Teaching Experience Private Acting & Public Speaking Coach
For all ages since 1996. N.Y. Acting Company. Director & Head Acting Teacher
At The Institute of Music for Children. Directed Books Alive! Playwrighting & Acting
Teaching Artist Residency at Victor High School. The purpose of this residency was to give acting and playwrighting coaching to the Drama Club students. Playwrighting
7th grade students learn the basics of playwriting and complete a one-act play. Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Improv & Acting
Teaching Artist Residency at PS-246, 3rd through 6th grade. The purpose of this residency was to introduce Spanish speaking students to acting and improve English skills through improv and acting exercises. Poetry Performance
Performance Artist guest teacher for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud program. Course focusing on performing aspects of poetry performance. Multiple schools. Discovering Self
Teaching Artist Residency in a drug rehabilitation home for young adult males. The purpose of this residency was to bolster self-esteem through writing exercises, improv, and acting games. Culminated in performance of self-written monologues as well as scenes and monologues of established playwrights that particularly challenged each student. Renaissance House. Playwrighting
Madison Young Playwrights Program. Students learn the basics of playwriting and complete a one-act play. Kings Road School & St. Vincent Martyr. Acting for Performance
Course designed for children in 4th through 6th grade and 7th through 9th grade to develop their performance skills. Through improv, Laban, and acting exercises, students explore the craft of acting and create specific characters for final performance. Playwrights Theatre. Playmakers
1st through 3rd graders learn the art of creative play and fundamental playwriting skills. Class culminates in performance of self-written scenes. Playwrights Theatre. Play Production
Course designed for children in 4th through 6th grade and 7th through 9th grade to develop their directing skills. Class culminates in a performance. Playwrights Theatre. Performance Lab I
Course designed for children in 4th through 6th grade to develop their performance skills. Class culminates in a performance. Playwrights Theatre. Native American Tapestry
Teaching Artist Residency through Artsgenesis. Native Americans in Queens Tapestry with Acting and Movement. Using improv, chanting, song, and dance, taught blind and visually impaired children, kindergarten through third grade. PS-254. Acting
Teaching Artist Residency. Taught Acting to 7th graders. Because many of the students had behavioral issues, course focused on the importance of listening and playing actions. Scene work, acting exercises, and improvisational games were used to teach these skills. Madison Junior School. Acting
Teaching Artist Residency. Taught Acting to 8th graders. The course focused on the importance of taking risks as an artist. Freewriting exercises were used to write autobiographical monologues and were later performed for the class. Also, improvisational games, acting exercises, monologue and scene work were an integral part of this class structure. Madison Junior School. Performance Lab I
Course designed for children in 4th through 6th grade to develop their performance skills. Class culminates in a performance. Playwrights Theatre. Performance Lab III
Course designed for young adults to develop their performance skills. Playwrights Theatre. Professional Development Seminar
Through Artsgenesis, training teachers to use acting exercises and improv to enhance curriculum. Roselle Center in New Jersey. First Year Experience
First Year Experience Seminar is designed to introduce students to the numerous departments and resources offered at LIM College and to ease their transition from high school to college life. Students will strengthen their study skills, note-taking skills, and time management skills. In addition, topics such as financial management, diversity, and nutrition will be discussed. First Year Experience Seminar seeks to help freshmen embrace responsibility for their lives and make informed decisions about their futures. LIM College.
