Over the spring break, we had our improv students goto Ottawa and participate in the national improv competition. While I was not able to join the group, I did watch the webcast and was blown away by their performance. For this entry, I am thrilled to share the story through the words of our teacher sponsor and chaperone, Rob Walker:
What an accomplishment. The Carson Graham Improv varsity team has returned from Ottawa as national silver medalists. I am so remarkably proud and yet, they are not even my team! They play for their coach, Carson grad Jullian Kolstee, and they play for each other. As a drama teacher at Carson, I have participated in the development and watched these artists advance their skills, some for 5 years. They proudly represented the Lower Mainland region of the Canadian Improv Games[CIG], The City of North Vancouver, and Carson Graham Secondary in Ottawa, Ontario. The CIG’s National Festival is the most geographically diverse arts competition in Canada and it played out on the National Arts Centre stage, just blocks from Parliament Hill.
Carson Graham Improv[CGI] has been a regular visitor to the Lower Mainland finals in a tournament that regularly boasts 30 schools. A qualifying top two finish was not the team’s path to Ottawa this year. On finals night, the team finished fourth on an incredibly strong night of exuberant talent. The CIG runs an online wildcard tournament in parallel to its 14 regions nationally. The team posted their video and beat out 18 teams from 9 regions across the country. To get a taste of competitive improvised theatre sports at the high school level please seek out the video on YouTube> Carson Graham Improv online wildcard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOEIeIcjMBg
They took the long shot and they made it. Jullian Kolstee, Artistic Director of CGI and senior team coach, sat the team closely together at the close of their final rehearsal on Carson’s home stage. He directed them to visualize how this team came together, worked through challenges, and sacrificed many opportunities to be a part of this creative work. He asked them to picture every teammate, friend, family member, audience member who came to a show or supported them in their fundraising efforts. It was here Jullian reminded each player that they take all that support and privilege along with their 150+ hours of rehearsal to Ottawa. This same scene was played out backstage before their 2 shows on the stage of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. They were quiet moments of reflection before the creative storm that is the genre of improvised theatre. It was the beautiful moment that highlights the value of these opportunities for youth. The value of achieving a silver medal is second to the rich community these students have built as they discover the amazing heights they can reach.
The full podcast of finals night can be viewed through Algonquin College’s TV Broadcasting Program > http://livestream.com/algonquinTV/events/5058701
The team would like to thank the admin team of Carson; cast and crew of the Altair & Vega student performance which offered its box office proceeds; teacher Cora Clark; teacher candidate and chaperone Christine Coles; Parliament Hill Committee Clerk Lief-Erik Aune for sharing his access and knowledge of the Hill; and MP Jonathan Wilkinson for making time to meet and dialogue. Financial assistance was received on short notice by the Carson PAC and City of North Vancouver. Above all, as a teacher and mentor to these students, I thank all families who support creative opportunities.
Rob Walker