Parent Presentations-Berario Recreation Centre

On the 10th of June students from our Berario studio between the ages of 5-18 years of age performed their annual Parent Presentations!
These Presentations are an exciting opportunity for our drama students to showcase their talent and what they learnt over the past term.
Our 5-8 year olds performed an adorable mime to music and creative improvised drama for their families...the ooohs and aaahs from the crowd just showed how brave these luttle humans were!
Our 9-12 year olds worked hard throughout the term on a 3 page choral verse about living in a busy city...this piece explored the dynamic of their voices and how we can perform using our voices and faces! They also showed of a historical drama about William Tell and parents were entertained and educated at the same time.
Our teenage group wowed the crowd with their performances of a humorous script about relationships. They also show cased their talent with an entertaining improvisation that they made up an hour before the show!
We have our classes on Saturdays at the Berario Recreation Centre which is a safe, clean, convenient and friendly venue. The staff is outstanding and they are always willing to accommodate us. This is truly a community based centre for our community based academy ;)

Weltevreden is where the fun is at on Mondays

On Mondays students from around Weltevreden attend drama classes at the Weltevreden methodist church. This past Monday myself and the Weltevreden parents were treated to some great entertainment :) the drama kids performed amazingly well and we were super proud.

Dress up costume Days

The Academy has been having such fun dressing up each week. At the start of the term each student received a list of what they need to dress up in each week. By doing this we're teaching our students to research certain eras, people and styles. We have also asked them to get creative at home rather than going out an buying a costume. Our drama students have outdone themselves :) last week was my personal favourite week as it was our 1980s dress up week!!! Take a look at the Randpark students...awesome!!!

Happy Birthday Helen O'Grady

Today is an exciting day for our Academy-it's THE Helen O'Grady's Birthday :) In the 1970s this awesome woman started developing a drama method that aimed to develop children's confidence and skills in verbal communications. Today the small academy she once started is now across the glove with over 50000 students attending classes every week! Check our our new website www.dramaafrica.com-it was launched in honour of Helen O'Grady's birthday.

Adult Drama Classes

Tonight we had an absolute brilliant time in our adult drama classes in Olivedale. For an hour myself and my students are able to escape from the world and enter into a world full of laughter, tragedy, drama, sadness, excitement and hysteria. From improvisations to speech, to duologues to group activities every week is an adventure :) No matter your age everyone needs a bit of escapism and drama gives us just that!

Meet 2 Peeps!!!

Tonight I'm introducing you to two young lady's who are a pleasure to teach! Paula and Alex Duggan are two sisters who attend our Fourways studio every Wedenesday from 5pm-6pm targeted at teenagers. They've been at the academy for just over two years and I'm grateful for their creativity and great energy that they bring to class!

I did a little interview with the girls so that we could get to know them a little better:
On the right meet...
Alex who is turning 15 in a few weeks. She Started drama 2 years ago to improve her self-confidence and to learn how to stop mumbling and thus improve her Public speaking! She said that's she's really looking forward to productions at the end of the year :)

On the left meet...
Paula who is 13 years old. She says that she started drama because she enjoyed it and now she does it to learn new drama skills and boost her confidence. She said that she's excited for productions!

I teach Paula and Alex and they are such polite young women who approach each lesson with great energy and attitudes. Alex has grown greatly since she started and it's all because she challenged herself to push boundaries and come back every week. Paula has a wonderful enthusiasm for drama and she works wonderfully in a group.

I really am blessed by these two students!

Drama makes us smile!

Every Friday Randpark students go to drama at the Randpark Ridge United Church! Today I asked the children what they like about drama and they said : "its fun!" "we Like Kerry" "theres lots of things to do" "we love going to drama on Fridays" "It lets me be silly" " we love speech"!
 As you can see from the pic below drama makes us happy!!!!!!!! I'm the teacher at this class and all I can say is that these kids are amazing and they change my life in every lesson.

Blairgowrie class goes on a river cruise ;)

Today we had such a great time in drama! With the help of the students we put together an improvisation called "The River Cruise". The students were given the opportunity to use their imaginations and cruise down the Nile River exploring its magnificence! Here is a pic of our wonderful actors finishing the scene off with a freeze-we were all relieved that we weren't eaten by crocodiles! The classes in Blairgowrie run at the recreation centre from 4-5pm every Tuesday. SMS 0834102940 for a free trial lesson!!!

