Dramaworks 2009 Instructors
 |
DITTE BERKELEY Ditte Berkeley is originally from Denmark. She studied acting in London at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama (1998–2001). She moved to Wroclaw in 2001 and joined an ensemble of young artists working on Georgian polyphonic singing, the now internationally renowned Teatr ZAR. As an actress of this theatre ensemble, she participates in both of its performances: Gospels of Childhood and Cesarean Section. Together with Jaroslaw Fret and the other members of Theatre ZAR, she has led numerous work sessions in Poland as well as abroad. She has collaborated with the Grotowski Centre, and subsequently the Grotowski Institute, since 2004. |
 |
MICHELE BROWN Michele Brown graduated from the BFA Acting program (University of Alberta) in 1981 and has since worked as an actor, musician, instructor, and acting coach. Recent credits include A Life In The Day (The Maggie Tree), Death’s Godson (co-written with Paul Morgan Donald), and The Office Tower Tales, both at the Edmonton Fringe Festival (2009), The Black Rider (November Theatre), Spring Alibi and Should’ve, which went to Torino, Italy (2007). Michele has been nominated for three Fringe Sterling awards, receiving one for her work in The Old Curiosity Shop (2002). She teaches at the University of Alberta, the Foote Theatre School, and the Freewill Shakespeare Festival. Previously she has taught at Red Deer College and Portage College in Lac La Biche. |
 |
GEOFFREY BRUMLIK Last year, Geoffrey participated in the Director’s Project (Shaw Festival) where he was involved in Mrs. Warren’s Profession and The Little Foxes and directed The Man in the Stalls by Alfred Sutro. He recently completed a workshop of Vern Thiessen’s new play Lenin’s Embalmers (The Ensemble Studio Theatre) in New York City. For the Citadel Theatre, he spent four seasons as the Associate Director and two as Artist in Residence. He directed Shakespeare’s Will and assistant directed and text coached Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan. He also served four seasons as Artistic Director of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival and directed The Tempest, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Comedy of Errors. |
 |
MICHELLE DIAS Michelle Dias has been Head of Scenic Art at the Citadel Theatre since 1995. Michelle is a graduate of Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre School and has spent more than 20 years working in Canadian theatre, film, and television. She has led many workshops in props building, painting, and scenic art techniques. Michelle feels very fortunate to have received two Sterling awards for Outstanding Personal Achievement and is grateful to be a part of Edmonton’s vibrant theatre community. Michelle is looking forward to her third time teaching at Dramaworks! |
 |
JANICE FLOWER Janice is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Music Program and has worked as a musical director since 1982. Some of the companies she has worked with include the Citadel Theatre (Beauty and The Beast, Grease), Freewill Shakespeare Festival (Two Gentlemen of Verona) and Northern Light Theatre (Water’s Daughter). Janice is the accompanist and vocal coach for the MacEwan Theatre Arts program. She has been involved with the St. Albert Children’s Theatre for 24 years as Musical Director and currently as Artistic Director. |
 |
NOREEN JANI Noreen’s love of make-up began as a young child with the endless possibilities of Halloween costumes. She went to school in Vancouver and received her Professional Make-up Artistry Diploma from the Blanche MacDonald Design School. She returned to Edmonton in 1999 and has continued to learn in this ever-changing industry. She has worked on stage, film, TV, video, and special occasion gigs for the last 11 years. Noreen believes in the “pay it forward” philosophy and loves to share and expand her knowledge of make-up. |
 |
KEVIN KERR Kevin Kerr is a playwright, director, actor, and founding member of Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre, with whom he’s co-written numerous plays including The Wake, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Flop, and The Fall. Other selected credits are Skydive, Studies in Motion and Unity (1918), which earned him the Governor General’s Award for Drama (2002). His latest play, an adaptation of Pierre Berton’s Secret World of Og, premieres with Carousel Theatre (Vancouver) in April 2009. Currently he’s working on a new collective piece with Electric Company and a new play to be co-produced by Realwheels (Vancouver) and The University of Alberta (Drama department). He is the current Lee Playwright in Residence (University of Alberta) in Edmonton where he lives with his wife, poet Marita Dachsel and his two sons. |
