Students at Smith School rehearsed all of last week for a production called ìInnovation and Imaginationî that was presented last Friday night to friends and family in the schoolís gymnasium.
Almost a year ago, Smith School contacted the Calgary-based Trickster Theatre artist residency program, and pursued an Arts Organizations Project Grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts that would help the school cover the cost of accommodating three resident artists for a few days to work with students.
The three artists who came from Trickster Theatre arrived last Tuesday morning with no material ñ no scripts, nothing preplanned ó and in a few short days, helped spark studentsí imaginations.
Resident Tricksters Cari Russell, Phil Keyes and Andy Jenkins stayed with locals while they worked with the students through the week to assist them with choreographing and rehearsing for the performance, which was based on a science curriculum.
The resident artists provide some guidance but largely leave it open to how the students want to build a performance that principal Brenna Liddell called ìthe product of the imagination of the kids.î
ìItís really connected them to the curriculum,î said Liddell.
ìItís brought out their confidence, and in some of our kids who normally are very quiet, very shy, are up there in the spotlight.î
The performances spanned more than an hour.
Russell said the program takes students beyond the confines of a textbook and allows them to dramatize the curriculum in more practical ways.
Russell said that she finds students who may have some difficulty in school flourish with their theatrical approach because it provides an additional outlet for their energy and imagination.
ìTricksters supports the ëact to learní (concept), so weíre using the theatre to teach facts.î
