\nShe was a shy child, but felt herself open up more and more every time she stepped out onto the stage as a youngster.
\nNow an actor and director, she hopes to instill this theatrical magic in local youngsters, leading the Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s inaugural Theatre Camp.
\nComplimenting the Centre\u2019s wildly successful Visual Arts camps, the curtain will open on the theatrical programming July 16, running through July 20, focusing on musical theatre. A second week long session, focusing on plays rather than musicals, will run August 13 \u2013 17.
\nThe theatre camp is the brainchild of Suzanne Haines, the Centre\u2019s Executive Director.
\n\u201cSuzanne had the idea already and was really wanting to bring the camp to the Aurora Cultural Centre,\u201d says Ms. Roveda. \u201cThey already have their successful visual arts camp and she really wanted to bring a theatre camp to life. She wanted it to be taught by professionals in the industry who were working. We sat down and started talking about ideas and where I come from and my experience, and we made a good fit. She brought me on.\u201d
\nTogether, they hammered out the fine details.
\nThe result is a program of two very different weeks giving participants exposure to very different worlds while, at the same time, keeping things fresh for returning budding actors.
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Each camp will culminate in a short performance. Of course, as the camps are each one week long, they can\u2019t put on full-blown musicals, but the finale will showcase all the work the kids had been doing over the session, including short scenes, songs and songs with choreography. The second session, dubbed \u201cActed Out\u201d will end with the performance of a short play.\n\u201cI was lucky to start doing theatre quite young and really took to it, just because it was super fun,\u201d says Ms. Roveda. \u201cThen as I got older, I started seeing opportunities to get into it professionally and I jumped at that opportunity. I definitely found it very helpful in other aspects of my life as well, with public speaking, with confidence, with communication skills, and that is really what I like to impart with the kids. We\u2019re not teaching them to be trained professional actors at the age of six. What I am really focusing on are these life skills they can use in all aspects their lives.\u201d
\nFirst and foremost among these are confidence and communication, she says.
\n\u201cI was a very shy child and still have that shy child living inside of me,\u201d she says. \u201cThrough theatre, I learned how to acknowledge that shy child and be able to acknowledge it, say, \u2018thank you, you\u2019re there,\u2019 and be able to work around it and put forward the confidence I have learned through theatre.\u201d
\nAlong the way, Ms. Roveda says she wants to impart these lessons through fun and games, allowing kids to explore themselves creativity and interact in a way they might not otherwise be able to do in any other environment.
\nThis is, in part, what keeps her coming back to the theatre.
\nShe says she loves the team-oriented, production-oriented environment that comes out of theatre.
\n\u201cIt fosters creativity, but within a group in a way that you always feel supported. I don\u2019t know where else, other than organized sports, you can get that feeling of being on a team and working towards that end goal \u2013 but with a more creative side to it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is a really important time in this very digital age to kind of get out from behind the screen and have kids be in a very safe environment that promotes self expression. Things like empathy through role playing and through team building, and these wonderful life-skills that I think in this digital age it is hard to do with the phones and computers. It is very isolated and solo. At this camp it will be about team building and working with others in a really fun environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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