Oh Canada!

Ready to get sporty? In this session, our students designed new uniforms for the Canadian Pan-Am athletes. We got some advice from local fashion designer Meg Kinney who suggested that we think about who you are designing for and what they need/want. She recommended jumpsuits for our athletes.

Image from http://spinsandneedles.com/stuff/2010/06/30

We also looked at national symbols. Is the Maple Leaf really forever? Is Canada represented by any other colours than red and white? 

   Ready, get set, glue!! A gymnastics outfit evolves.

This is a pattern drafting exercise. The idea is to put together a rough working idea for a uniform -not a finished garment. Our students have to fashion something fabulous using textiles, bits of old garments, ribbons, sticky back plastic, foam sheets, mylar, tape, glue and pins. 

Little red soccer shorts. 

Stylish hat!

Love these groovy red boots!

...and the bold graphic design on this athlete's cape.

Some of the students took on our special challenge to move beyond the Maple Leaf by adding some nature elements into their design. 

At the end of the class, it was time for the students to strut their stuff on the fashion runway. They struck a pose with their teammates, tried on a new persona, or invented a special anthem. Every kid was a winner.

Goodbye to our awesome students this session.  

Setting the scene

The audience is waiting. Lights dimmed.Cellphones off. A hush through the theatre. The curtains draw back….

Stars twinkle down on a crackling campfire in this outdoor scene.

This week we captured that magical moment with our set design workshop. The challenge: how to make a story come alive on stage. In this workshop we are set designers and production managers.

Since kids are instantly compelled to imagine stories, they easily grasped the idea of using a scenic back-drop to establish the time and place of a play.

A good set can also give dramatic context for the mood of a story. How can we use the space, colours, textures, shapes to create a particular atmosphere? Is the story scary, funny or just plain weird?
This gloomy blackened interior had a touch of Ibsen about it…

And sometimes, a set can also give us hints about the characters.

Amongst these puppets, the protagonist is an aspiring mad scientist -who turns her bedroom into a laboratory. The table in her bedroom is filled with test tubes and beakers.

Three of our student designers decided to tackle Jurassic Park. One of them ambitiously merged Jurassic Park with Star Wars and embarked on a fusion set. We were impressed at how three children working side by side, happily created their own designs on the same theme, with enthusiastic cross-pollination. In one Jurassic park, the set was multi-purpose. One configuration showed a lush prehistoric forest. Flip the flooring over and reverse the trees and you get a sleek research laboratory. This student took on the challenge to create a set that transforms over time. 

Nice foreground layering elements- add to the depth in this forest.

Some of our designers used the set to create a story of their own: Good day, bad day. The narrative arose out of the design. This part of the set shows Boby Joy's bedroom, with a fake turf play area. 

And this set, with its blocky characters is based on the computer game Minecraft. A team of designers brainstormed on how to turn this video activity into a stage concept. 

Stairs pass through the foreground into the audience.