Acting I
Course introduces students to the basic techniques and theories of acting. Benefit performance at culmination of semester consisting of scenes and monologues provides students with the opportunity to apply performance skills. Scene and character analysis emphasized. Basic audition technique also taught. St. Francis College. Modern Drama
Course explores the evolution and social significance of Modern Drama. The class reads and discusses playwrights of the late 19th Century such as Henrik Ibsen, through contemporary playwrights like Eve Ensler who continue to develop groundbreaking and socially significant works today. LIM College. Oral Tradition
An intermediate course aimed at public presentation and speech performance, selects prose, poetry and plays to analyze for delivery. The objective of the course is to broaden communication skills by teaching students to comprehend and interpret forms of literature for purposes of effectively communicating them in oral presentations. St. Francis College. English Composition I
Course designed to help further develop skills in writing, reading, research, and critical thinking. Emphasizes narrowing a topic, constructing a thesis, organizing an essay, developing an argument, writing analytical responses to readings, and effectively utilizing APA documentation. LIM College. Research & Analysis
Course helps students become better life long researchers and writers. A key focus of the course is developing student information literacy, which entails using search terms, search engines, print sources and databases to gather compelling, valid, and scholarly research. LIM College. Speech
Course teaches the practice of extemporaneous speaking. Students receive an analysis and correction of individual speech problems. St. Francis College, LIM College, and Queensborough Community College. Acting on Camera
Students learn the craft of stillness & listening, focusing on the “other”, and how to adjust for the lens. They learn how to relax and breathe for the camera as well as how to self-evaluate after viewing their work. Playwrights Theatre. Character Development
Course designed for actors that want to develop their character building skills. Course includes in-depth work on a contemporary scene and exercises in creating character. The N.Y. Acting Company. Introduction to Acting
Course designed for beginning actors to teach the fundamentals of acting. Course includes two contemporary scenes, one monologue, text analysis, and the fundamentals of building a character. The N.Y. Acting Company. Intermediate Scene Study
Course focuses on the importance of breath, playing the objective, listening, given circumstances, and being in the moment. Students work in-depth on two contemporary scenes. The N.Y. Acting Company. Monologue and Cold Reading Intensive
Course designed for actors to work in-depth on monologues and cold reading audition technique. Course focuses on the following elements: the importance of breath; being in the moment; imaging the other; the passionate pursuit of an objective and playing actions to achieve that objective; the pre-beat; the fundamentals of building a character; and making quick, bold choices and applying them to the work. The N.Y. Acting Company. Fundamentals of Acting
Taught semi-private acting class to twelve-year-old girls. Covered a broad range of material, focusing primarily on improvisational skills and scene study. Voice and Movement and Improvisation
Taught children at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Directed A Midsummer’s Night Dream and The Zanies. Introduction to Acting and Dance & Movement classes
Teaching Assistant at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Took attendance, corrected essays, and privately coached scenes. Wrote the narrative evaluations for the students. (Narrative evaluations at this University are used in lieu of grades.) ESL II and Spanish for Spanish Speakers
Teacher’s Aide at Santa Cruz High School. John Muir Deaf and Hard of Hearing Pre-school class, Berkeley, California
Teacher's Assistant. Supervised three and four year old deaf and hearing-impaired children using speech and sign language as the communication mode. Assisted in developing their English receptive and expressive language skills. Some of the children were multi-handicapped. Personal Tutor/Assistant
