STUDY WITH US!
CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 10TH 2010
Workstudy & Payment Plans Available


The Physics of Play with Peter Musante
The human body exists in nature a perfect organism defined by the laws of physics. As performing artists, we're equipped with a highly-evolved, ultra-responsive instrument which all too often becomes strangled by our intellect (facts, systems, rules, techniques constructed in our desire to be right). Access to spontaneous, captivating, charismatic performance begins with respecting our senses, abandoning control and embracing play as a natural response to one's physical environment.

Using the elemental properties of nature as a guide, this course utilizes sensory-based group exercises to enhance kinesthetic awareness. Students will unleash their true uniqueness by avoiding the ego-driven "need to be clever" and engaging with the life of the room. It is this moment to moment availability that allows genuine play to flourish and fuels all our creative endeavors.

Class Schedule:

6 Week Workshop:
Tuesdays 10AM to 1PM
January 12th, 19th, 26th, February 2nd, 9th, 16th

Master Class:
Saturday & Sunday February 6th & 7th 11AM to 3PM

Peter Musante is a Brooklyn-based actor/musician currently performing Off-Broadway in Blue Man Group. As a Blue Man, he's worked in Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Bogota, Colombia and can be seen in ad campaigns all over Vegas and Brazil. Out of blue, he has taught improv to kids, improvised in drag at Universal Studios Hollywood, crooned cowboy tunes in Tokyo, worked as a standardized patient for medical students and, most recently, developed workshops for children with autism. After graduating from UCLA's School of Theater in 2005, he played Huck Finn in Big River at Vista, CA's Moonlight Amphitheater and won the San Diego Theater Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Classes with Jason Tyne-Zimmerman

Monologue Coaching and Cold Readings
There's more to auditioning than just showing off your talent. Talent aside, you also need to make people want to work with you. By considering the gestalt of the audition situation, you can showcase yourself more effectively and show off your talents more clearly.
1 Day Master Class: Saturday January 23rd 11AM to 3PM

Viewpoints & Composition: How to listen to and follow your impulses:
Viewpoints is a vocabulary for thinking about and acting, movement, and gesture. It is not a "technique" in and of itself, but will allow you to identify internal impulses and external catalysts to enhance and support any acting technique that you already know.
12 Week Workshop
Mondays 2-5PM
March 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, April 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th, May 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th,

Jason Tyne-Zimmerman earned a Masters degree from NYU (New York University) in Educational Theatre and a Masters of Fine Art from NU (Northwestern University). At Rising Sun he has directed "Baby with the Bathwater", "And That's the Way It is (if you think so)", and an invisible theatre project in the style of Augusto Boal. Additionally, he has acted off-Broadway in "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding", "An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein", and "A Change of Seasons". Jason has been working with Rising Sun since 2002.
Teaching philosophy: In teaching the arts, I make it my primary objective to facilitate the creation of the artists' vision, to utilize the artists' mind and body as a tool, and to focus on the creative processes of the artist. With all things, my teaching is always student-centric. I never expect my students to speak with my voice or create the art that I would create, but I do expect my students to be open to new processes to create their own art.

Lucid Body with Christine Maddox
In this class you will learn how to release old behavioral habits in order to increase your acting range! The Lucid Body is designed with the belief that self-process is synonymous with creative process. This class will unleash the emotional and physical possibilities of the body by first drawing awareness to, and then breaking the habits that bind the posture in a fixed stance.

Combining a deep and rigorous yoga based warm-up with vocal release, students will discover areas of resistance that, once expressed and released, offer a wealth of acting material. Through the exploration of the seven chakra energy centers, students will learn how to manipulate their physical energy. By first recognizing the physical energetics of their own "type", they can develop the tools to "rearrange" their chakra centers to suit the given circumstances of a character. Improvisation will be utilized to create scenes for these new characters. You will walk out of this course arm in arm with many new parts of self that have come out to play!

