing her own experiences, the class will do an inspiration exercise using collage. Participants are encouraged to bring a pair of paper scissors, paper glue stick, pencil crayons (or other drawing mediums) and old magazines if you have them.  These are not required as some will be provided, if materials are not available for some participants. No experience necessary!

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up by emailing superiortheatrefestival@gmail.com with the subject STF Masterclasses

Take as many or few as you want, first come first serve

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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Nancy Anne Perrin is a Set & Costume Designer. She is also the Resident Designer for STF since its inception. Design credits include; Bearwalker (Food for Thought), Saltwater Moon & Night Wings (Superior Theatre Festival), Othello (Driftwood), Of Human Bondage (Magnus), Hamlet (Hart House), Deceitful Above All Things, Waterfront: The Blessing, Shed & Rabbit Rabbit (Summerworks), Le Magicien d’Oz (Théâtre La Roulotte), Cabaret, Stop Heart, and Shouting (National Theatre School). Assistant Design credits include; Grease (Irregular Entertianment) and four seasons at the Stratford Festival. She holds a BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria, and completed training at the National Theatre School of Canada in Design. Awards include the Ian and Molly Lindsay Young Design Fellowship and the Tom Patterson Guthrie Award. Website: nancyanneperrin.com

ABOUT THE CLASS

 

Join us for a songwriting masterclass and workshop as Danny delves into what makes a song great and helps you develop your creativity by expanding and strengthening the tools necessary to help with your songwriting skills, both musically and lyrically.

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up by emailing superiortheatrefestival@gmail.com with the subject STF Masterclasses

Take as many or few as you want, first come first serve 

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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Danny Johnson is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and musical director who has performed at many venues and festivals around the world. He is the Producer of the TBSO’s Juno Nominated album, 2019. He has been the featured soloist with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra on many occasions and he has opened for and toured with many acclaimed acts, including Bob Dylan, The Tragically Hip, Colin James, Johnny Cash, The Temptations, Bob Newhart, Paul Shaffer, Bob Hope and Paul James.

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An accomplished jazz pianist, Danny performs many solo gigs as well as those with his Trio, and is considered world-class as a jazz musician. His rock/ r& b band 21 Gun Fun has performed at hundreds of events over the past few years. He enjoys sharing his musical knowledge performing "Blues In The Schools" and the "History Of Jazz" at various schools every year. He has worked with many high schools in Thunder Bay as Musical Director of their school musicals and as a guest artist.

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He has composed the music for many award winning films, including the documentary Dorothea Mitchell: A Reel Pioneer, which won the People’s Choice Award at the Bay Street Film Fest and was shown on Bravo. His music for Life Is But A Dream (nominated for best short documentary) was a finalist for best music at the Hot Docs Interna-tional Film Festival in Toronto in 2010. He has composed the music for the films Sticky Money, Chopsticks, Silent Invaders and In Security, and recently composed the music for a documentary film about the forest industry called Pulp Friction, which is playing at festivals around the world. Danny has worked as engineer/producer for dozens of al-bum and film projects at his facility, Danalog Studio, including Rodney Brown’s The Big Lonely and Pierre Schreyer’s Blue Drag, both nominated for Juno awards. Danny is no stranger to theatre audiences, having performed in over fifty productions across the country. He has also acted in several films, including Under The Red Star, which premi-ered at the Northern Character Film Fest in Murmansk, Russia last fall, Silent Invaders (which won the Audience Award at the Faux Film Fest in Portland), Sticky Money and most recently, The Scratch.

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ABOUT THE CLASS

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Participants will do a physical warm up and then jump into choreography with a variety of choreographic styles from contemporary musical repertoire.  No experience necessary.

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up by emailing superiortheatrefestival@gmail.com with the subject STF Masterclasses

Take as many or few as you want, first come first serve

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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For Stephanie DePiero, as soon as she could walk, she could dance, and has been dancing ever since. As a teenager, Stephanie trained in jazz, tap, ballet, and hip-hop and after graduating high school, she left home in pursuit of her passion. Traveling anywhere she could get to, Steph danced at various workshops, conventions, attending intensive programs in New York and Los Angeles. Soon landing herself a new home in Toronto where she was able to make her papa extra proud by working with MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club for several seasons promoting and performing during all at home games.

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Stephanie believes in the potential of a thriving entertainment scene here in Thunder Bays, through its own growing dance, music, and film blazers, and she wants to see it grow!Her own experiences have fuelled her to create her very own Thunder Bay dance companies. She leads the Army of Sass Thunder Bay team (part of a North American heels dance program that is currently taking the country by storm)! This outlet of dance speaks to Stephanie’s passion and values, providing an outlet for women of all levels of dance to come together, gain confidence and to be a part of a community of dancers that has a goal to simply inspire others.

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Stephanie is also the director of DANCE Thunder Bay, which offers private training sessions and industry coaching, off-site entertainment services, and seasonal workshop classes with dance professionals wanting to help in the development of young dancers.

ABOUT THE CLASS

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Live Animation 101

Using a series of simple exercises and a collection of “practice puppets” Mike Petersen takes the student of puppetry through all of the basics. Together, we’ll learn how to make your puppets breathe, look, listen, and think. We’ll practice the art of the stop, and language of the head. This is a fun way to bring your puppets into full animation … awake, aware, and alive! No experience necessary.

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Classes are free, students just need to sign up by emailing superiortheatrefestival@gmail.com with the subject STF Masterclasses

Take as many or few as you want, first come first serve

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Mike is an actor, puppeteer, writer, director, and teacher with over 40 years experience in the performing arts. He has worked across Canada, throughout the U.S. and in Japan, Australia, Nigeria, Britain, Singapore and Poland with such companies as Mermaid The-atre, Neptune Theatre, Festival Antigonish, Kaleidoscope Theatre, the Edinburgh Puppet Company, Poland’s Teatr Arlekin, and Theatre Beyond Words. Film and television credits include Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, Black Harbour, Emily of New Moon, the award-winning CBC pre-school series The Mighty Jungle, and TreeHouse TV's Emmy-nominated web series Miss Persona.

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He created and performed in As You Puppet at Young People’s Theatre in Toronto, and also played host “Papageno” in Music & Truffles, a series of classical music concerts for children produced by Anton Kuerti. He appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in the feature film Casino Jack and acted with Dean Cain in the Hallmark Christmas special The Case for Christmas. He performs as Binoo in Toopy & Binoo Vroom Vroom Zoom, and he’s a proud member of Theatre Direct’s Dora Award nominated ensemble performing in the tabletop puppet play Old Man and the River. Most recently he wrote and directed The Music of Star Wars, a storytelling symphony for the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa.

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In his developing role as a teacher of puppetry, he’s worked alongside Graham White-head at Mermaid Theatre, Allen MacInnis at YPT, Lynda Hill at Theatre Direct, Eric Woolfe at Eldritch Theatre, Ann & David Powell at Puppetmongers Theatre, Seanna Kennedy at Lower Ossington Theatre, Christine Brubaker at Shaw Festival, and Bruce Dow, director of the Canadian premier of Thank You For Being A Friend: the ultimate Golden Girls experience.

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He teaches and directs the puppet performances for two charity organizations: Camp Quality which promotes awareness of childhood cancer, and TAP - Teaching Awareness Through Puppetry - who have a variety of instructive puppet shows addressing kindness, understanding, and inclusiveness.