1 Week until Adult classes commence!!!

Next Wednesday our Adult students return to class to start rehearsals for their Production of "Cinderella in Africa". I teach these classes every Wednesday at the Olivedale Library from 7pm-8pm. This next term is going to be a a super-fun and jam-packed term-cannot wait to see our dedicated students Mary, Mokoni, Pilane, Luke, Melissa and Jessica!!!! We have some new students too who I'm very excited about ;) see you guys next Wednesday. Here is a pic of some of our adult students putting on a puppet show during class-their directions were to create fun characters with a great plot and child-friendly dialogue!

August Arts Festival 2012

News just in...the August Arts Fest will run from 27-31 August at the Norscot Recreation Centre from 9am-12pm. I will be facilitating this holiday programme and we will explore Greek Theatre, drama, mask-making, contemporary dance, acting, playmaking, rhythm workshops and much much more. To book a spot email me on 08600drama@gmail.com.

Arts Fest 2012

Every year the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy runs their Arts Fest. The activities we line up are always different as we strive to expose the kids to lots of different dramatic art forms , techniques and genres. This year we focused on Greek Theatre and mythology. We explored the way theatre was back in ancient Greece and we created characters too. Besides the many improvisations that the students created, we also made Greek masks, explored contemporary dance, learnt song writing techniques, had fun in a rhythm workshop, and put together a poor theatre production-it was jam-packed. We're planning on running a week long Arts Fest again at the end of August-contact Kerry Holbrook on 0834102940 to book a spot :)

Drama - Good for your Health!

As the winter months approach I personally get into an 'Action Plan' mode - I refuse to let the winter bulge hit :)  Johannesburg gets particularly cold and I get particularly hungry! I move into exercise mode and my mind becomes extremely health-focused, well I try at least ;) All this health consciousness gets me thinking about my overall well-being and how I'm coping not only physically but mentally too. Its so important for every individual in the world to be comfortable with who they are and what they can add to the world...and even though they may be one small individual they can make a difference!

I took a long hard look at our drama classes, and that's when I realised how my seemingly small academy is making a big difference! We try to do our bit for each individual that we teach, we strive to boost their self-esteem and self-belief so that they can grow into mentally healthy individuals - how do we do this? Well we look to praise each student no matter what the praise may be! Every week I know that 325 individuals have had their self-esteems boosted - how cool!!!

 In today's word we are so focused on physical appearance and looks that we tend to forget that we need to develop the 'unseen' bits of us too. Surely once we take care of how we view ourselves and the world psychologically we will start viewing everything else a little differently and a little more positively. This is a little bit deep for a Tuesday afternoon, but I just thought that I should share how proud I am of the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy! All over the world all the many small and large Academy's are making a HUGE difference to so many individuals.

If you think you need a boost to the self - come to a drama class, its extremely good for your health :)

Tomorrow our Boskruin/Randpark students return to Randpark United Church for their weekly drama classes! The studio is so popular that we have very few spots available :) so if you want to join you better move fast.

At 3pm our 5-8 year old actors will meet for  their very first lesson and we will kick the lesson off with fun, speech-developing activities! I don't want to give too much away for their lesson; but I can say that the play they will create tomorrow involves something that is very close to their little hearts - LOOSING A TOOTH :)

Our Upper Primary class for ages 9-12 years, has always been a jam-packed group - this year is no different! The lesson is full of confidence-building improvisations. I am very excited for this group to create their own scenes that involves something that is close to their hearts - school!

From 5pm-6pm the Boskruin Youth Group will attend their first Youth class. This year we have loads of students moving up from the Upper Primary Class - I cannot wait to see the talent of this group! We already had very talented and creative teens in the Youth Group but with the addition of so many experienced Upper Primary students this year is going to be AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Rand Park/Boskruin Studio jam-packed with students

The Helen O'Grady Drama Academy in Rand Park Ridge/Boskruin has always been a popular studio. Classes run every Friday during the school term from 3pm-6pm. There are 3 groups that the classes split in to according to their ages and experience! The lower primary group consists of 25 students aged between 5&8. The upper primary group is a full class of 26 students between 9-12 years of age;and the youth theatre group consists of 15 teenagers ranging from 13-18 years of age. This studio is extremely popular and the kids are very, very talented! We said goodbye to a few students this year as they are going on to varsity and matric:( Spaces have become available for next year-let your friends know to book their spot in class ASAP if they're interested in becoming more confident and skilled!

