Actors Academy for the Performing Arts Boulder

What Is the Actors Academy for the
Performing Arts (AAPA)?

If you’re looking for the best youth performing arts academy in Colorado, look no further than our Actors Academy for the Performing Arts (AAPA).

AAPA provides top-notch theatre education and compelling performance opportunities for students, designed by professional theatre artists and enhanced with full production elements.

Our Actors Academy in Boulder is geared toward more advanced student actors who have prior performance experience, and all students must audition if they want to get into the program.

We offer all-in-one training programs from
late September through late April, which include:

 

Professional Productions

 

Private Vocal Lessons

 

Dance Classes
in Ballet, Jazz,
and Tap

 

Recitals and Showcases

 

Acting Technique Classes

 

An Amazing Theatre Community

TUITION: After an initial deposit, each program costs a monthly tuition fee to be paid over the course of six months, as our season runs from September through April.

Call (303) 245-8150 or email info@theaterforkids.net for exact price details and tuition agreements. Partial scholarships are available by Scholarship Application for families in need.

If you’re looking for more focused training for a young actor, or you have any questions, please contact info@theaterforkids.net or call (303) 245-8150 to schedule an audition for our upcoming season.

For those who’d like a better idea of what our theatre education entails, please feel free to review this
Sample of Our Curriculum. And if you’d like to learn more about our Actors Academy through the words of parents, students, and teachers, you can check out our video below.

What Makes AAPA Different From Other Theatre Programs?

Our Actors Academy for the Performing Arts is unlike anything you’ll find in the Front Range!

We are the only year-round youth performing arts academy in Colorado offering opportunities for ongoing, in-depth performing arts training in a true conservatory environment.

What’s more, we are also the only acting academy in Boulder with its own full performing arts facility, including a 135-seat theater, dance studio, and black box theater.

Aside from all this, here are some other
benefits of attending our Actors Academy:

  • Company Show – Most of our large scale productions feature live musicians and full production elements designed by professional theatre artists. In previous years, we’ve featured everything from a five-piece rock band to aerial acrobatics and even professional fight choreography.
  • Majors Classes – Students get a choice of intensive weekly classes, including dance, acting, or private voice lessons to deepen their skills in a performing arts specialty of their choice.
  • Theatre Lab – We also offer performing arts training with emphasis on workshops, the creative process, and ensemble work during weekends.
  • Every year, we continue to expand performance opportunities for our students.
  • Our students are cast in local adult professional productions, including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, and the Vintage Theatre, among other venues.
  • Our students get the chance to develop themselves as young people and performing artists in a community of committed performers.
  • AAPA actors consistently get call backs for their Denver School of The Arts (DSA) auditions, and are accepted to DSA
  • AAPA actors have competed at the Colorado Thespian Conference in both dramatic acting and musical theatre.

Please Note:
Some of these benefits may not apply to our Apprentice or Munchkins programs.

Check out our video below to find out what some of our alumni have to say about the transformative experiences they’ve had while attending the Actors Academy for the
Performing Arts.

AAPA Boulder Programs and Schedules

MUNCHKINS COMPANY (Grades 1-3)

  • Program Runs All Year
  • Classes take place on Wednesdays from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. & Sundays from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Introduce your child to the world of theatre in a safe, non-competitive environment where both process and product are equally stressed. Students are introduced to all areas of the performing arts, including voice, dance, speech, and acting.

The fall session focuses on building technique through singing, dancing, and acting classes, while the winter/spring sessions will focus more on applying those skills. Students will create a fall showcase and perform a full Company Musical in the winter, before ending the year with our Olympics of Theatre, which we call the Dramathon.

JUNIOR COMPANY (Grades 3-5)

  • Tuesday Majors Classes Run All Year.
  • Fall Company Rehearsals take place on Saturdays from 2 - 6 p.m. & Mondays from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. from September through December.
  • Winter/Spring Theatre Lab and Acting Fundamentals classes take place on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. from January through April.

This program will introduce students to the fundamentals of the performing arts. Students will receive training in acting, voice, and dance and will also prepare for a fall Company Musical and Spring Showcase, as well as our end of the year Olympics of the Theatre, otherwise known as the Dramathon.

