Training for the Physical Actor

The central goal of my teaching is to cultivate actors who have a command of their instrument, are available to act freely on emotional impulse, and display heightened ensemble awareness. Movement design is a common component: in separate courses, students have created original work utilizing Viewpoints, contact improvisation and auto-cours. I also offer a Michael Chekhov-based course in physical characterization, and curricula incorporating unarmed stage combat, period styles, Laban and commedia dell’arte. I relish opportunities to integrate movement training across the curriculum in coursework and productions, and have consulted on or designed movement for two productions at Queens College and ten at Stanford University.

A Lecturer of Movement and Acting at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), I also teach courses in acting, voice, and ensemble creation. Previous teaching appointments: Stanford, Emerson College Los Angeles, Pasadena City College, Montclair State University.

My pedagogical approach is informed by graduate study in the MA Performance Studies program at NYU and the MFA Acting program at UC Irvine, as well as by experiments in the studio with students. I am indebted to Annie Loui (Artistic Director, Counter-Balance Theater) for the mentorship I received while training in her practice at UC Irvine in the barn built for Jerzy Grotowski.

A Warm-Up

35 minutes. Pair with your own playlist or use mine. Opening my playlist in Spotify directly will allow you to adjust the music’s volume independently.

Sequence designed by Annie Loui (THE PHYSICAL ACTOR; Routledge, 2nd ed., 2019). Filmed in 2024.

To get even more out of this warm-up, start with 5 minutes of cardio — hit the stationary bike, the stairs in your building, or the dance floor. On my Spotify list, the tracks below are intended to start the warm-up (with cardio and/or cardio games). The playlist underscores the dynamics of the warm-up itself. There are 8 warm-up scores in this list of 70 songs.

1. Real Good

10. Slippery People

18. Avalanches

25. Fulaninha

34. It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House

43. Bei Mir Bist Du Schön

50. Mi Swing Es Tropical

59. Latinoamérica