March 07, 2006 -

Ottawa -- The Canadian Improv Games are back! Energetic, enthusiastic and dedicated students from nineteen high schools in the Ottawa-Carleton area are about to flock to the National Arts Centre from March 6 -March 11, for the annual Ottawa Regional Tournament of the Canadian Improv Games. The Ottawa Regional Tournament takes place in the NAC studio at 19:30. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for adults, and are available in person at the NAC Box Office or through Ticketmaster at (613) 755-1111.

“Our goal for the upcoming season of the Improv Games, is to include more schools from outside city limits and make the tournament truly regional. There may even be a new “Ottawa Valley” tournament that would include schools from Smith’s Falls, Carleton Place, Arnprior, Renfrew and Pembroke”.

Al Connors, Ottawa Regional Director of the Improv Games.

The Canadian Improv Games (CIG) started in Ottawa – they were created by Howard Jerome and Jamie Wyllie based on a concept by David Shepherd and Howard Jerome. In 1987, Canada’s National Arts Centre began to play a major role in helping to develop the Games into a Canada-wide event. The Canadian Improv Games’ mandate is to provide students with the opportunity to develop their creativity, problem solving, and communication skills while working together as a team. Each year the games get a bit bigger as more teams from the area join the fun. There are five events in the tournament: the life event, the theme event, the style event, the story event, and the character event. Each event is scored out of a possible 50 points. Points are awarded by judges for demonstration of the following skills on stage: making and accepting offers, use of suggestion, skill of the event, risk and interest. However, the tournament isn’t just about scoring points it’s about having fun, gaining communication skills and making new friends. In the end everyone comes out a winner!

The teams participating in this year’s Ottawa tournament are as follows:

Monday, March 6
Nepean
All Saints
West Carleton
Immaculata
Earl of March

Tuesday, March 7
Brookfield
Holy Trinity
Lisgar
Colonel By
Sir Robert Borden

Wednesday, March 8
Woodroffe
Canterbury
Ridgemont
Gloucester
Sir Wilfred Laurier

Thursday, March 9
Hillcrest
St. Peter
St. Matthew
Cairine Wilson

Friday, March 10
Wild Card Night
(Teams ranked 5-9 from the week)

Sunday, March 11
Finals
(Teams ranked 1-4 plus the winner of the Wild Card night)

Coming soon… the CIG National Finals at the NAC!

National Semi-Finals
Tuesday, April 11- April 14
19:30 NAC Theatre

Finals
Saturday, April 15
19:30 NAC Theatre

The Ottawa Improv Games would like to thank:

ING Canada
First Choice Entertainment
Capital Hill Hotel & Suites
Oregano’s Pasta Market

And the many volunteers who make the games a reality.

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Any inquiries about the Canadian Improv Games should be directed to:
Al Connors, Ottawa Regional Director
(613) 726-6339 (7-COMEDY)
info@ottawaimprov.com
www.ottawaimprov.com

Alistair Cook, National Director
(604) 874-7522
improv@magma.ca
www.improv.ca

Martina Kuska
Education and Outreach Coordinator
National Arts Centre English Theatre
(613) 947 7000 ext. 522;
mkuska@nac-cna.ca