During the fall session, students will learn valuable skills in scene study, musical theatre, and character work through our intensive rehearsal process which leads up to the fall show. During the spring, students participate in Theatre Lab, which focuses on building a show completely from scratch!

Junior Lab, Acting Fundamentals, Company Show, and Majors classes focus on the fundamentals of Uta Hagen and Stanislavski with a secondary emphasis on physical storytelling and the work of Rudolph Laban.

INTERMEDIATE PERFORMANCE COMPANY (Grades 5-7)

  • Tuesday Majors Classes Run All Year.
  • Fall Company Rehearsals take place on Saturdays from 2 - 6 p.m. & Mondays from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. from September through December.
  • Winter/Spring Theatre Lab and Acting Fundamentals classes take place on Saturdays from 1:30 - 6 p.m. from January through April.

Our focus with this company is on building strong performance skills, activating confidence in stage presence, exploring individuality, and building a strong and diverse ensemble of student performers. The ideal student for this company is one who has had some performance experience and enjoys many aspects of performance.

During the fall session, students will learn valuable skills in scene study, musical theatre, and character work through our intensive rehearsal process which leads up to the fall show. During the spring, students complete Theatre Lab, which focuses on building a show completely from scratch!

Our Intermediate Performance Company Lab, Acting Fundamentals, Company Show, and Majors classes focus on the curriculum of Jacques Lecoq and Stella Adler by exploring the creation of clowns and imagination through the creative process. And for the final five weeks, students will prepare for our Olympics of the Theatre event to culminate their training experience.

SENIOR COMPANY (Grades 7-9)

  • Thursday Majors Classes Run All Year.
  • Fall and Spring Theatre Lab and Music Fundamentals classes take place on Sundays from 1 - 5:30 p.m. from September through December, and in April.
  • Winter Company Rehearsals take place on Sundays from 12 - 6 p.m. and Mondays/Fridays from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. from January through March.

This company provides students with the tools necessary to become more confident performers. An emphasis will be placed on acting and creating a strong foundation of body awareness and the relationships students have with others on the stage. Proper voice and dance technique will also be equally emphasized.

Students will engage in an intense and creative rehearsal process in preparation for our Company Show in the spring. During the fall session, students will learn the skills of music literacy and develop a docu-drama in Theatre Lab. For the last five weeks, students will prepare for our Olympics of the Theatre event to culminate their training experience.

Senior Lab, Musical Theatre Fundamentals, Company Show, and Majors classes focus on the exploration of Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints, Fosse-style movement, choral singing, The Tectonic Theater Project’s Devising techniques, and the acting work of Meisner and Meyerhold.

ENSEMBLE COMPANY (Grades 9-12)

  • Fall and Spring Majors Run on Thursdays.
  • Wednesday Performance Classes Run All Year.
  • Winter Company Rehearsals take place on Sundays from 12 - 6 p.m. and Mondays/Fridays from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. from September through December.

Our Ensemble Company is the most elite group of students at our Actors Academy. This tight-knit group establishes a strong ensemble where deep college preparatory work will be undertaken in a comfortable but driven environment. Experience in performance and scene analysis is required to be accepted into the group, as well as an impeccable work ethic.

Students will engage in an intense and creative rehearsal process in preparation for our Company Show in the spring. During the fall session, students will learn the skills of music literacy and create a full play with an emphasis on text. For the last five weeks, students will prepare for our Olympics of the Theatre event to culminate their training experience.

Ensemble curriculum focuses on Shakespeare, text analysis, stage combat, college prep, audition techniques, choral singing, and the acting work of Strasberg, Michael Chekhov, and Robert Cohen.

APPRENTICE COMPANY

  • Program Runs All Year with classes taking place on Wednesdays from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 - 2 p.m.

Our Apprentice Company is perfect for students who aren’t quite ready for our other Actors Academy companies, but are too advanced for our Summer Camps and After-School Classes.

This is an introductory company for students who love playing pretend, improvisation, and learning the basics of performing in a non-competitive environment. Students are introduced to all areas of the performing arts in this program, including voice, dance, and acting.

The fall session focuses on building technique through singing, dancing, and acting classes while the winter/spring sessions will focus on applying those skills. Students will also create a Fall Showcase and perform a short Company Musical in the spring!

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