Collège Stonewall Collegiate is making history by hosting the first tournament for the 2025-26 season for a newly formed French improv league for high school students.
Members of the Collège Stonewall Collegiate French improv team perform during the Oct. 30 FLIIP tournament in the school gym. The improvisational league offers French immersion students an opportunity to practise their language skills in a creative and collaborative setting
On Thursday, Oct. 30, the local school welcomed participants involved in FLIIP (Fabuleuse Ligue d’Improvisation Immersive et Passionnante) from Collège Lorette Collegiate and Collège Béliveau. French immersion students from Stonewall Centennial formed the audience for the improvisational theatre tournament, which took place in the high school gym.
The newly created improv league offers French immersion students from Winnipeg and surrounding areas the chance to use their additional language in an engaging and entertaining way.
“While DSFM (Division scolaire franco-manitobaine) schools have had their own improv league for decades, last year, some French immersion teachers got together to start a league of their own so that immersion students can have the same opportunities as Franco-Manitoban students, while having their own identity,” said CSC teacher Jesse Hourie, who coaches the team along with Mr. Bellec.
“There are several goals of doing improv in French: to have students communicate more confidently in French, have fun in French, use their French outside of a classroom environment, learn and enhance collaboration skills and meet other Immersion students. The benefits are pretty much the same, with the addition of the great feeling of making an audience and each other laugh.”
Students in grades 9 to 12 have the option to participate in FLIIP. CSC currently has eight students who are interested, and most of them are in Grade 10. The team meets Mondays at lunch to practise different improvisational skills. Hourie hopes the tournament will encourage Stonewall Centennial students to considered joining the CSC team when they get to high school.
“As for student reaction, it’s been a healthy mix of anxiety and enthusiasm. In improv, you really need to put yourself out there, which can be a leap for high school students, but we have some great leaders on our team who are really encouraging of the newbies,” he said.
“It is so cool to see students enjoying this way of participating in French. The connections they are making with each other and with their audiences are very special. They are a really talented group of students.”
For Grade 10 student Sophia Walton, FLIIP is proving to be an entertaining adventure.
“I really enjoy it when we do well at it. When we were practising at school and learning improv, it was really fun when we had a good match and had good ideas,” she said.
“It helps to get the team working together because you have to go in front of a huge crowd and do incredibly embarrassing things — but people laugh so it’s fun.”
She explained that FLIIP is inspired by hockey so they improvise in a rink-like structure.
“There are penalties and refs and we get points for scoring. There are two separate teams, and they tell us if it’s compared or mixed. Compared is just your team and mixed is both teams going at the same time and you have to combine ideas,” Sophia said.
“We’re given a theme and a time limit, which could be anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. They also give us a category, which is how you present your story.”
The category could be a musical comedy or a photo finish, in which the participants need to pose for a photo at the end of the timer. In another category, one participant pretends to be a puppet while another one speaks for them.
“You have to be able to think on the spot,” Sophia said. “It’s a very niche thing to do.”
At the same time, the participants are finding that FLIIP helps them to improve their French language skills.
“It helps with French 100 per cent,” said Grade 10 student Deshawn Peever. “I really enjoy how you can literally be anyone in the world. You can be made-up characters. It’s amazing. You don’t have to be who you are, which is interesting.”
For Deshawn, his favourite category is musical comedy.
“It’s just like a regular musical with talking and singing. I just love it so much because when the ref blows the whistle and says we have to sing, it’s so random. Then he’ll blow it again and we can talk again,” he said. “It’s really interesting and lots of fun.”
Their hard work is paying off since Collège Stonewall Collegiate won the Oct. 30 tournament. Their next tournament will take place on Dec. 11 at Collège Béliveau.