Class Schedule:
6 Week workshops:

Session 1:
Wednesday 10AM to 1PM
January 13th, 20th, 27th, February 3rd, 10th, 17th

Session 2:
Wednesday 1-4PM
April 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, May 5th, May 12th

Christina Maddox holds a B.F.A in acting from Marymount Manhattan College, is a graduate of YogaWorks' 200 hour teacher training program in San Francisco, and is currently in apprenticeship with Fay Simpson, founder of The Lucid Body Technique, a movement technique for actors based the seven chakras. Chris has worked in the city as an actor and director for the past seven years. She teaches yoga and coaches monologues to private students all over the city. Chris is fiercely committed to helping students find the connection between their physical life and emotional life on and off the stage.

Scene Study/Deep Background with Kitt Lavoie

Scene Study: An individualized practicum designed to hone and expand upon an actor's craft through the process of deep exploration of specific scenes - with special focus on "deep background" work, script analysis, personalization of the conflicts and circumstances of a scene, and embrace of the concept that there is never one "right" way to do a scene. What is "Deep Background" Character Work? - A discussion and series of exercises focused on unlocking and mastering a method for creating an expansive world and history for a character - and the ways to make that history work to create a textured, nuanced, personal, and deeply accessible performance.

12 Week Workshop
Tuesdays 7-11PM
March 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, April 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th,
May 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

Please note that outside rehearsal work is required for this class

Kitt Lavoie has directed more than seventy-five shows in New York City, including the original productions of more than thirty plays. He is author of seventeen produced plays and musical books, including Twice Rather Perish and The Median Line (both winners of the Herbert J. Robinson Award for Dramatic Writing). Kitt also works regularly as an associate stage and television director Lonny Price, with whom he has recently worked on the Roundabout Theatre's Broadway revival of 110 in the Shade (starring Audra McDonald and John Cullum), the American Premiere of Night Season by Rebecca Liefkowitz, the PBS filming of the Tony Award winning John Doyle revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, and the New York Philharmonic production and PBS filming of Camelot (starring Gabriel Byrne), as well as the feature film version of Athol Fugard's play Master Harold... and the boys, starring Freddie Highmore and Ving Rhames, which is currently filming in Cape Town, South Africa. Kitt has also appeared onstage as Macbeth, Benedick (Much Ado...), and Roy Cohn Angels in America, among others, and has designed sets/lights for more than sixty shows. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School, is a founding member of the Professional Playwrights Workshop at the Players Club and is a Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC). Kitt is Artistic Director and co-founder of The CRY HAVOC Company. Most recently his work was published by Samuel French and he was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Short Script. (www.cryhavoccompany.org). www.kittlavoie.com

PRACTICAL~ UNIQUE ~ CREATIVE ~AFFORDABLE

Rising Sun Performance Company's educational curriculum was designed to provide a unique hands on approach to theatre that is deeply rooted in our ensemble aesthetic and indie theatre vibe.

General Information:
Location: All of our workshops are held at our theatre home: Horse TRADE Theater Group, in one of the theatres or rehearsal studio on East 4th Street.

Teachers: All of our instructors are selected by our Artistic Director and they bring a wealth of practical and experiential knowledge to the classroom, as well as a strong commitment to the ensemble aesthetic of Rising Sun. Teacher Bios accompany each workshop description.

Workshop Fees: We aim to keep our pricing affordable & competitive!
1 Day (3-5 Hours) Master Classes: $50
2 Day (3-5 Hrs per day) Master Classes: $85
6 Week Workshops (3 hrs once per week): $350
8 Week Workshops (3hrs once per week): $650
12 Week Workshops (3hrs once per week): $850
Discounts available for multiple workshops

Full Payment is due prior to start of any class
We request 25% non-refundable deposit upon class registration
We accept Credit Cards via PayPal
In the case of low enrollment or workshop cancelation students will receive a full refund.
Payment plans & work-study is available by application

Class Size:
Minimum Participants for any class is 6 people
Maximum Participants: 10 to 16 participants depending on workshop
Workshop Participants engage in all class activities at their own risk.