Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts

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Victoria School of the Arts
225px
Address
10210-108 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
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Information
School type Public K-12 Arts and IB
Established 1911
School board Edmonton Public Schools
Principal Tami Dowler-Coltman
Grades K–12
Colour(s) Red and White             
Team name Victoria School
Former principals Ingrid Niestch, Bob Maskell
Website www.victoria-school.ca

Victoria School of the Arts is a public school in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada operated by Edmonton Public Schools, offering students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 an arts-focused education.

Now known as just Victoria School of the Arts, it was formerly known as Victoria Composite High School or "Vic Comp" for short. In 1985, Bob Maskell took over the position of school principal with the intention of transforming the school from a vocational school with a low enrollment and bad reputation to an arts-based alternative school. He sold off the vocational equipment to finance large-scale renovations, and recruited a staff qualified in a broad range of arts disciplines. Because of the work of Maskell, Victoria School of the Arts has become one of the top arts-focused schools in North America.[1][2]

The school is an International Baccalaureate school, and offers the IB program for grades K-12: one of the only schools in Canada to do so.[3] As its main focus, there are five programs students may pursue at Victoria: Design and New Media, Visual Arts, Theatre, Dance, and Music.[4] In addition to its academic and arts programs, Victoria School is known for its cheer teams. The 1994 Large Squad team won the Suzutan World Cheerleading Championships in Nagoya, Japan.[5] Edmonton's Victoria School coed Cheer Team has won more than 200 cheerleading championship trophies, including 24 provincial and 25 city championships. The National Cheerleaders Association USA Summer Camp trophy was renamed from the All-American Award to the Top Team Award as a result of the Victoria coed Team's many wins.[6]

The high school library was destroyed by a deliberately set fire in April 2007 and the perpetrator admitted to setting the fire in 2010—a 24-year-old male that was not one of the school's students.[7]

Main Stage Shows

Each year a selection of work is performed at the school. Usually two larger productions are featured as "Main Stage" shows. These plays or musicals are the largest events in the arts season at Victoria School. Large casts and week-long runs allow students to perform on the main stage in big productions.

List of Main Stage Shows:

PlayWorks

PlayWorks is a student directed one act festival that occurs every April. Students in which a senior class of directors go through a play selection process, hold auditions and call backs, run rehearsals, and have complete control over every design choice and aspect for their chosen play. PlayWorks is open to all students in grade 7-12 and offers a wide variety of theatre pieces.

The Festival is adjudicated by a notable theatre professional who watches the shows and reflects on the work with the students. It has become an opportunity for the students to receive pointers and feedback from professionals, not to judge or grade the work. In recent years the adjudication has been the work of Scott Swan a notable Canadian director whose work has been seen across the country.

Leaps & Bounds

An annual dance show featuring student choreographed work. This two night showcase has been a staple in Victoria's art season for more than a decade. The show is the presentation component of the IB Dance program for the 20 and 30 level, as well as Composition 35. Composition teaches students the process of choreography. Each student develops a concept and from that develops a dance. The process has 5 main parts:

  1. Concept development
  2. Auditions
  3. Rehearsals
  4. Performance
  5. Reflection

This class offers young dancers a strong foundation in the task of creation. In Dance 20 IB, students work to create solo compositions, moving into choreographing for groups of dancers in the 30 level. Each Student gains important artistic skills and experience through the process.

Festival of the Arts

In the spring of 2010 Victoria hosted the first ever 'Festival of the arts' this event brought together all three levels of school and all the different art disciplines in a large two day celebration. With events being presented all over the school. allowing parents students and staff to spend time taking in performance and looking at work all over the school. This large scale event was held a second time in the spring of 2011 and also served as the official opening of the newly renovated building and the celebration Victoria's centennial birthday. A large event was held in the courtyard area of the school attended by The Mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel as well as the Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach. The event also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the school becoming an arts school and so Bob Maskell spoke as well. The event concluded with a student-led flash mob.

Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival

The Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival, was named in honor of Arthur Hiller, an alumnus of the school. Mr. Hiller, a notable Hollywood director, has returned many times to share his wealth of knowledge and life experience with the students. As a thank you to Hiller, in 2007 the school named their annual student film festival after him.

When the school asked Hiller if they could use his name for the festival he wasn't sure, however after hearing that students wanted to run and lead it, he was convinced. He agreed as long as the word "student" was in the festival name. He didn't want it to be just a brand, but to say something. He wanted it to be about the kids, not him.[citation needed]

In 2009 the festival featured a new element: a film making challenge in which two teams of students attempted to plan, shoot, edit and present a five-minute short in two hours. This challenge took place simultaneously with the annual film showcase. As the featured films were playing, backstage in the theater, two teams were busy shooting. The audience was kept in the loop through the use of a live feed. This version of the festival was entirely student-run as the goal of the festival was to show current students' work, and also to have alumni share work too, much like the way Hiller himself returned to share his knowledge with students.

The festival was discontinued following the 2009 year, due primarily to a lack of support, Plans to bring it back are being discussed but no formal plans have yet been announced.

The Tree Hallway

As part of the 1990s revitalization project the 150 wing of the school was painted with a series of murals depicting trees. These magical and imaginative works of art brought a plain white hall to life with vibrant color. This wing quickly became affectionately known as "The Tree Hallway".[8] At the center of this hall was a mural of Edmonton's city skyline; this work covered about twenty feet of bare wall and became an instant identification point in the school. At the right of the skyline was a large T-Rex, guarding the city. At the end of the 150 wing was a shorter connecting hallway which connected an older half of the school to a newer half. This small corridor was painted in an elaborate display of art, floor to ceiling, depicting an Alleyway out of some artist's nightmare. Every inch of the space was covered in unique art. This hall was called "The Alleyway". The work in the "Alley" ranged from murals of doughnut shops, to dancers on street corners, to sculptures of second story windows, as well as a depiction Superman bursting through a brick wall.

Both the "Tree Hallway" and the "Alleyway" were lost in the construction of the new school in 2009. All murals that were removable were saved and will be relocated in the new building. New murals are being created on mountable panels to inject spirit back into the hallways.

Notable alumni

References

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External links

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