No need to improvise gold medals for VMC
Vincent Massey Collegiate wins Canadian Improv Games
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This article was published 05/05/2015 (4099 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Vincent Massey Collegiate’s improv team doesn’t play around.
The group of students in Grades 10 through 12 won their first-ever Canadian Improv Games in Ottawa on April 25.
Grade 12 student Bohdan Dyck had his sights set on winning the national championship since he joined the improv team in Grade 10.
“When I actually lifted the trophy above my head, I achieved a three-year-long goal, so it was such a crazy moment for me,” Dyck said outside of the improv room at Vincent Massey Collegiate (VMC).
The team performed in the final four rounds against four other schools from across Canada. They were judged in the categories of theme, story, style, and life, racking up a grand total of 1,366 points to secure the title.
First-year improviser Hannah Gray, 16, says winning the competition was surreal.
“We just let loose and something magical happens when we’re onstage in front of an audience. We’re just so connected and we have so much fun with each other and I think that’s what sets us apart,” Gray said.
The team of approximately 10 students has been practising together since September. The course is taught by drama instructor Margo Wilson Kehler who has been at VMC for 26 years.
“It’s not just an achievement for our school,” Kehler said. “It’s really for Manitoba too, because this is the first time a Manitoba team has placed that high, or has won nationally.”
Kehler began the improv group as a lunchtime club in 1996 and over the years it has transformed into a regular course offering. Checking out regular performances by the improv team is a popular lunchtime activity for students, Kehler says.
“I think that’s what gave us a bit of an edge because these kids are really improvisers. They can do anything! They really astound me,” she said.
Throughout the year Kehler brought in guest instructors including Chadd Henderson, Caitlin Curtis, Stephen Sim (Crumbs) and Chris Sigurdson to coach the students in the art form. Jonathan Kornelsen (Parking Lots) and Lee White (Crumbs) were also regular fixtures in the classroom.
The troupe has worked on listening, observation, the use of suggestion, characters, and stage work, to the point where they can handle just about anything, Kehler said.
“They’ve become somewhat fearless and in something like improv fearlessness is integral because you need to go in and take some calculated risks,” she said.
Though she admits she was a nervous wreck watching the VMC troupe take the stage in Ottawa, Kehler said she knew the team would do well.
“By that point when they’re on the floor competing I just sit back and enjoy, they really just entertain me and that’s when the fun kicks in because my job is done and I can just enjoy them as entertainers.”