User Name
Gita
Name
Gita
Member Since
September 27, 2011
Bio
Gita Ashley is the owner and Artistic Director of Growing In the Arts School of Dramatic & Cinema Arts. Gita has been engaging young people through theatre and expressive arts in Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding area for over 25 years.
She spent 12 years as Artistic Director of Playing On The Moon Children's Theatre Arts Centre and Summer Performing Arts Experience where her students won over 200 first place awards at the Kiwanis Drama Festival. Prior to creating Playing On The Moon, Gita was the Artistic Director of the City of Kitchener's Outreach Theatre while owning and operating the Backstage Theatre School in Kitchener.
Educational Background
A graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Gita has over 30 years of acting, music and dance training. She is a Kiwanis Drama and Speech Arts Festival scholarship winner for excellence in Story-Telling and showing the most promise as a youth actor. Gita also holds a 1991 Outstanding Performance Award from the Sears Drama Festival of Canada.
Number of years teaching
26
Favorite Playwright
Favorite theatrical moment
Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein?
Interests
When she is not at her studio playing or covered in glitter, Gita can sometimes be found encouraging young performers to plant peaceful seeds, grow positive self-esteem and nurture healthy relationships through acting and expressive arts instruction at the Kitchener Market and City Hall, The Waterloo Regional Children's Museum, The Cambridge Centre for the Arts, as well as in many classrooms throughout South Western Ontario.
Something you should know about me!
Gita spent 5 years as a Child and Youth Worker & arts facilitator for Lutherwood Coda Mental Health Services Open Custody Units, Residential Treatment Program, Adolescent Male Sex Offender Group Home, Pioneer Youth Services Aggressive Male Group Home, the Betty Thompson Youth Centre and Kiwanis House. She has her Level One Theraplay Certification and has successfully provided arts enrichment to clients diagnosed with various disorders such as Autism, ADHD, Pica, O.D.D. and within the P.D.D. Spectrum. Gita is formally trained in Behavior Management, Crisis Prevention and Intervention as well as Risk Management.
Gita has been a guest speaker at Wilfred Laurier's School of Social Work where she shares her expertise on using the arts to build strong inclusive communities. She is a three-time nominee for a KW Woman of the Year Award and a four-time nominee for a KW Arts Award; all in recognition for her outstanding contributions to children in the arts.
Accomplishments
Several of Gita's students can be seen in major movies, reoccurring television roles and commercials. Some of Gita's former students are highly successful professional stage actors who perform at some of the largest theatres all over the world. Others have gone on to work in related fields such as stage management and in pre-production roles.
Recently, GITA’s students won scholarships and honorable mentions from the Kiwanis Drama Festival in Stratford. 11-year-old Kate Short was awarded Ontario's Best Juvenile Actress Award from the Ontario Drama League for her work in the production of Hollywood Arms and 11-year-old Jeremy Harttrup can be seen as Young Duke of York in Richard III in the 2011 Season at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
In 1998 Gita was contracted by Family and Children Services of the Waterloo Region and the Waterloo Region Community Action Program for Children to write and direct KW's first touring production that addressed bullying in the school yard. The production of 'THINK' consisted of a cast of 12 youth performers and was so successful that it was invited to perform in Florida for the 1999 Orlando International Fringe Festival.
Upcoming Projects
Tales of a Fourth Grade Superfudge-A-Mania. A blume'n Blast from the past!
Based on books by Judy Blume. Adapted for stage by Gita and Samantha Polzin. Featuring a cast of 32 talents young actors 7 - 14 years of age.
School/Organization Name
Growing In The Arts School of Dramatic & Cinema Arts
