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Bringing theatre to schools By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF They have the passion, and the education, but two recent university graduates who studied acting and teaching are finding it difficult to break into the careers they have chosen. So rather than try to get into one or the other, the pair has combined both skills and opened up a company that will teach students in the art of theatre. "It's a bit selfish because we both love theatre so much, but not being able to do it on a regular basis as a bread-andbutter is kind of sad," said onehalf of the company, Oakville's Devon Healey. "So we thought any way we could do both at the same time ­ the two things that we love ­ would be amazing." Just like in acting, both were having trouble finding teaching jobs. "There are literally no jobs for teachers," she said. "We thought this is the second best thing, being in the classrooms, working with the students and doing something that we love and layering drama on top of it." The two 24-year-olds, Healey and Toronto's Nathan Bitton, have opened the company called Follies and Foils with the aim of going out to schools in western GTA and teaching students the parts of theatre that their regular teachers cannot. Both are classically trained actors from the University of Toronto/Sheridan College joint theatre program and this past spring both graduated from U of T's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE or teachers' college). "There are a lot of people out there right now doing what we do, being guest artists in schools," Healey said. "What sets us apart is that we're teachers too. We've gone through teacher's college and we understand how everything has to have a purpose and a function." Knowing schools have budgets for guest artists, the two took a leap and began the program right after graduating teachers college. "The teachers would ask: can you offer something that will enrich the course material that I can work with after you leave. It's usually something they're not fully trained in," Healey said. With this program, Healey and Bitton visit schools as guest artists and run workshops with students. The majority of their work has been in high schools, and the target grades are seven to 12. The majority of the work is in drama and English classes, but Healey said it could also be effective for English Language Learners, civics and other classes as well. The duo teaches such things as stage combat, character development, viewpoints, collective creations, movement, assistant directing and Shakespearian-based workshops. 27 · Friday, November 4, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "We thought any way we could do both at the same time ­ the two things that we love ­ would be amazing." Devon Healy, actor-teacher, Follies and Foils ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER There are various advantages for teachers who invite Follies and Foils into the classroom. One of those is the pair's ability to teach stage combat, because it helps engage the male students in the course material. "With the stage combat component ­ Nate really takes the lead on that ­ it's great because it gets students who think it's all artsy fartsy, it makes it seem more like a sport and they can connect to it," Healey said. "We've noticed that the male reaction, especially to the stage combat workshops, it amps up their involvement in the class." The company recently did a workshop at a Scarborough school in an English class where the teacher was having trouble getting the students to connect to the play Romeo & Juliette. The pair came in and choreographed a fight scene for all the students to open up the performance. "It grounded them in the work and got them interested," Healey said. "It made it leap from the page. It's difficult in the schools. They study theatre and plays but they're just reading it. Really, it's meant to be seen." The idea to start the company came when the pair was still at teachers' college. Both were in a funk because, as they were both trying to do hands on drama work, they were being told schools were looking for readingbased work. "We were kind of discouraged by that," she said. "We decided, in a bit of a depression, that we should do this for teachers." The pair taught a workshop at OISE to high school teachers to show them what they do. This resulted in the pair finding work in Toronto schools. To learn more about the company, visit www.folliesandfoils.ca. INTO THE SUNSET: T Oakville artist Bruce Lawes is pictured with one of his paintings. Mustangs battle to stay alive Continued from page 26 place awards, plus a best of show at the American Art Awards, along with a number of top-five awards in various categories. He said he paints what inspires him, and at the moment he's inspired to complete his painting of Cloud. "This is the land that the Cloud family lives on and let's leave it that way. Let's not go and shoot them," he said. "Ranchers, they don't want these horses on their land at all because they believe the horses are eating too much grass. Do you think that there would not be enough grass in all of Montana that it'll actually affect ranchers? There are only 50,000 wild horses in the United States, not just Montana." The government in the U.S. rounds up the horses and sells them at auction, which Lawes said usually means the animals end up being killed. "For the most part, they live in the Pryor Mountains," he said. "They go up there in the summer months and live there, where there are no cattle. They come down to the lowlands in the warm months where it's warmer." According to The Cloud Foundation, Cloud's herd was rounded up about two years ago and many of the animals were removed, leaving Cloud in a pack of just 125 horses. "Fortunately, Cloud has survived to this point," Lawes said. "Not only does he have to battle nature to stay alive, he's got to battle the human race, which is a testament to his strength and endurance." The completed painting will be auctioned off in Denver, Colorado. Lawes also participated at the Toronto International Art Fair this past weekend. For more information on him, visit www.bklawesart.com. Contact Dominik Kurek at dkurek@ oakvillebeaver.com or follow him on Twitter at @DominikKurek. BigNamesSmallTheatre Expressions in Art Exhibit this weekend The Expressions In Art Exhibit and Sale is celebrating 23 years of bringing artistic work to Oakville with a show opening tonight (Nov. 4) and running all weekend. The exhibit takes place at the St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre and closes on Sunday. Featured artists come from the surrounding areas of Oakville as well as from across Canada, U.S.A. and Europe. New artists are featured each year, including those who are well-known and respected in the arts. There is a Gala Opening Night tonight, running from 7 to 10 p.m. The cultural centre is located at 1280 Dundas St. W. KLOROFYL* November 17 Paradiso presents ANDREA MARTIN November 18 H2 Systems presents All performances are at THE OAKVILLE CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS To order tickets call: 905-815-2021 or go to www.oakvillecentre.ca * A "PayWhatYouCan" production see website for details