Academy Archives - Page 11 of 11

“I need more from my English course!”

Last year, one of our creative writing students – let’s call her Lily - burst into our arts studio shouting these words. She was a Grade 10 student in a local high school – smart, creative, articulate and high-flying. She proceeded to rant about her experiences in school: how she longed for an opportunity to explore Shakespeare in depth, discuss contemporary literature, write literary essays and be inspired to read more widely, think more deeply, write more skilfully. Yet nothing in Lily’s English classes was meeting her needs. Her class had started to study Shakespeare – but they did so using only a comic book version of the play. When Lily asked her teacher why they couldn’t study Shakespeare’s actual play, she was told [...]

August 14th, 2020|Academy|

Film School for Teens in Toronto

Centauri Arts School in Bloor West Village, Toronto, offers weekly film classes for teens. The "Film Production" classes runs each week in our film and acting school in Toronto's west end. Discover the art of film-making. Learn the basics of film making as you try your hand at storyboarding, directing, camera operation, audio, lighting and production design. Each hands-on film course begins with a sequence of short film projects; by rising to challenges set by the instructor and critiquing the results of their work, students develop all the skills they need to move to the second stage: creating their own short film. Explore the work of famous directors as you search for inspiration, then brainstorm the subject of your own movie. Discover how to tell [...]

February 28th, 2020|Academy|

Writing School for Teens in Toronto

Centauri Arts Academy in Bloor West Village, Toronto, offers weekly writing classes for teens. The "Creative Writing Salon" runs each week in our writing school in Toronto's west end. Designed for young writers with an interest in any genre and style, this informal writing school provides creative stimuli and the encouragement of other writers, to keep you writing all year long. Classes consist of readings, lively discussions, and a wide variety of writing prompts – some to awaken your creative spirit, others to explore techniques and many just for fun. Discover how to create intriguing characters, build fictional worlds, structure a novel, write poetry and meld your words into pieces that will intrigue and grip a reader. Whatever you love to write, our inspirational writing [...]

February 28th, 2020|Academy|

Acting School for Teens in Toronto

Centauri Arts Academy in Bloor West Village, Toronto, offers weekly acting classes for teens. The "Actor’s Workshop" runs each week in our acting school in Toronto's west end. -Senior Ensemble (ages 12-18) and Junior Ensemble (ages 9-14). In this intensive acting program, participants develop a wealth of performance skills, aided by a qualified acting coach with professional directing and acting experience. Development essential acting tools: voice, clown, mask, mime, comedy, improvisation, and character. We’ll also teach you the monologue and audition skills you’ll need to successfully prepare for an arts high school, university arts programs, school plays or professional industry work. We move on to partner and scene work, learning how to interpret text and work with a scene partner to create performances filled with [...]

February 28th, 2020|Academy|

Starting to Write

Recently, a parent called to book their child on one of our summer writing camps. At the end of our conversation she said, rather hesitantly, “I’ve always wanted to write, too. It’s just than I don’t know where to begin.” This blog is for her. Anyone can write. You don’t need terrific literacy skills, or a degree. You don’t need to be a keen reader, nor do you need excessive amounts of free time. Talent isn’t important, and neither is a fancy laptop. All you need is a pen (or pencil) and a sheet of paper. While some people write specifically for publication and others feel they need an audience for their writing to make it worthwhile, there are also plenty of writers who produce [...]

January 16th, 2020|Academy, Retreats|

New Classes begin Sept 21 for fall semester 2019

Join us for evening and weekend arts workshops this Fall in Toronto! Our first semester at the Centauri Arts Academy begins on Saturday 21 September, and most of our classes have space – so there’s still time to join our arts community and flex your creative muscles! We have expanded our creative writing programs, so there’s spots available in all three classes, and we also have space in our Tuesday Acting course. Film on Thursdays is now full for the first semester, but space remains in semester two. Creative Writing Workshops Explore multiple writing techniques and try varied and inspiring prompts in one of our THREE creative writing courses this Fall! Our Saturday morning class is open to ages 10-15 and taught by centre director, [...]

September 13th, 2019|Academy|

Getting to Know Bloor West Village, Toronto!

Welcome to our new blog – a place we can celebrate the achievements of our academy students, and provide information that will be of use to our families. We recognise that young people attend our arts programs from all over the city, and further afield. Now that registration is open for our film classes, creative writing workshops and acting courses in the second semester, here are some useful resources for parent-drivers who find themselves in Bloor West Village with a couple hours to kill: Coffee Shops and Eateries The strip between Runnymede and Jane subway stations is filled with terrific places to catch a bite to eat, or hang out with a book while your student is in class. Centauri Arts is located at Bloor [...]

December 18th, 2018|Academy|

12 Writing Prompts for the Holidays!

Scheduled holidays provide us with a rare opportunity for extended periods of uninterrupted writing time. With this in mind, here are 12 prompts you could use to inspire 12 days of writing over the winter holiday. But first, a spoiler alert! If you take creative writing classes with us at the Centauri Arts Academy, you will be receiving your own, gift-wrapped writing prompts similar to the ones below, so we'd advise you not to read on! For everyone else, ask a friend to print out these prompts for you, and to fold and place each one in an envelope. Every time you find yourself with 15+ minutes in which to write, select a prompt at random, settle yourself in your favourite writing chair, open your [...]

December 17th, 2018|Academy, Retreats, Writing Prompts|