Applications for Realwheels Theatre's second Academy cohort are open now to March 15

Performing arts training program for D/disability-identified artists will run from September 2025 to June 2028

SPONSORED POST BY Realwheels Theatre

Realwheels Theatre Academy alumna Jennifer Burgmann (left) and instructor Sandra Ferens. Photo by by Mark Halliday

 
 

Realwheels Theatre has just announced the intake for its second cohort of the Academy, which will run from September 2025 to June 2028.

The Academy is a three-year, part-time, fully scholarship-funded training program—the only one of its kind in Canada—that focuses on exploring the creation of compelling performance. Centred on the principle that every mind and body is uniquely creative, the Academy is open to anyone identifying as living with visible or invisible D/disability and/or who is D/deaf and is working toward acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain a professional performance practice. Graduates will possess a strong foundation on which to build a thriving career in the arts.

Year One of the Academy is designed to expand students’ understanding of performance. Through a variety of approaches to contemporary creation and active experimentation (including sound, light, digital media, and human interaction), students will develop the ability to make work that reflects their creative intentions.

Year Two of the Academy explores the relationship between a performance and its intended public. Students are asked to consider who they are making work for and why. They will investigate the diverse ways in which folks attending a performance can be affected, going beyond basic accessibility to create multisensory experiences.

 

Academy alumna Emily Grace Brook at the Freewheeling Mini-Festival in 2023. Photo by Sarah Race

 

Year Three centres on the development of an original piece from concept to performance. This intake combines considerations of “What am I making?” and “Who am I making it for?” into the larger question of “How do I make it?”. In addition to aesthetic considerations, students will engage in concept proposals, grant writing, scheduling, budgeting, contracting, and marketing.

“Rolling out this program taught us so much,” says Adam Grant Warren, co-artistic director of Realwheels Theatre, in a release. “Particularly that we couldn’t just start with the traditional classes in voice, movement and acting, for example. We needed to build a whole new curriculum: one that could offer professional calibre training with the flexibility to meet each student in their individual body, mind, and creative curiosity.”

The application deadline for the Academy is March 15. Interested students can learn more and apply by visiting the Realwheels Theatre website.



Post sponsored by Realwheels Theatre.

 
 
 

Related Articles

Featured
With Ionesco’s Cabaret, Rumble Theatre brings the Theatre of the Absurd into the modern age
With Ionesco’s Cabaret, Rumble Theatre brings the Theatre of the Absurd into the modern age

The show, produced by Theatre Conspiracy in association with Pi Theatre, finds contemporary resonances in Eugène Ionesco’s 20th-century works

Theatre review: Gleefully chaotic Goblins dismantle Oedipus at Bard on the Beach
Theatre review: Gleefully chaotic Goblins dismantle Oedipus at Bard on the Beach

Wug, Kravga, and Moog deliver a take on Sophocles’ Greek tragedy that, in addition to copious amounts of crude humour, has its share of chillingly effective moments

Theatre review: A Streetcar Named Desire unsettles with mix of charm, fragility, and violence
Theatre review: A Streetcar Named Desire unsettles with mix of charm, fragility, and violence

Ensemble Theatre Company taps into the humid haze of a Tennessee Williams classic where love and self-deception mingle

Theatre review: The Little Mermaid dives into glittering storybook setting at Theatre Under the Stars
Theatre review: The Little Mermaid dives into glittering storybook setting at Theatre Under the Stars

Standout performances and design bring infectious energy to Disney’s tale of love and self-discovery

Theatre review: Bard on the Beach’s adaptation of Antigone opens new paths through timeless tragedy
Theatre review: Bard on the Beach’s adaptation of Antigone opens new paths through timeless tragedy

Bold update by Kate Besworth brings mythic figures closer to us while continuing to ask the ancient questions posed by Sophocles

Theatre review: Theatre Under the Stars’ Sister Act soars on joyous sounds and heartfelt story
Theatre review: Theatre Under the Stars’ Sister Act soars on joyous sounds and heartfelt story

Fierce company transforms characters by committing to the popular musical’s blend of disco, soul, and gospel

Anita Majumdar’s Why We Work Out is an exercise in understanding, at Indian Summer Festival
Anita Majumdar’s Why We Work Out is an exercise in understanding, at Indian Summer Festival

Presented by the fest and Boca del Lupo, the multifaceted one-woman show carries long-standing reflections on workout culture and the life-altering effects of a pandemic

