November 2016
It’s been a busy year so far – starting off with welcoming Jacqueline (Jax) into our little family! She is amazing, silly and strong, and I could not be more in love with her! This year I had the good fortune to receive Metcalf Foundation funding to begin a Fight Directing internship at Soulpepper Theatre, which has has me involved in Jitters, The Incident at Vichy, Father Comes Home From the Wars, 39 Steps, Hosanna, and Noises Off; as well as teaching Stage Combat for their amazing Youth Programs and the Soulpepper Academy! I have also been very proud to Fight Direct for Judith Thompson at Factory Theatre, for Nina Aquino at YPT, and David Ferry at Coalmine Theatre; as well as create a super fun Rapier and Dagger fight with Simon Fon for Hamlet at the Dream in High Park. Over the summer I worked on some exciting and secret MOCAP projects, and participated in the Worlds Stage Combat Conference which fed me creatively! Most recently I got to perform on stage (for the first time in a long time!) at the Artscape Sandbox, a movement ad dramatic piece exploring mental health, to which I also contributed writing; directed by Rosanna Saracino, Suitcases.
December 27, 2015
I hope every one is having a most excellent holiday season! I have to tell you about an amazing workshop I have the great honour of teaching at! The Worlds Stage Combat Conference is an amazing workshop where students can Train and Certify with FIVE Stage Combat organizations simultaneously! Instructors from across the world are coming to York University in Toronto to run this amazing workshop, and I am one of the Instructors! You can get more information and register here! You owe it to yourself to at least check it out!
November 12, 2015
Fall has been a whirlwind of teaching! The Fighting For Film Workshop was a great success – I was super proud of all of our students! I have been having a great time teaching Intermediate Smallsword, and Advanced Martial Arts Certification Courses at Rapier Wit, and enjoying my first term with the students at the Centre For Indigenous Theatre! But what I Reeeeeeaaallly want to share with you is the launch of Sudden Master! This is a Kung Fu web series I shot in January with a very talented cast and crew, and I’m super proud of it!
Here I am talking about my character: Vienna
July 22, 2015
Check out my upcoming Workshop!
Fighting For Film September 26-27, 2015!
This essential workshop is designed to arm actors and stunt performers with the foundational skills needed to play convincing action sequences, and to show them how to protect themselves and their performance on camera. Taught by experienced film action creators and performers who are also FDC-certified stage combat instructors, this 2-day course will cover basic combat technique, ‘finding the lens’, on-set protocol, and lots of hands-on practice. The course will culminate in a short professional-style fight shoot on the second day, with each student receiving an edited copy of his/her work.
Don’t wait to learn the hard way on set. Enjoy a weekend with talented instructors who have done stunt work on shows such as Lost Girl, Pompeii,and Curious and Unusual Deaths, and take these critical skills with you into your next shoot!
Dates/Times
Fighting for Film is a full weekend course. Please note the different start/finish times for each day.
Saturday September 26, 2015: 1 PM to 6 PM
Sunday September 27, 2015: 10 AM to 6:30 PM
For Details and Registration check out Rapier Wit’s Upcoming Classes
February 3, 2015
So we’re in 2015! Happy Belated New Year! This year started off with a bang, as I got to work on a new webseries called Sudden Master. It was a great project for me because I got to work with my Devil’s Mile costar Samantha Wan (who is also writer, producer, not to mention the lead of the series), my long time friend who I went to theatre school with Allen Keng, not to be confused with our awesome Stunt Coordinator (who I met on Lost Girl) Alan Tang! All wonderful. Apart from the talented people I knew beforehand, I got introduced to the delightful director Romeo Candido, who I hope I get to work with again! I’m super proud of this series (though I haven’t seen the finished product yet) because I was challenged both as a fighter and as an actor! For news on that follow them on Twitter @Sudden_Master! The series, as well as the deep snow we have, has put my ankle to the test! It has been recovering extremely well, but I’m still taking it one step at a time… putting my best foot forward… landing on my feet… you get the idea.
