History
PraiseTEAM (Praise Theatre Ensemble & Arts Ministry) is a performing arts company composed of young, dedicated, artistic individuals, whose mission is to be messengers of faith, passion and family through the performing arts. Our intention is to provide an arena for expression through dance, music and drama where members inspire one another and strengthen Christian values through ministry and mission work.
Mary & Rolando Reyes, PraiseTEAM founders
The name PraiseTEAM comes from several influences, with the first referring to Praise 106.5, the first radio station Mary Elizabeth Ebo-Reyes listened to when her family migrated to Canada. Second, “TEAM” was adapted from Ebo-Reyes’ first dance studio back in the Philippines. Lastly, “Praise the Lord!” was her family’s favourite quote, derived from her strong Christian faith.
The roots of PraiseTEAM trace all the way back to 1997 when it was founded by Mary Elizabeth Ebo-Reyes, often called Tita Beth, with the help of husband, Rolando Reyes. Tita Beth, having a background as a dancer and teacher in the Philippines, discussed with Fr. Dion, the parish priest of St Matthew’s Parish at the time, the idea of working with children through the medium of song and dance, bringing their life of faith more alive through an environment of artistic expression. Fr. Dion was very supportive of this idea and gave Tita Beth a small carpeted room in the old parish centre, to which Tita Beth had nine students to start with. By the time of their first year-end show, the number of students grew to 34. It was also at the first year-end show where Mrs. Corina Meisl, the school principal from Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) School invited to make the OLGC church, PraiseTEAM’s home. The Salesians of Don Bosco, lead by Fr. John Malloy at OLGC believe that PraiseTEAM’s approach aligns well with its own educational philosophy and youth ministry work. Initially, they have provided the school’s auditorium for the dance studio’s first classes. After a few months, PraiseTEAM conducted their numerous classes, workshops, and shows in the newly-built Don Bosco Youth Centre building.
Originally, the classes offered started off with Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre, all taught by Tita Beth. After three years, guest teachers were invited to teach the first Tap and Hip Hop classes. As the children grew older and the number of registrants increased, PraiseTEAM hired more teachers, created more classes, booked more venues strategically to accommodate for the demand while at the same time keeping their costs down.
In 2007, PraiseTEAM began to participate in competitions, both in a local and international setting. The Sr. Showcase team first competed at Surrey Dance Festival in Surrey, British Columbia and Maxt Out in Los Angeles, California. The following year, PraiseTEAM added Dance Power, Peak, Dance World Cup, and International Dance Challenge to their competition experience. Then the other competing teams participated in Synergy, Star Talent, AE, and Release. International and national dance competitions PraiseTEAM has competed at include Vibe (Costa Mesa), Body Rock (San Diego), Prelude (Toronto), World of Dance (Los Angeles), Hip Hop International (Las Vegas/Arizona), Canadian Hip Hop Championships (Ottawa), and Arena (Los Angeles), among others.
Today, PraiseTEAM strives to be unique and to make a difference in our community and the lives of our performers by acknowledging their talents, honing their skills, and uplifting their artistic passion. We minister creatively with our faith through the performing arts. Classes have been added to meet the demands of our students. We do our best to create productions with positive underlying messages for people to take.
We are honoured and grateful for the numerous dancers and performers that we have witnessed grow and learn with our program through the years. Many of our alumni are working professionally in the dance and arts industry and either teach or perform across the world. We have also seen the beginnings of several high-calibre teams, to which some of the members originated from PraiseTEAM. This includes SiniGang, CNC, PraiseTeens, PTYB, Brotherhood and Style & Grace.
As the years go by, we will continue to praise and thank God for all who have been part of the PraiseTEAM family, for all of His abundant blessings and His gracious favours upon all our endeavours.
List of Annual Year-End Musical Shows & Themed Shows