Leading the way in Drama!

Today marked the final day of the national Helen O'Grady annual seminar. Pretorias Principal Julie won blogger of the year-well done Julie:) And a huge congrats to Anita from Joburg North East for winning Franchisor of the year:) All the sharing, learning and creating of the past 2 days just shows how our Academy is leading the way for Drama Education!

Blairgowrie Talent

The Blairgowrie studio of the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy is growing into a class that is full of talent and creativity! In 2008 this Studio opened its doors to children who lacked self-esteem and the ability to express themselves; fast forward to 2011 and the kids are very, VERY different. After teaching there last Tuesday I realized why the Yoga teacher next door insists on shutting her classroom doors so tight - those drama kids have the loudest voices; and boy they are not shy to let the Blairgowrie Recreation Centre know that between 4pm and 5pm every Tuesday its their time to shine:)

Tomorrow I will be visiting the studio again and I just know that the students will help confirm my already solid belief that the Helen O'Grady Drama system is a self-development programme that WORKS!!! Its an awesome way for kids to interact with one another, share their creative ideas and shine like stars EVERY single week.

Drama Fun in the Sun

Spring has Sprung and we couldnt be more delighted!!! The kids and I were so happy to finally feel the warmth of spring that we decided to run class on the lawns of Fourways Gardens Estate.

The day started off with the Lower Primary Group arrivivg to class dressed up in any crazy gear that they could find...Look at us showing off in front of the camera...


Here we are posing under the lapa - what an awesome group:)

The Upper Primary Group also came to class all dressed up and ready to learn! We decided that the best way to enjoy the wonderful warmth was to learn mini-scripts on the lawn...

This class was so focused on the work that they didnt even notice anyone around us, they learnt their lines  with focus and determination! Afterwards they went off and rehearsed their own endings. Working outdoors can be challenging as noise levels are quiet loud, but they projected their voices like real amphitheatre performers:)

All I can say is getting out of the classroom and into the garden was a brilliant way to celebrate the warmth of SPRING!!! 

Helen O’Grady Students WOW crowds at the Promusica Basement Theatre

Each Year the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy gives their students a chance to perform for their family and friends! These productions give drama students the chance to showcase their talents and put their newly learnt skills to the test. November 2010 was an exciting month for the Academy as over 200 students had the opportunity of performing at the Promusica Basement Theatre to a sell out audience for every show.



Children aged 5 – 8 years looked too cute in their African Animal Costumes; tweens had audiences very entertained with their performance of “STORYLAND” where they became all sorts of characters from our favourite stories and Nursery rhymes and were challenged with new ideas pertaining to their own little stories! As usual the Youth Groups did fantastic work on their challenging scripts and showed parents how it’s done!


2010 Productions were a great success – Cannot wait for Productions 2011!!!

BOSKRUIN LOWER 

BOSKRUIN UPPER

BOSKRUIN YOUTH

ALEX: Our Fantastic Drama Teacher!

If anyones been taught by Helen O'Grady teacher Alex,  they'll get a great idea of how FUN drama is!

Alex (pictured above), has been teaching for the Academy for nearly 3 terms and everyone just loves her natural ability to make people feel great about themselves. Our classes develop childrens self-esteem and confidence levels; thats why we have amazing teachers like Alex teaching for us!

Alex teaches kids at the Greenside, Roosevelt Park, Blairgowrie and Cliffview studios; and now she will be helping Kerry out at the Norscot studio.

Norscots Bring A Friend Day = GREAT SUCCESS!!!

Saturday 24 July 2010 was a very exciting day for our Norscot Classes. It was Bring a Friend Day!!!

Norscot Lower students with some of their friends.

The Lower Primary group had such a blast with the Dance Drama and acted out like a symbols from a crazy computer - Just have a look...

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The Upper Primary Group had loads of fun dressing up like old Granny's and Grampa's - Here are some of the students who really put in an effort with their costumes:

Every single lesson is fun at our Academy...and thats why The Helen O'Grady Drama Network has the most successful Drama Academy in the World!