November 3, 2014
Slightly over a year ago I started my TEMPER’s School of Hard Knocks youth drop in class! Every week we got together and worked on stage combat foundation technique, or just picked fun weapons out of the armoury and built some (safe) silly fights! It’s been such a blast, and our numbers have grown steadily! I am so very proud of my Temper Knights so I would like to share this video and show you how awesome they are! Please share it and help make the School of Hard Knocks even bigger! Happy Birthday Temper!!
October 27, 2014
Well this has been a very big year for me so far! Season 5 of Lost Girl started with a bang, and I’m excited for you all to see it! We wrapped the series last month, and I will miss the show, the talented cast, and the awesome crew – it was an honour to be a part of the show. After the wrap I had the pleasure of shooting an episode of Saving Hope, which was a lot of fun. Now I’m teaching a lot of Stage Combat workshops in High Schools, and my School Of Hard Knocks youth drop in classes are going strong! There have been extreme highs and lows already this year. The low being my first (and hopefully last) major stunt injury – which I discuss a bit in this blog series. But the highs far surpassed the lows as in June I married my partner in crime Michael Dufays!
April 10, 2014
I guess it’s a bit late to say it but: Happy 2014! It’s been a while since I’ve posted because things have been delightfully busy, I am so grateful! The School of Hard Knocks is building it’s following, so check out and join our Facebook group to see all the videos from class! I had the great pleasure to finally show my face on Lost Girl Episode412 “Origin” in a guest star role – which was great fun (and my armour, made by Adam Smith, was amazing!!!) I also got to finally see the Devil’s Mile on the big screen – and I can’t wait til it’s available to the public! I just finished working on stunts for The Christmas Horror Story, which was quite a ride, and now we are in full Lost Girl swing! Looks like it’s going to be a year full of fights and film and… also a wedding!
November 30, 2013
The School of Hard Knocks Saturday morning Drop In class has been going for three full months now – some excellent skills have been acquired! Please note that I will be changing the payment format. As of January 4th, 2014 the price will still be $15/class, if you pay for a full month – so $60/month. Otherwise the Drop In fee will be $25/class. This is to encourage more regular attendance. Join our Facebook Group for more regular updates on the class and fun video and pictures of what we do!
July 25, 2013
Things are pretty busy for me this summer, and I am very grateful! I’ve been wearing my Stunt Performer Hat quite a bit on various productions; but I have been lucky enough to be spending a lot of time on the set of Lost Girl, which is always such a pleasure! Wearing my Instructor Hat, I got to work with some very talented Opera Stars-in-training at the Canadian Opera Company Summer Youth Intensive, running their Stage Combat Master Class – check out some pics of their exploits on the COC Blog. The School of Hard Knocks workshop had to be shifted to August 12-16, so hopefully I will be meeting and training new students to appreciate how to make storytelling violence safely for stage and screen soon! I’m also very excited to announce that on September 14th I am starting a School of Hard Knocks Weekly Drop In class! Students under 18 years old can drop in and learn the basic Stage Combat disciplines. They can choose to log their hours and work towards their certification, or they can simply come in and have fun! Check it out!
May 9, 2013
Sign up now for TEMPER’s The School of Hard Knocks!! Kids under 18 cannot Certify with Fight Directors Canada, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn the art of Stage Combat! July 1-5 I will teach the basics of stage combat and film violence! Students will learn, rehearse and perform a choreographed fight scene with a partner. By watching and breaking-down their favourite fights on film, students will also gain an understanding and appreciation for how the fight is crafted to tell a specific story. The Audience sees characters in vicious conflict, when the reality is in fact the opposite: the actors must be in complete control, and working in harmony to create the illusion of chaos and violence.
Register Now! Join with a Friend and complete the Workshop with your very own Fight Video! TemperArts@Gmail.com!
