Camille Litalien- Movement Artist, Therapist & Educator, MA, RSMT
Head of Movement, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York City

Camille Litalien is a movement artist, therapist, and educator whose work resists finality; It is porous, unfinished, and always composting itself in dialogue with the sensorial world and the presences, human and more-than-human, that shape it. Rooted in collaboration, her practice draws artists seeking not only craft but intimacy, transformation, and entanglement.

Camille has performed and directed internationally, with engagements at the Royal Opera Ballet (Covent Garden), the Young Vic Theatre, and festivals across Europe and North America. She directed and produced the work of Indian Runner Productions in London for twelve years, co-created Earth Body Place, an immersive site-specific dance theatre project in the US, and co-owns Trilokya, a somatic and artistic retreat place in New Mexico.

Her creative and embodied research lives at the intersection of performance, pedagogy, and deep ecology. She teaches movement and embodiment informed by lifelong studies in Classical Indian Arts, Body-Mind Centering, Releasing and Contemporary Dance, and Mask Work. Her pedagogy: ‘Becoming Otherwise’ is deeply rooted in the Michael Chekhov Technique, approached as a living practice of imagination, presence, and transformation.

Camille’s artistic work invites a deceleration of perception, an embodied reclaiming of presence, and an attentiveness to what remains unheard beneath our cultural noise.

https://www.camillelitalien.com/
https://www.aada.edu/
https://trilokya.net/

David Bridel
Founder & Artistic Director

David is the Founding and Artistic Director of The Clown School, an artist, scholar, author and educator whose expertise ranges from screen to stage, instruction to leadership. He has been teaching clown, mask, movement, and performance for thirty years.

David has conducted seminars, workshops, and courses in clown and movement at universities including NYU, UCLA, Cal Arts, and SUNY Purchase, as well as abroad in Iran, Romania, Melbourne, Shanghai, Beijing, Brazil, Turkey, Austria, and the UK, and independently with multiple theatres and organizations in Los Angeles and New York. He has represented The Clown School as a Clown Specialist on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, served as the Commedia dell’Arte and Movement Director for Center Theatre Group’s production of The School of Night by Peter Whelan at the Mark Taper Forum, for which he won an Entertainment Weekly ‘Special Events’ Award, and the adaptor and Movement Specialist for Classic Stage Company’s Dr Faustus in New York. His commedia-inspired choreography for William Friedkin’s productions of Ariadne Auf Naxos at Los Angeles Opera and Salome at the Bayerische Staatsoper were much acclaimed. David’s clown plays and productions include Abraham & Isaac (with Four Clowns and the Latin American Film Institute, Sao Paulo), Sublimity (at the International Drama Festival in Sao Paulo and the United Solo Festival in New York) and Lunatics and Actors (with Four Clowns), the award-winning Flayed written by and starring Clown School alum Josiah Blount (Los Angeles, New York), and Colin Coughlin’s A Moment to Spare (Elysian Theater). David’s clown and commedia dell’arte plays I Gelosi, Lunatics and Actors and Sublimity are all published by Original Works. The Los Angeles Times writes: “Bridel is the real thing, one of the most inventive, scholarly and vastly challenging voices on the current theatrical scene.” David recently served as clown consultant for Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Waiting for Godot (Broadway).

David has also worked in mainstream theatre, musical theatre, opera, and classical music in the United States and around the world. Highlights include performing his own adaptation of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale with Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra; directing Jenny Brandon and Oliver Mayer’s opera 3 Paderewskis in Poland and at The Kennedy Center; librettist for the musicals The Scream, A Musical Comedy Fantasy (BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, New York, and the Westport Country Playhouse, Connecticut), and The Glorious Death of Comrade What’s-His-Name (Hudson Depot Theater, Fall 2026). He has a long-standing partnership with China’s foremost improvisation studio, Improv First, based in Beijing, for whom he has taught multiple disciplines and directed an improvised version of Moliere’s Tartuffe. Over the course of his career he has directed a vast range of plays, by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Priestley, Marivaux, Ionesco, Brecht, Feydeau, Pirandello, Dumas, Moliere, Ibsen, Mamet, among many others.

