Whether working professionally as a voice/acting/performance coach, theatre director or actor, Rae Ellen Bodie brings over twenty years of outstanding training and practical experience to her work.
A graduate of the University of Calgary’s Theatre Program, Rae Ellen spent the first decade of her career working at the top theatres in Calgary, Alberta, performing leading roles at Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary, Quest Theatre, Theatre in Exile – Betty Mitchell nomination, Outstanding Actor in a Supporting role for The Orphan Muses – and the Garry Theatre, where she originated the role of “Kate” in Governor General Award-winner Sharon Pollock’s Saucy Jack to critical praise. Rae Ellen also began her teaching career in Calgary during this time, where she was offered an Acting instructor position at her Alma Mater, the University of Calgary, in 1997. After a year teaching at the U of C, Rae Ellen moved to Toronto, Ontario, to begin studies at York University in their acclaimed MFA-Acting Conservatory, where she finished at the top of her class and received a MFA in Acting. Concurrently, Rae Ellen was also awarded a Graduate Diploma in Voice Teaching through the Voice Teacher Training program at York University. An internationally recognized and highly distinguished program, it is the only one of its kind in Canada, lead by worldwide voice specialist David Smukler.
Now based in Toronto, Ontario, Rae Ellen has extensive on-set experience in film and TV as a Dialect/Dialogue/Acting Coach (see Coaching); works in Canada and the US coaching top business professionals and organizational leaders on improving their public speaking and leadership skills (see Coaching); enjoys success as a theatre director (see Directing); serves as Voice Mentor for The Canadian Film Centre’s Acting Conservatory; and teaches weekly voice classes at the internationally recognized acting studio The Professional Actors Lab; various voice/acting workshops; and privately from her home space (see Classes).
Rae Ellen has trained with some of the finest instructors in Canada and the US, including Rod Menzies, Gary Logan, Dawn-Marie McCaugherty, Judith Koltai, Leslie French and David Rotenberg. The foundation of her coaching style is the Linklater method of voice training for the actor, but is primarily based in the trial-and-error of her many years of acting, coaching and teaching experience.