What happens when kids get the opportunity to mount shows that excite them? That mean something to them? What do you get when you support young people in producing the theatre that inspires them?
Magic happens.
At TES Theatre Company we provide skill-building support, mentorship, and years of cumulative experience in both professional theatre skills and collaborative education to facilitate the making of magic. Young people have their own unique and important visions, and their own unique and important contributions. We provide the opportunity and we foster the process.
And we watch the magic happen on stage.
And we watch as each participant gains confidence in their abilities, their voice, and their own ability to make magic happen.
Have you ever wondered what the TES in TES Theatre actually stands for? It stands for The Emerging Stage.
We chose this name in part to honour the acronym in TES Society, the “Transforming Education Society”, our ongoing parent/partner whose values of collaborative education we espouse. But when we branched out as a theatre company, we needed to differentiate our focus if not our values.
The focus of TES Theatre Company is youth. Young people who are in various stages of finding their own voices and visions as artists. Young people who are still emerging in their creativity, their skills, their stories, and their access to self-expression. Young people who need a welcoming space where they are valued as artists, where their contributions are taken seriously, and where their potential can emerge.
TES Theatre Company is not typical kids theatre classes. TES Theatre Company is a youth theatre company, a collaborative model of theatrical production where the young people create their own work, and bring their own visions to the stage. TES Theatre Company supports emerging artists, at all stages of growth, in all areas of theatre expression. We are an actual theatre troupe for young people, creating plays by and for youth.
The Emerging Stage honours both emergence and stages, all definitions of both those words. Our teachers and mentors are highly skilled at bringing out the best in youth of all ages, fostering a cooperative environment that encourages collaboration and participation, respect, social connections, and creative emergence. TES Theatre is a community, a safe and inclusive social space where all participants can be their true selves.
TES stands for The Emerging Stage. Come check out our classes or camps and you will see why we stand out. We are not just classes, we are a youth theatre company where young people thrive.
It can be hard to find the best camp for your kids.
You want a camp that will be dynamic, where your kids will get exercise and physical activity. You want them to move around and have a productive outlet for their exuberance and energy.
You want a camp that inspires creativity, that challenges your kids to thrive and be their best. You want a camp that is social, where your kids can make friends and ongoing connections with kids their age, where they can share their interests and ideas in a friendly and welcoming environment.
You want a camp that is affordable, accessible, and inclusive. You want a camp that is so much fun that your kids will be eager to attend every day, a camp they will talk about for weeks or months after it’s over, and look forward to attending again next year.
There are many camps for kids in Vancouver, but few are as engaging and inspiring as TES Theatre. If you are looking for a stand out, one-of-a-kind camp experience for Spring Break or Summer, TES Theatre has a camp for you. For ages 5 and up, this is the camp you’ve been searching for.
Join this active, creative, inspiring camp this year. Theatre games, singing, dancing, and skill-building activities that is all recreational for the minis, and leads towards a small performance for the older kids. Have fun! Make friends! Perform your heart out this spring with TES Theatre Company.
Location: Tightrope Theatre, 2343 Main Street, Vancouver
There will be a small showcase for the older group from 2 – 3pm on Friday March 24.
TES Theatre Company is kicking off the new year with theatre: new plays for each troupe. Every level is tackling their own production, from the youngest participants (minis and juniors) to the oldest (intermediates and seniors).
Every group collaborates to choose, cast, and mount their own play. Students participate in whatever capacity makes them excited, which might be dancing with the ensemble, painting sets, or helping with lighting, or it might be designing choreography, writing musical scores, performing the starring role, or directing the whole production. Some students skim the surface and some dive deep, but all are supported and mentored by our fabulous and skilled instructors, who lend their vast talent and experience to facilitating the students’ ambitions.
This collaborative approach to youth musical theatre yields incredible results. The plays are dynamic and creative, expressive of the youth voices that create them: sparkling and original. TES Theatre Company offers a truly unique opportunity for young people to explore their own artistic visions through musical theatre, and both the participants and the audiences benefit from the process. The plays are exquisitely memorable and enjoyable because they are so fresh.
If your experience of kids’ theatre is flat, canned productions with kids merely reciting lines that adults feed them, check out TES Theatre. It is a completely different paradigm, where youth are centre stage, behind the stage, and in every stage of artistic development. After all, TES stands for “The Emerging Stage” because we help young artists emerge at every stage. We provide a space for emerging artists.
TES Theatre Company welcomes teens to our Senior Theatre Program, where youth from 14 – 21 can create their own productions. This might include writing a script, designing a stage set, creating costumes, props, or lighting. It might mean rehearsing, acting, singing, dancing. It might mean being a stage manager, a publicist, a fundraiser. TES Theatre provides the mentoring, the coaching, the skills-building, the support, and the opportunities for young artists to emerge.
Join our Senior Theatre Troupe, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am – 3pm, in the heart of Vancouver BC, and discover how much you have to contribute. Make friends! Make theatre! Find your inner artist.
Don’t miss out on our FREE day of Glee Club, this Thursday September 29, from 10am – noon, in East Vancouver. There will be some singing and dancing to your favourite songs in a zero-pressure but highly fun environment. Make friends! Find your glee.
Space is limited RSVP to get on the list, and try GLEE CLUB for free!
TES Theatre Company invites all 13 – 19 year olds to try out our Glee Club for FREE!
This is a relaxed and fun way to do some zero-pressure singing & dancing to popular songs with other teens. No experience required! No particular skills required. This is 100% for fun.
Our Glee Club for teens runs Thursdays 10am – 3pm in Vancouver, and we are inviting all teens to come try it out this week at no cost. This is a great activity for high-school age home learners, or any teens who have flexible schedules.
Thursday September 29, 2022
10am – 12pm
By RSVP only. Space is limited, so contact us to get on the list.
Our Musical Theatre Program for Seniors is a different from anything they’ve ever done before!
Teens at TES Theatre take the lead in exploring their own creative visions. The participants in the Senior Program choose the plays. Sometimes they pitch favourites that resonate with the group, and sometimes they write entirely new scripts dealing with whatever topics are important to them at the time.
Participants choose how they want to be involved–directing, choreographing, designing, painting, lighting, promoting, or of course performing. Many students focus on singing, dancing, and acting, but some prefer the backstage roles, and learn how to be stagehands, or props masters, or sound technicians.
The plays that the Senior members produce are innovative, original, and inspired. They are student-led, and mentor-supported. Participants learn and grow and thrive during the creation of their productions, tackling new skills, embracing new talents, and trying new things.
TES Musical Theatre Classes are ideal for home learners, home schoolers, or online learners. Our teen classes are during the week, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am – 3pm. Teens can even get high school credits through most DL’s/OL’s. It can be hard to find high quality, engaging classes for high school aged home learners. We are happy to provide such a fantastic option.
Senior members make lifelong friends during this creative process. Many of our graduates have gone on to produce their own art, or study some form of theatre, performing arts, or stage production at the post-secondary level. And even for those who don’t, their years with TES Theatre provide an unforgettable life experience, being part of something so creative.
TES Theatre Company 