David has collaborated with David Shiner, Shannan Calcutt, Caroline Dream, Philippe Gaulier, and many other leading figures in the field of clowning. His book, Clowns: In Conversation, featuring interviews with many of the world’s greatest clowns, published by Routledge UK, is now in its 2nd edition, along with his newer books for Routledge, Send In The Clowns: Humanitarian Clowning in Crisis Zones and Commedia dell’Arte – Contemporary Practitioners. His personal vision of clowning can be found in his latest book, Clown Versus Dogma (available on Amazon).

David served as a faculty member at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts for 16 years. Among his many residencies in Los Angeles, he has taught and consulted for SONY Pictures, The Meisner Institute, and Kaiser Permanente Theater. He sits on the board of the National Alliance for Acting Teachers and the Advisory Board of Directors Lab West, and was previously a board member for the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company.

David launched The Clown School Company in 2024. For the company he has created A Kind of Electra (Los Angeles, Edmonton Fringe Festival), Trickster (Los Angeles and Hollywood Fringe), and The Idiot’s Paradise (coming soon).

He trained with Philippe Gaulier – one of the world’s foremost clown teachers.

www.theclownschool.com
www.theclownschoolcompany.com
www.coachingwithdavid.org

WENDELL BEAVERS A founding faculty and Director (1985-90) of NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing (ETW) and founder of Naropa University’s innovative MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance Program 2004-2020. An early collaborator with Viewpoints originator Mary Overlie creating and teaching Viewpoints curriculum at ETW from its inception in 1978 until moving to Naropa University in 2003. He is also a member of the founding artists group of Movement Research (NYC, 1978 to present), directing that collective from 1980-83, recently teaching in the Movement Research at MOMA series. He is currently teaching and mentoring a growing global community of teachers, performing and devising artists, writers and theorists who have been influenced by the Viewpoints work and his own performance practice and somatic research. He is an advisor to The Mary Overlie Legacy Project which is dedicated to the further unfolding of the Viewpoints as a body of work in the service of change and radical transformation. He has also been a longtime colleague of Anne Bogart and the SITI CO, collaborating with the company as a teacher and presenter of the Viewpoints in a variety of venues and circumstances since the company’s inception. He is a principal contributor to On The Horizontal: Mary Overlie and The Viewpoints, edited by Tony Perucci, to be published by Univ. of Michigan Press. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Performing Arts at Naropa University, and Master Teacher (ret.), Experimental Theater Wing (ETW), Tisch School of The Arts, NYU. Based on his work with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of Body-Mind Centering®, he continues to teach Developmental Technique™. his own foundational physical technique for dancers, actors and all physical performers. His company, SomaticPerformer supports his solo performance work, writing, lecturing, and ongoing professional development workshops with his partner Erika Berland combining new somatic research, Buddhist practice and phenomenology, and the Six-Viewpoints work of Mary Overlie.

Recent residencies and guest artist/faculty appointments include: Ohio University (2015), SITI CO Skidmore Intensives (2015—2018), NYU/ETW and BFA Open Arts (2016-2019), Nine Years Theater/Singapore(2016), University of Colorado, Boulder (2018, 2019), Rose Bruford University, London (2019), Toneelschool, Maastricht, Netherlands (2019), Vertico, Madrid (2019), Concordia University,Montreal (2020), Boston Conservatory @ Berklee (2022), MIT Dance (2022).

wendellbeavers.com

ERIKA BERLAND is a Certified Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering® , and a nationally Registered Movement Therapist (RSMT) and practiced as a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) for over 2 decades. She has an extensive background as a dance and movement teacher as well as a performer and has taught workshops in experiential anatomy and dance applications of Body-Mind Centering® in numerous studios, schools, and universities throughout the US and Europe. Erika was a founding faculty of the MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance Program at Naropa University (2004-2020) where she developed a program integrating meditation, somatic movement training and dharma art principles. She and her partner, Wendell Beavers have offered independent training and workshops through their company, Somatic Performer for over 15 years. Her publications include:
Sitting: The Physical Art of Meditation, SomaticPerformer Press, 2017; Somatic Training for Actors with The Principles of Body-Mind Centering®, 2nd ed. Ch. In Movement for Actors (Allworth Press) 2016; A Dramaturgy of Embodiment, Accessing The Expressivity of the Body Through The Study and Practice of Experiential Anatomy. Ch. In Physical Dramaturgy Perspectives from the Field (Routledge) 2017 & Contributing Author to Gary Allen’s Discovering Sanity: Mindfulness in Solitary Confinement (Mindfulness Peace Project 2016

