He’s been a cop, a pastor and even Rumpelstiltskin. For his latest role, Robert Bockstael is a new professor at Algonquin College. Bockstael has almost four decades of acting experience and is now sharing that expertise with students in the performing arts program.
Professor Teri Loretto, coordinator of the performing arts program, had previously worked with Bockstael in the Canadian theatre industry. She welcomed him to the position of professor on Sept. 6.
“We were looking for someone who had experience in teaching but more importantly in acting and performance,” said Loretto. “I was leading a scriptwriting workshop at the DIGI 60 Summer Accelerator program and Robert was leading the acting stream. It reminded me of how great he was and it went from there.”
On Sept. 9, Bockstael started teaching the performance techniques course, which covers a holistic approach to acting at Algonquin College’s Woodroffe campus.
“He is a fabulous and experienced instructor with many years of work under his belt,” said Loretto.
Bockstael has coached students and taught workshops at other institutions, including St. Lawrence College, Laurentian University and Canterbury High School.
“He mentioned that he’s taught before on the side,” said Nina Ashly, a first-year performing arts student. “But to think he’s worked professionally so much has me really excited.”
Bockstael has been nominated twice for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role, thanks to his role as Brian Fletcher in the Canadian television series North of 60. He has also played Macbeth, Sailor Moon’s love interest and Santa Claus’ liaison to the US Army.
In addition to his acting career in television and theatre, Bockstael has written for television, theatre and radio, and he published the novel “Willow’s Run” in 2022.
Though he is originally from Winnipeg, he is currently based in Ottawa, where he says he is focused on teaching at Algonquin College.
“I have a very special place in my heart for this school,” said Bockstael. “It is very welcoming, very calm, very positive. I have many colleagues who have taught here. Friends and family have gone here, and have gone on to very successful, happy lives.”
Bockstael’s son Henry even attended the college, graduating from the academic assistance for adults with developmental disabilities program in 2016.
“When this teaching opportunity came up, I was pretty excited about it,” said Bockstael. “I’m really interested to see how this progresses and evolves throughout the year.”
After many years of working in the performing arts, he says he is very passionate about supporting students in the performing arts program.
“There’s students here who want to be singers, dancers, voice-over actors,” said Bockstael. “That’s what I hope to encourage: that a life as an artist is a desirable one if you follow your passion. I can’t say that I’ve been disappointed in my career or life path at all.“
Many of Bockstael’s students were not aware of their professor’s extensive work experience.
“I kind of had a bit of a clue,” said first-year performing arts student Liam Komocki. “They said one of our teachers was off filming something, but I didn’t know how big he was.”
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