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Comox Valley students finish on top at Canadian Improv Games

Highland’s “Technically…It’s improv” won senior competition for first time

Comox Valley students dominated the Canadian Improv Games with Highland’s team “Technically…It’s improv” winning the senior competition for the first time.

School District 71 schools also won the junior competition for students in grades 7-10, with the “Senior Junior” team from Isfeld and Vanier’s junior team the Awkward Elbows tying for first place overall.

“These kids worked hard through one of the longest, strangest years in theatre,” said Highland Secondary drama teacher Lisa Williams. “The pandemic has taught us to be innovative and commit to each other in such a big way.”

Comox Valley Schools teams have worked hard to maintain their craft with all the recent uncertainty and long periods of time with no audiences. Each team played four out of a possible five events, each of which emphasizes a specific skill while all events emphasize the skills needed in improv.

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Senior First Place Winners – Highland–Technically… It’s Improv (Olivia Parsons, Ava Bayers, Owen Valmorbida and Nicolas Costantino

Junior First Place Winners (Tied) – Isfeld – Senior Juniors (Ellie McNamee, Cleo Dawson, Kayleigh McDonald, Carter McIssac, Aryn Baker and Neve Fioravanti)

Junior First Place Winners (Tied) – Vanier – Awkward Elbows (Sae Matsui, Olly Gadsby-Jones, Emily Joy, Kira Parkin, Vivian Mills, Jordyn Wallace-Patterson and Sonja Mellstrom)

Several other Comox Valley Schools teams also had very strong showings. Vanier’s senior team “The Element of Surprise” placed third in the senior tournament and Isfeld’s senior team came in fourth place. Isfeld’s “Junior Junior” team finished in fourth place. The junior team called “Punk-tuation” from Vanier placed in fifth and a senior entry from Vanier called “Argh the Single Mateys” came in sixth place.

The Canadian Improv Games is a nation-wide improv tournament that has worked hard to continue to offer students the opportunity to develop and create throughout the last couple years, despite the pandemic. This year — for the hybrid tournaments — the events were recorded and sent in to be assessed by judges from across Canada.