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nmmmm mmskm high school students get dramatic by elizabeth wyatt this is the fourth article in a series on theatre for youth in the markhamstouffville area throughout history theatre has had its good times and its bad to day in this country it is enjoying a boom new theatres are springing up everywhere and probably not since premovie days have people flocked to plays in such numbers not surprisingly there is a con- w christmas jit christmas dont look worried buttonville golf and country club has established itself as an exclu sive and excellent setting for you christmas or company parties weddings receptions our personalized service and excellent cuisine and beverage selection will make your party special big or small meetings or luncheons up to two hundred people with or without live music or disc jockey iwf i for reservations please call otp giselle at mml 4777711 now open red rose donut only 99 with this ad only 50 16th avenue plaza gbeg3l 4718133 avoid th tuftkcys m6tf hr special 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high schools stouffville district high was among the first in the area to offer them when carol stanatiou joined its staff in 1971 markham district high school followed a year later with ron hindles classes for grade 1 1 only the popularity of these courses has steadily increased today hindle has a staff of four other teachers three studios and close to 500 students registered in dra ma classes from grade 9 to oac ontario academic credit formerly grade 13 while stanatiou remains the sole drama teacher at the much smaller stouffville school where she has an enrolment of over 150 students its growing incred ibly she says so many more are interested in drama and at first it was mostly girls but now theres a very very healthy rep resentation of boys in my classes and with the rapid growth of the town of markham new high schools now augment older in stitutions like thornlea mdhs and st roberts the arts- oriented unionville high school and brother andre high school on 16th avenue opened in 1985 this means more schools offering courses in drama and many more students to take advantage of them another significant change is in terminology the ontario minis try of education has decreed that what used to be known as theatre arts now be called dramatic arts brother steven fatum of brother andre explains the rationale behind the change of name theatre implies whats good for the audience dramatic whats good for the performer in other words the emphasis is on the process not the end product there have been changes too in the approach to teaching this process traditionally the now open sunday perfect pizza italian style food daily lunch dinner specials bring this ad in for a large j size pizza at medium size price j i eat in dining only i vna pizza house raymervme plaza 4716222 mccowan rd raymerville fflapfesj lodge restaurant rr 4 stouffville join us for thanksgiving sunday and monday brunch 1 1 00 am to 230 pm just 995 all you can eat dinner buffet 430 pm to 800 pm just 1295 turkey pumpkin pie and lots more for reservations call 6404882 halloween dinner dance tickets are on sale now only 2500 per couple for reservations call 6404882 hwy 48 1 mi n of bloomington side road dramatic arts have been affili ated with english departments with the chief drama teacher usually serving as an assistant head this still holds true in most of york region but in some new schools they belong to an arts department along with music and the visual arts and the day is probably not far off when drama will form a distinct department of its own as it already does in some toronto schools this early association with the study of english often led to a scripty approach to teaching according to brother steven it was literary he says and many teachers took a directors rather than a performers view of drama they used material writ ten for the stage right from the start this meant that students were dealing with to him artificial characters and situations that had nothing to do with real life as they knew it recognizing this the ministry adopted a theory of the teaching of drama formulated in england simply put says brother steven it is that theatre evolves from experience not the other way around as a subject it deals in imagination rather than performance now regardless of department affiliation teachers of dramatic arts in ontario high schools put the emphasis on creativity on the development of imagination self- expression and communication but within this concept wide lati tude is given individual teachers to exercise their own creativity says unionville high schools jeff young the ministrys guidelines are very definite re garding methodology and pro cess but not all that descriptive in terms of course content nevertheless a pattern emerges in the descriptions of courses offered in four of our local schools subjects like the history of theatre performance techni ques and stagecraft tend not to be introduced until the higher grades in the lower grades teachers concentrate on drawing out students imaginations in helping them to understand them selves and express themselves it is intended to show how dra ma can assist personal develop ment says hindle of markham highs grade course we try to make the students more self aware and aware of others and to build up a tolerance for risk- taking theatre games like tab leaux sensory journeys dance in drama are the tools at stouffville stanatious intro ductory grade 10 class uses simi lar methods with the addition of mime choral work and story tell ing we focus on using voice and body effectively to foster co operation concentration prob lemsolving group dynamics they can use these skills any where not just on the stage but at work for instance brother steven agrees i help them sec how important effective communication is in everyday life even in ordinary things like asking dad for the car family rows are often set off because the kids simply cant express their real thoughts or feelings so in grade 10 we encourage self- exploration in a nonthreatening way we dont get to a study of theatre proper for the first two years to be continued next week paddingtons bed n bath is coming to markville shopping centre soon