Create • Perform • Inspire

At Michigan Academy of Dance + Arts, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to discover their creative voice. Our Theatre Program provides a welcoming and supportive environment where young artists can build confidence, develop performance skills, and express themselves through the art of storytelling.

Designed for students of all experience levels—not just dancers—our theatre classes cultivate imagination, collaboration, and personal growth. Through acting, movement, voice, character development, and stage presence, students gain valuable skills that extend far beyond the stage, fostering confidence, communication, creativity, and self-expression that will serve them throughout their lives.

CURRENT THEATRE OFFERINGS:

Acting + Improv: Finding Confidence Through Play

Ages: 7–13
Date: Thursdays | October 8 – November 12, 2026 (6-week session)
Time: 5:30–6:30 PM
Tuition: $100
Instructor: Malen Taylor

Build confidence, creativity, and quick-thinking skills through the fun of improv!

In this six-week theatre workshop, students will explore improvisation through games, storytelling, character work, and collaborative scene-building. Without the pressure of memorizing lines, students are free to take creative risks, trust their instincts, and learn to think on their feet.

Throughout the session, students will explore:

  • Improvisation games

  • Character development

  • Storytelling

  • Creative scene-building

  • Quick-thinking skills

  • Stage presence

  • Communication and self-expression

  • Creative teamwork

Improv is a wonderful tool for helping young performers become more confident onstage, but it’s just as valuable for kids who simply want to become more comfortable speaking up, expressing themselves, connecting with others, and trying new things.

No previous acting experience is necessary. Students of all experience levels are welcome!

Private Acting Lessons: Malen will also offer 30-minute private acting lessons on Thursdays from 6:30–8:00 PM during the six-week session. Private lessons are $30 each and can focus on acting technique, audition preparation, monologue coaching, character development, improv, stage presence, and confidence-building. Contact MADA directly to reserve a private lesson time.

THEATRE PROGRAM

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MALEN TAYLOR

Malen Taylor is the Artistic Director of OLOH Players in Sterling Heights and a Resident Company Cast Member at Go Comedy in Ferndale. In addition to performing improv professionally, she is also a musical theatre performer, puppeteer, director, choreographer, and teaching artist.

Malen has toured throughout the Midwest with The Brainstormers Inspiration Factory, performing interactive improv shows for children. She also performs with The Dinner Detective Troy Company and has trained at prestigious programs including Second City Chicago and Improv Utopia East.

She has directed plays, choreographed musicals, and taught improv, puppetry, and stage combat to students ranging from children to young adults.

Malen loves helping students discover their creativity and confidence through theatre. She believes improvisation and storytelling have the power to change lives — because they changed hers.

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LORI THOMPSON

Lori Thompson received her BA in Secondary Education from the University of Michigan Flint, Majoring in Theatre and Speech.

Lori began her teaching career in Theatre Education at Flint Youth Theater before accepting a full time position with Powers Catholic High School where she was the head of the Theater Department for seven years. Her work in teaching and directing led her to Fenton High School where she taught and directed theater for twenty years.

Lori has directed productions for Flint Community Players, Fenton Village Players, and Swartz Creek Center Stage.

Theater and Social Justice has always been a passion and platform for Lori. She brought the topic of Bullycide, Suicide due to Bullying, to the forefront with her orignal play The Bullycide Project, based on the book Bullycide in America written by Brenda High and mothers who had lost a son/daughter to Bullycide.

The Bullycide Project toured for eight years performing for various middle and high school audiences throughout the United States and Canada. The Bullycide Project performed at The Bullying Prevention Summit in Washington DC, was a Keynote Presentation at The Girls and Bullying Conferences in Atlanta, Georgia, was featured on CNN: Impact Your World and on CBS 48 Hours: If Words Could Kill.

Currently Lori is working as a Facilitator at Eli’s Place in Lansing. Eli’s Place is a healing center for grieving young adults, teens, and their families who have experienced sudden loss. Lori will guide peer to peer bereavement support groups using theater as a vehicle for healing.

She is excited to become part of the Ann Parsley School of Dance staff and in bringing the art of Theater to the APSD curriculum.

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