January 31, 2013
Alright! I had an amazing start to 2013 at the Paddy Crean Workshop in Banff (Blog to come!) and now I’m back to teaching first term movement at the Randolph Academy, and Intermediate Smallsword at Rapier Wit. Couple Things:
There is still time to enroll your kids in TEMPER’s March Break School of Hard Knocks! A week long workshop where kids learn stage combat basics, an appreciation and understanding of what goes in to making movie fights, and then wrap up the week by shooting their own movie fight!! March 11-15! Email me at TemperArts@gmail.com
There has also been a change to my Summer workshop – it will now be held July 1st-5th, 2013!
November 26, 2012
Oh my! I haven’t updated in a while! Fall is my busy time for teaching stage combat! I am running all over the GTA teaching for Elementary and High School kids, College students and Professional Actors! I am helping 7-12 year olds create the fight scene in their Opera Workshop for the COC. I am teaching at various high schools, and my students at Rapier Wit and the Randolph Academy have just completed their final fight tests and I’m proud of all of them! (Now to complete all my marking!!)
On the Acting Front I got a day of acting and stunting on David Hayter’s upcoming film Wolves with Lucas Till and Jason Momoa – learn more about the movie here. Finally I am trying to get back to my healthy routine after battling a three week Relentless Mucus Saga, TMI? And aside from doing TRX Plyo Interval training with Christian Feliciano during our break at the Randolph Academy – I have also become an #Elf4Health!!
August 28, 2012
Coming Soon: Actor’s On Set Self Defense Course!
You don’t need to be a stunt performer to be asked to do risky physical acting on stage or screen. Often actors are given blocking last minute that they are not comfortable doing, but very few actors are comfortable saying ‘no’. To avoid being put into a position where you are either risking your safety or your reputation, come take this week long On Set Self Defense course!
Learn how to
- Fall safely and repeatedly
- Take and throw a punch safely and repeatedly
- Embody power and play the illusion of force
- Find the proper camera angle during action sequences
- Know your rights on set
- Know who and how to ask for what you need to feel safe
- Pick up choreography with Confidence
- Spot unsafe props, weapons, and set hazards
Knowing how to take care of yourself on set will help you focus on what’s important: your performance. Don’t sabotage your work on screen because you feel confused or unsafe. Defend yourself! Get Trained!
Interested? Tweet me @TemperArts!
Aug 10, 2012
One of my stage combat students describes her experience doing a Basic Certification Intensive Workshop – check out her blog here. As for me – I’ve got some exciting opportunities arising, which I will tell you about if they end up coming together. Otherwise I’m getting ready for lots of teaching in the fall – at Rapier Wit and the Randolph Academy!
July 10, 2012
I am back from the FDC National Workshop and I can’t say how much I loved it! It was a very inspiring workshop – I had fantastic students and got to stay in a house with all the Fight Masters- coming home every night to share and discuss our ideas and techniques! During this workshop I had the great honour receiving a new title from the College of Fight Masters: “It has been unanimously determined that you have reached, and perhaps, surpassed all the milestones to achieve the position of Full Fight Director with FDC”! I am very excited too keep trying to live up to the high standard of instruction and direction held by Fight Directors Canada, and truly touched by the acknowledgment of my skills from the Masters of our field.
June 14, 2012
Hey there! I am in the homestretch of a Basic Stage Combat Intensive Workshop at Rapier Wit, getting ten very talented students ready for their certification test on Saturday! What’s up next? I am off to the Fight Directors Canada National Workshop!!! And guess what! There is still time to register!! The FDC National workshops that I have attended (and I have attended many!) have all been some of the most fantastic, inspiring experiences of my life! Meet some truly talented people from across Canada and -yes – the world! – and learn amazing skills from swashbuckling sword to martial arts! For more information check out this blog by FDC’s very own David McCormick. Hope to see you there!
May 23, 2012
There is still time to sign up for the School of Hard Knocks! Please check out the information on the TEMPER: CLASSES Page!
Also – if you’re in the Toronto Area – check out Stockholm at the Tarragon Extra Space: great cast, great choreography, great design! As the Fight Director on the show I found it to be an excellent example of good artistic collaboration – the kind of theatre that becomes more than the sum of it’s parts! For more on what I think of the Collaborative Art of Fight Direction – check out my latest blog here!