Local theatre artists’ project King Arthur’s Night culminates in a buoyant new film that blurs documentary and fantasy
Local theatre artists’ project King Arthur’s Night culminates in a buoyant new film that blurs documentary and fantasy

Now streaming on Knowledge.ca, John Bolton–helmed movie stars Niall McNeil, Marcus Youssef, Veda Hille, Nathan Kay, and more, in a mix of artists with and without Down syndrome

Dark, funny, and a little weird, The Apiary brings offbeat buzz to summer theatre scene
Dark, funny, and a little weird, The Apiary brings offbeat buzz to summer theatre scene

With live music and innovative touches, a collective of established Vancouver stage artists brings eco-horror play about disappearing bees to life at the Vines Den

Ensemble Theatre Company’s Peerless riffs on Shakespeare and affirmative action
Ensemble Theatre Company’s Peerless riffs on Shakespeare and affirmative action

Part of Ensemble’s summer festival, Jiehae Park’s play references Macbeth as it takes on the power dynamics of U.S. college admissions

Theatre review: Arts Club production of The Play That Goes Wrong goes hilariously right
Theatre review: Arts Club production of The Play That Goes Wrong goes hilariously right

Great performances and impeccable set design and stage management ensure that the comedy about a hapless theatre company is a chaotic mess in all the right ways

Antigone gives ancient Greek play a modern feel at Bard on the Beach, to September 18
Antigone gives ancient Greek play a modern feel at Bard on the Beach, to September 18

In playwright Kate Besworth and director Ming Hudson’s adaptation, contemporary language highlights the continuing relevance of Sophocles’ 5th century BC tragedy

Theatre review: Horror resonates in Bard on the Beach’s dystopian Macbeth
Theatre review: Horror resonates in Bard on the Beach’s dystopian Macbeth

Bold and bloody new take on “the Scottish Play” speaks effectively to an era of intense societal fears, with postapocalyptic atmosphere to burn

Kat Reynolds channels her inner disco diva for Theatre Under the Stars’ Sister Act
Kat Reynolds channels her inner disco diva for Theatre Under the Stars’ Sister Act

The Vancouver performer straps on the platform shoes and readies her powerhouse voice for musical based on the movies she grew up watching

Ionesco's Cabaret mixes absurdist theatre with a playful art party, July 23 to 25
Ionesco's Cabaret mixes absurdist theatre with a playful art party, July 23 to 25

Homage to Eugène Ionesco is presented by Rumble Theatre and produced by Theatre Conspiracy in association with Pi Theatre

Theatre review: Bard on the Beach's spirited, soccer-mad take on The Merry Wives of Windsor builds a wonderfully no-frills sense of place
Theatre review: Bard on the Beach's spirited, soccer-mad take on The Merry Wives of Windsor builds a wonderfully no-frills sense of place

In a shamelessly fun update, the comedy’s colourful schemers, lovers, and busybodies are regulars at a Vancouver community centre during World Cup fever

Bard on the Beach stages a riotous Goblin:Oedipus in the Douglas Campbell Theatre, launching July 5
Bard on the Beach stages a riotous Goblin:Oedipus in the Douglas Campbell Theatre, launching July 5

WUG, KRAGVA, and MOOG return to the Shakespeare festival for a hysterical take on the titular Greek tale

Josh Epstein’s job is to ensure everything goes right in The Play That Goes Wrong
Josh Epstein’s job is to ensure everything goes right in The Play That Goes Wrong

The Arts Club director says the smash-hit U.K. show is one of the most technically demanding comedies ever written

Theatre review: Sophie's Surprise 29th throws the season’s wildest party, mixing offbeat laughs and high-calibre acrobatics
Theatre review: Sophie's Surprise 29th throws the season’s wildest party, mixing offbeat laughs and high-calibre acrobatics

At The Cultch’s York Theatre, wonderfully weird characterizations meet gravity-defying feats in a raucously unpretentious banger that has “hit” written all over it

Summer Arts Guide: Vancouver stage artists reveal their favourite pre- and post-show patio spots
Summer Arts Guide: Vancouver stage artists reveal their favourite pre- and post-show patio spots

Whether you’re looking for a quick drink and snack, conversation, reflection, or people-watching, these airy meeting places hit their marks

Antigone lands at Bard on the Beach's Douglas Campbell Theatre, starting June 30
Antigone lands at Bard on the Beach's Douglas Campbell Theatre, starting June 30

Playwright Kate Besworth and director Ming Hudson team up for a contemporary adaptation of the classical Sophocles tragedy

THEATREStir VancouverPartner Content, Realwheels Theatre, Adam Grant Warren