top of page
COMBAT
How I accidentally became a fight choreographer.
TRAINING WITH CHRIS DUVAL.
Spring of 2021
Due to the prevalence of COVID, and limited access to vaccines, Chris taught us over Zoom from his basement dojo.
(yes, you read that right)
While this method of teaching had its limitations, it was still my favorite class of the semester. I excelled, and by the end of the semester, Chris was asking me to survey my classmates' skills.
WORKING WITH PAUL DENNHARDT
Summer of 2021
I worked with Paul throughout the rehearsal process for USF's production of Comedy of Errors. While my fights were limited, I gained a wealth of knowledge from watching fight call every time I got the chance. What I learned from Chris was solidified by Paul, giving me a strong foundation to build off of. I was ready for my next challenge.
FIGHT CAPTAIN:
INTO THE WOODS
Fall of 2021
A few weeks into the rehearsal process for Into the Woods, I offered to be the fight captain. I polished the blocking the cast had already come up with, guiding but not leading. I offered ideas when people got stumped. Most importantly, I made sure everyone was safe. Our director had us share our Gates and Fences daily, which I immediately learned was a key part of the trust among this cast. I'd learned how to run a fight call, remembering how Paul organized it for his fight captains, and guided the cast through it it every day. I'd also dipped my toes into choreography for the first time, and I loved it.
FIGHT CHOREO:
MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN
Spring of 2022
Once again, a few weeks into the rehearsal process for Mother Courage and Her Children, I noticed that we needed a fight captain, if not a choreographer. There was one long moment near the end in particular, where a character is beat nearly to death with a rifle to his back. Hardly any of the other students in the production had taken Stage Combat, let alone done a show with combat before. I brought my. concerns to my director, and he was on the same page, but was unable to get a fight director on our production team. So I offered to do it, making it very clear that it would be my first attempt; I would be doing things very slowly, making safety my #1 priority, but always keeping an eye out for improvement. This time, I already knew how to run a fight call, and how to address people's concerns when they came up. They needed kneepads, I got them kneepads. They needed me to show them the move one more time, I'd show them. I was proud of the progress I'd made during this project as an unofficial fight director.
FIGHT CHOREO:
HENRY V
Spring of 2022
My first official work as a fight choreographer. I combined every little trick I ever learned from Chris and Paul, which culminated in seven different fight sequences, two of which happening simultaneously in a very tight blackbox theater. It was way out of my comfort zone, due to my lack of official training. So we moved at a snail's pace, being sure to communicate our daily gates and fences. Our combat-dedicated rehearsals were a romp, and I couldn't have asked for a better group to pursue this opportunity with. One of the reasons I was able to tackle a combat-heavier piece like Henry V was the limited cast size. In this reimagining of the classic story, five actors rotated through the many characters, each having a turn as Henry. This allowed me to really focus on the fights, polishing them until they shone.
bottom of page