April 23, 2012
Welcome to my new website! I must thank my friend the relentless Stuart Freeman! It is still under construction but please feel free to explore! Let me also introduce you to my company- TEMPER: Combat Performance Arts! Where each new skill forges a stronger actor! My classes focus on Safety, Physical Control and Expression, Knowledge and Teamwork! Check out the Temper page for my youth classes and my upcoming workshop – The School of Hard Knocks: Youth Stage and Screen Combat!
Feb 2012
NEW CLASS coming up! Please check out my stage combat workshop with FeverGraph Theatre – happening the first weekend of March! Please register now before it’s too late! March 3rd and 4th from 9-1! http://fevergraph.com/training/classes1/ And while you’re at the site – check out their other classes – these ladies know their stuff and I really enjoyed their Monday Movement class!
2012
This past Fall has been a very busy and exciting time for me! On the acting scene, I played the lead in the feature film The Devils Mile, with the fabulous Maria Del Mar and the notorious David Hayter. I also got to act on the Showcase series King, opposite Amy Price-Francis, who was very generous and complimentary. In the fight world, I have had the opportunity to work with the awesome cast and crew of Lost Girl as Bo’s sword double. Sword is my first love in stage combat so I am always thrilled to get a chance to perform sword fights! I have also been very busy teaching stage combat. I just completed teaching Broadsword for Rapier-Wit’s Intermediate Intensive Certification Workshop, and am excited to be teaming up with FeverGraph Theatre (www.fevergraph.com) to add stage combat to their wonderful Acting and Movement Classes! If you’re interested in taking part in my Intro to Stage Combat workshop March 3rd and 4th please go to their website and sign up before Feb 15th!
March 2011
Finally finished my demo! I am improving as an editor, but it really takes me forever, and it’s hard to look at yourself for so long – I had to take breaks. But rightly this should have been up in August. Oh well – better late than never! Check it out on You tube!
Feb 2011
Just finished an amazing run of Duel of Ages at the Next Stage Festival – getting personal mention in almost every review. I will update again soon, but until then – check out Riot ACT’s short “Wanted” – which won Simon and I Action Performers of the Year at the Action on Film Festival in 2009!
July 21 2010
Leaving for L.A. tomorrow with Riot ACT team members to co-teach an Action Acting Workshop with Anthony Delongis in conjunction with the Action on Film Festival! Going to try to shoot as much footage of us there as possible for more Riot ACT shorts and Kick Ass Corner segments. I have never been to L.A., and I am very much looking forward to meeting Anthony finally and playing with weapons on his ranch!
June 2010
My website is a little under construction, so please pardon the mess. It’s a busy time for me these days both as an Actor and a Fight Director.
I have been up at the Stratford Theatre Festival for most of 2010, working as an Assistant Fight Director on Peter Pan, which is currently in previews, and now on the Tempest, with Christopher Plummer. There isn’t a lot of combat in the Tempest but there is a lot of flying for Ariel. Working with Simon Fon, I have been lucky enough to be the one to test her harness and actions, flying in and out of the Festival Theatre grid, and even being belayed out the Tempest Trap onto what is known as the ‘eyebrow’ of the Festival Theatre stage.
In the acting world I will shortly be opening the remount of Urban Bard’s Twelfth Night, in rep with Two Noble Kinsmen in College Park in downtown Toronto. This past winter I had a wonderful experience at the Winnipeg Theatre for Young People, doing the Forbidden Phoenix – it was an excellent cast and crew, and a physically exhausting but very rewarding show. I have also had a chance to do my first television stunts for inMotion and Lost Girl.
I am also still co-hosting an internet segment on Hardcore Nerdity called Kick Ass Corner – which breaks down movie violence. In the latest segment I interviewed Fight Legend Anthony Delongis and looked at his work with whips. I also edited the segment myself – my first editing project, of which there will be many more!
For more information about me as either an Actor or a Fighter, please click on one of the picture inks to the left or the right!