 |
DAVID LEY David Ley is a voice, speech, dialect, and text specialist. He has spent ten seasons as a voice and text coach at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. He works regularly as a voice and dialect coach for theatres in Edmonton and has 25 years experience as both an actor and acting teacher. Last fall he appeared as George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf for Studio Theatre and as Dr. Walker in the feature film Passchendaele. David is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the BFA Acting program at the University of Alberta. |
 |
MATEJ MATEJKA Matej is originally from Slovakia. He has been a collaborator of The Grotowski Institute since 2005 where he is engaged in research of physical expression in the theatre. He is an actor with Teatr ZAR and one of the leaders of physical training for the company. He performs in Gospels of Childhood, Cesarean Section and is currently working on Anhelli, Calling. Matej leads his own work sessions, Wakening the Listening Body, in Poland and internationally. He has performed with the Theatre Studio Prague, and Farm in the Cave on Dark Love Sonnets, Journey to the Station and SCLAVI / The Song of an Emigrant. He is currently collaborating with choreographer and dancer Jaro Vinarsky. |
 |
JANET NICHOL Janet Nichol is an established vocal teacher, clinician, and performer who spans the genres of opera, music theatre, and jazz. In her instruction, she draws on twenty-five years experience gained through her private studio and Grant MacEwan College (Music Theatre and Jazz/Pop programs) where she teaches individual voice lessons and performance classes. Ms. Nichol served on the national board of The National Association of Teachers of Singing and is Past President of the North Central Alberta Chapter of NATS. For five years she was the vocal advisor on the Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival Board. Ms. Nichol holds a Music degree from the University of Alberta and has continued her studies at the Mannes College of Music, New York, the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, and Oberlin College, Ohio. |
 |
SANDY NICHOLLS Sandra M. Nicholls has been active on the Canadian theatre front for the past thirty years as an actor, director and teacher. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and holds a Master of Fine Arts (Directing) degree from the University of Alberta. She is currently teaching in the BFA Acting program at the U of A. She has been working with the Michael Chekhov method since her own training at NTS and has completed two summer programs with the Michael Chekhov Institute at the University of Southern Maine under the artistic directorship of Mala Powers. Most recently, she completed an intensive with MICHA under the directorship of Joanna Merlin. |
 |
TREVOR SCHMIDT Trevor Schmidt is the Artistic Director of Northern Light Theatre and regularly programs plays that are edgy or controversial in style or content. Recent directing credits include The Beard, The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband, Mo & Jess Kill Susie, The Shape Of Things and Fat Pig. He is also a performer, set and costume designer, a published playwright, and a multiple Sterling award winner. His plays have been produced across Canada and as far away as Australia (Mabel Stark!). Selected recent credits include Women Beware Women, The Busy World Is Hushed and Bitchslap!, Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom and The Fabulous Buddha Boi in New York. He was a guest speaker at the AK09 in Auckland, New Zealand. |
 |
DAVID van BELLE David van Belle is a Calgary-based performance creator. Since 1993 he has been involved in the creation of over 60 new works, many during his seven-year stint as a member of the creative ensemble of One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre. Recent creation projects include The Invisible Project for the 2009 High Performance Rodeo and The Monster for Dancers’ Studio West and the Expanse Movement Arts Festival. He is currently playwright-in-residence at Alberta Theatre Projects where he is working on a new solo performance with director/collaborator Eric Rose called The Highest Step in the World. |
 |
DONOVAN WORKUN A founding member of the nationally acclaimed Atomic Improv Co., Donovan has appeared in several television comedy specials, commercials, movies of the week, and a feature film. He has been featured at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, and has worked with Second City alumni Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, Colin Mochrie and Mike Myers. |