Ryerson Performance Youth & Community Programs

This was our child’s first year at Ryerson performance camp- absolutely loved everything about it. The counsellors were energetic, enthusiastic and fun. The performance at the end of the program was very professionally done. The only thing I did not like was the pickup on the steps in front of Ryerson, other than that no complaints.

My very shy kid attended the summer camp program this past summer. I can't say enough good about it! The staff are amazing, the director is wonderful and always available to speak with parents and refine processes as requested (like pick up and drop off, for example). The play that they put on was mind blowing - I was shocked that they were able to do something so professional within such a short time, and the kids were amazing! We love this camp! One thing I would recommend, though, is for the kids to get outside every day, at least once. Although I believe what they're doing in camp is great for their development, outdoor time is necessary for their minds and bodies. It sounds like feedback was heard on this front, and it will be designed into the program for next year.

My teenage daughter had an amazing experience at Ryerson Performance Youth and Community programs this summer in their summer camp. She learned so much about theatre, met new friends, and found the program super interesting. She only had good things to say about the staff and the program. So glad she had the opportunity to attend.

Our daughter has been attending Ryerson PYC Programs for four years now and she absolutely loves it!!! The first year our daughter attended summer camp at Ryerson PYC Programs they were held in an older building that had no air conditioning. I believe the camp was called Create an Ensemble at that time and the kids got to create their own production from start to finish. It was a two-week long camp. It was extremely hot in that old building when we attended their final performance. That building has since been torn down and Ryerson PYC Summer Camp Programs are now held in the School of Performance at Ryerson’s Student Learning Centre with final performances taking place at the Ryerson Theatre. The second and third years, we enrolled our daughter in the three-week long Musical Theatre summer camp. She was initially very upset about the fact that she loved the Create an Ensemble summer camp so much that she did not want to change. The Musical Theatre summer camp was excellent!!! Our daughter loved it even more than the previous year. They put on great plays at the end of it that were so professional!!! The costumes, sets, music, lighting, everything… was amazing!!! The fourth year, our daughter was too old for the Musical Theatre summer camp so we enrolled her in the four-week long Musical: Leaders in Training summer camp. Here, she got to assist with the younger campers, learn behind the scenes tasks, develop rehearsal and performance techniques, and perform in the Musical Theatre camp performances. Additionally, we have enrolled our daughter in the Fall and Winter programs as soon as they started offering them. They occur on Sunday’s with a performance at the end of the session. Our daughter has made many friends at Ryerson PYC Programs camps that she keeps in touch with year round and she loves all of her Councillors that she’s had. The staff is all amazing to deal with as a parent as well. I cannot say enough good things about the Ryerson PYC Programs, but I can say one bad thing… Some of the parents are very disrespectful at the performances. For example, even though it is made perfectly clear to all audience members not to talk during the performances and that there is no video recording allowed, some of them still do so. This is extremely disruptive to the performers and unfair to everyone else who would also like to have a recording of their child’s performance, but respects the rules. Perhaps the one parent who took the time to write the one-star review of Ryerson PYC Programs was someone who was told to stop talking or video recording at one of the plays, got upset and decided to take revenge on this fine program. The majority of the reviews are otherwise all five-star reviews. I would give them six or seven stars out of five if that were an option! They are just that good and not only our daughter, but our family loves Ryerson PYC Programs!

My kids have been going to Ryerson's Musical Theatre summer camps for 3 years now, and their program is simply outstanding. The counsellors are talented, attentive, fun, and caring, and every year I am blown away by their end-of-program performance. The program director, Eva, fosters such an engaging, emotionally healthy, cooperative and artistic environment, and is also so great at communicating with parents. More than once Eva went out of her way to make time to talk about how my kids were doing, and there is such a genuine investment in the children's development and well-being. I can't recommend it highly enough!

This was the first year we enrolled my step daughter into the Ryerson PYC program Center Stage. It was such fantastic experience for her as she has a passion for the stage. She learned so many aspects of the stage, from rehearsals, to auditions to even putting on their own play. I can truly say that only way to judge of how well a camp went is whether the camper wants to return, my step-daughter was excited to return everyday and is looking forward to going back again next year. The staff were fantastic and inspirational. Thank-you PYC for such a great experience!!!!

Our daughter has attended Ryerson Theatre camp for each of the past 3 summers and it's been a fantastic experience for her, and our family. Not only has our daughter made new friends, learned about performing on stage and had SO MUCH FUN at the final performance, attending the final performance has been a great experience to us as parents, and to all members of our family who have been able to attend and watch our daughter on stage. I would highly recommend the Ryerson summer programs to other families with kids interested in theatre and performance.

My daughter is only 4, and this past summer was our first foray into day camps other than the program offered by her preschool. We signed her up for 5 different camps, each 1-2 weeks long, including Ryerson's Broadway Bound camp for a week. Our rationale was to figure out which camps she (and we) liked best, and then register her just for these camps next year. Although our daughter enjoyed all 5 camps, Broadway Bound was 1 of her 2 favourites, and we will definitely be sending her back next year. She loved the performance activities as well as the staff, and was happy every afternoon when we picked her up. My wife and I were also impressed that the staff were always professional and organized, but also friendly, approachable, and fun. The performance at the end was terrific, and it was nice that the camp provided all parents with a full-length, high quality video of it.