Supervised a multi-handicapped, hearing and visually impaired child. Directing Experience Directed the following plays at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, New York: Check Please, Angels in America: Part 1Millenium Approaches, Tartuffe, Polaroid Stories, Plaza Suite, Life, Love & Burnt Dinners,& Months on End. Directed (and wrote) the film Strength Training Video for Turtle Shell Health, New York, New York. Directed 29 Questions & My Favorite Felon at The Shell Theater, New York, New York. Directed Reconstructing Julie at The Algonquin Theatre in New York City. Directed Blood Astounds Me at NY Artists Unlimited in New York City. Co-directed national PSA voiceover for the Federal Highway Administration. Served as Casting Director on Andres Valencia’s film City Park Ranger and Jake Alan King’s film Fishbowl Directed several Acting Showcases in New York City through the N.Y. Acting Company. Directed various performances at Playwrights Theatre for their conservatory. Directed Books Alive! and Final Dress Rehearsal at the The Institute of Music for Children. Directed teens in production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Directed own adaptation of Borderlands: La Frontera for Women’s Ensemble Theater in Santa Cruz, California. Directed Friends of the Family, a new play in development for a Play Development Workshop in Santa Cruz, California. Philosophical Interests and Course Development I create a safe, nurturing, non-competitive environment for children to explore the craft of acting and writing; this supportive atmosphere allows students to take risks, develop as artists, and grow as human beings. It takes tremendous courage to expose one's artistic side and I believe we should begin nurturing the artist in the child as soon as possible. The world would be a better place if we had more people in touch with their artistic side. Helping children to work through fear and inhibitions can be the most empowering part of teaching; I was an extremely shy child and movement, voice, and acting truly liberated me. What excites me about art is that it is about the human experience so the potential for growth is infinite. I teach my students the importance of breath and to trust their bodies. I believe in unleashing positive impulses, staying open and present to the moment, and the ability to respond spontaneously to what your partner is giving you. I teach warm-up exercises to bring the student into a state of being where their instrument can experience maximum creativity, imagination, and relaxation. I believe in empowering children to discover their creative soul. Company Membership Judith Shakespeare Company, winner OOBR award 1996 is a not-for-profit theatre ensemble dedicated to discovering what lies at the heart of a great play through the exploration of its language; and to re-examining the roles for women in classical theatre.Company Member. Theater in the Flesh, a collaborative, ensemble movement theater company dedicated to pushing the boundaries and expectations of contemporary theater. Company Member. Alethea Adsitt & Company’s core focus is to bring to the fore innovative performance territories, through the union of movement, music, text and visual design. Initiated from the body’s profound potential for expression, the Company unearths a unique movement language to each project, from full-bodied athleticism to subtle, intricate gestural phrasing. Company Member. Teatro: La Raza. Organization's purpose is to support and promote Latinos in the arts. President & Company Member.
Union Membership SAG-AFTRA Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA
AEA, Actors’ Equity Association Experience
Please see acting resume. Traveled throughout Northern California with The Salt That Saved the Kingdom, a traveling children's theater show based on Shakespeare's King Lear. Lead role. Training | Acting: | Dennis Krausnick, Lee Breuer, Virginia Ness Ray, Timothy Douglas, Gregory Wallace, Melissa Smith, Joan Mankin, Larry Hecht, Chris Herold, Kevin Jackson, Olympia Dukakis, Ellen Novack, Brian Lohman, Sheila Kelley, Carey Perloff, Falk Richter, Joanna Merlin, Simone Girgea | | Voice & Speech: | Jeffrey Crockett, Deborah Sussel | | Singing: | Peter Maleitzske, Stephanie Weems | | Movement & Dance: | Priscilla Regalado (Dance), Mel Wong (Dance), Gregory Hoffman (Combat), Phil Soltanoff (Viewpoints), Frank Ottiwell (Alexander), Jared Sakren (Mask), Jeffrey Bihr (Suzuki), Lorna Fordyce (Tap), Arina Issacson (Clown), Cecilia Saia (Tango), Roberto Reis (Tango), Bill Irwin (Clown), David Shiner (Clown), Bonita Bradley (Imaginative Movement), Kathryn Roszak (Period Movement) | | Arts-in-Education: | Tapestry Model at Artsgenesis, Playwriting & Performance Poetry Workshops given by New Jersey Writer’s Project |
Miscellaneous
Speak Spanish Passed CBEST Certified CPR/AED instructor Dramaturg for Blood & Honey Nominated for 2011 LIM College Distinguished Teaching Award Reviewer for nytheatre.com and theateriseasy.com Fingerprinted for New York Department of Education Judge at English-Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition Annual Judge for Delaney Speech Contest at St. Francis College Annual Judge for Norman Guy Speech Contest at Drew University Diversity Council Member at the American Conservatory Theater Volunteered for B.A.M.M., teaching teenage girls & women self-defense Team Leader AIDS Walk New York, Judith Shakespeare Company Team Leader AIDS Walk San Francisco, American Conservatory Theater Selected Panelist for Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey’s Young Playwrights Contest Judge for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation’sPoetry Out Loud (State Finals, Regional’s, and Schoolwide) References and Letters of Recommendation Available Upon Request | 
