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Graduand rose to acting challenges

An Okotoks area actor never mails it in when she is on the stage. However, a couple of times this year, Kiana Rose had to male it in for her performances with the Alberta High School of Fine Arts.
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Alberta High School of Fine Arts graduand Kiana Rose took on a pair of male roles this school year.

An Okotoks area actor never mails it in when she is on the stage. However, a couple of times this year, Kiana Rose had to male it in for her performances with the Alberta High School of Fine Arts. Rose played the male lead in the production of Cyrano DeBurgershack and then also portrayed an actor with the XY chromosomes for the school’s one act play 21 Chump Street. “I played a guy (DeBurgershack) just because I was up for the challenge,” the Grade 12 Rose said. “It was definitely a challenge because I am pretty much a girly-girl and I have a higher voice, so some of the singing was tough.” Rose has been up for the challenge since she was a young girl. “I have been singing since I was three years old and I have been in plays and theatres since I was eight,” Rose said. “It has always been a part of my life – it’s never been a question of whether I wanted to do it or not.” Her first play was as Belle in the lead in Beauty and the Beast at community theatre as an eight year old. She feels right at home on the boards. “It’s a feeling of perfect contentment, I feel like there’s no other place that I would rather be,” Rose said. She finds herself torn between a pair of passions, singing and drama. As a result musical theatre was right up her alley. “I love to sing and act equally,” said Rose, during a choir class last week. “So musical theatre is the main thing that I do.” Turns out singing tunes from Handel to Gershwin with the choir fits with becoming a well-rounded actor. “I love choir,” Rose said. “It trains you to work with a group of people and know that you are part of a team. In choir singing, you have to blend with the other people around you — you want to mix with them and become just one voice. “That translates on to the stage. It is not all about you — you want to make it about your scene partner. That is when the best acting comes through.” Rose received honourable mention for acting for her work in four of the five plays AHSFA entered in the zone one-act-festival in May. She graduates in June with a strong average and plans to take a year off before possibly attending post-secondary schooling. A year off, but far from R&R. “I am going to take a gap year next season — I plan to do a ton of acting lessons, singing lessons, dancing lessons and do as much theatre as I possibly can,” “Rose said. “I’d like to focus on musical theatre but I would do any theatre I can do.” Her long-term goal is to improve and maybe get beyond the stereotypical waiting on tables to get by for starving actors. “Honestly, my goal is to just be able to make a living out of theatre and acting,” Rose said. “I would love to move to Toronto and, who knows, maybe New York to see if I can make it there.” There have been plenty of rewards at the fine arts school, but there were also struggles. As a result of modernization at Foothills Composite, for much of Rose’s career at the fine arts school the only stage the students had to work on was the one on “All the world” the Bard wrote about. “We didn’t have a musical theatre (production) last year because of the modernization,” Rose said. “Our stage just got finished, it was frustrating, but I think it made us more resilient and resourceful. We had to come up with solutions and ways to put on a production — and just help one another with problem solving.” She has no regrets. The Alberta High School of Fine Arts have fuelled her passion for theatre and also boosted her skills and confidence. “All of the classes, choir, drama, musical theatre, advanced acting… the teachers are usually people who have worked in that world also,” Rose said. “They are not only teachers, but professionals in their field. “It is great to work with teachers who have been in the field you want to work for ... The highlight is definitely the community it has. The fact it is a fine arts school and you get to come together with other fine arts students and do amazing productions.”

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