erikaberland.com

Dr. Bill Gelber is a Professor of Theatre who teaches acting, directing, pedagogy, and
period styles, including Shakespeare and his contemporaries and the life and works
of Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, and Bertolt Brecht. He has both an MEd in
Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University and an MFA in Directing
from the University of Texas at Austin. He received a Ph.D. in Theatre History from
the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with Oscar Brockett. He has
directed over 60 productions of various genres, including works by Luigi Pirandello,
Mike Lew, William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Sam
Shepard, Harold Pinter, and Bertolt Brecht. His articles have appeared in the Bertolt
Brecht Yearbook; Southeastern Theatre Journal, Texas Theatre Journal; and Stage
Directors and Choreographers Journal. His essay “A ‘Ha’ in Shakespeare, Soliloquy as
Excuse and Challenge to the Audience,” appears in Shakespeare Expressed: Page,
Stage and Classroom in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. His books include
English and German versions of Engaging with Brecht: Making Theatre in the 21 st
Century as well as Making a Scene: Creating a Scene Study Class for Actors.

Kathleen McNenny currently teaches physically acting at the Juilliard School of Drama using the tool of the mask.  She has been teaching various physical modalities for over thirty years.   She studied masks with Pierre Lefevre, Mina Yakin and Paola Coletto to name a few.  She is a certified Lucid Body Teacher and a member of the Michael Chekhov Association.  In addition to Juilliard, Kathleen has taught or is teaching at AADA, William Esper Studios, Rutgers, The Studio Theater, The National Alliance of Teachers, UCSD, The Lucid Body House, and Arts Bridge to name a few.  She is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and has an extensive acting resume which can be found at kathleenmcnenny.com.  She is a proud member of the Actors Center since its inception in 1996.

Rafi Silver is a professional actor, writer, and certified mindfulness meditation instructor with nearly 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. He is on faculty at Columbia University’s MFA Acting Program, where he teaches The Mindful Actor and The Professional Approach, integrating mindfulness-based tools into performance training. He has also taught at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program and Syracuse University’s Tepper Semester.
Through his company, PeakMind Performance, Rafi coaches professional actors, Division I athletes, CEOs, and creative leaders, helping them develop focus, resilience, and clarity under pressure. His work has supported athletes competing at the highest levels, including a top-10 finisher at the 2025 Masters CrossFit Games and an Ivy League Rookie of the Year in D1 Men’s Golf.
As an actor, Rafi is currently recurring on Amazon’s Fallout, with additional credits including Law & Order: Organized Crime, Manifest, and Scandal. His work bridges high-level performance, modern neuroscience, and Buddhist mindfulness practice.
Rafi holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program and a BFA from Syracuse University. He is certified through Dharma Moon and Tibet House US, and is a graduate of George Mumford’s Mindful Athlete training. To learn more about him and his work visit: www.peakmindperformance.com

Dan O’Connor is an internationally recognized improviser, actor, director, writer, and educator. He began his training at the American Conservatory Theatre’s Young Conservatory in San Francisco and performed with ACT’s main company as a union actor at age eleven. Early exposure to Commedia dell’arte and narrative improvisation shaped a career defined by a deep commitment to spontaneous storytelling.

A graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, O’Connor went on to help pioneer Theatresports in California, co-founding BATS Improv in San Francisco and LA Theatresports in Los Angeles. In 2003, he co-founded Impro Theatre, where he has developed and performed fully improvised, genre-based work inspired by writers such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Tennessee Williams, Chekhov, and Sondheim.

His stage work includes performances at the Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, the Falcon Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others. Improvisation credits include Shakespeare UnScripted, Jane Austen UnScripted, Tennessee Williams UnScripted, and Sondheim UnScripted, as well as Wrought Irony, Pulp Playhouse, OFF THE WALL, and guested with Second City and the Groundlings. He also appeared Off-Broadway in Keith Johnstone’s Lifegame with Improbable Theatre.

As a theatre actor, his work includes A Christmas Carol, Peer Gynt, and The Merry Wives of Windsor at ACT; The Tempest at Shakespeare Santa Cruz; The Homecoming at New Conservatory Theatre; Making Noise Quietly at the Mark Taper Forum; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at A Noise Within, for which he received a Dramalogue Award for Best Actor.

On camera, his credits include Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle, NCIS, Law & Order: LA, Raising Hope, The Middle, The Righteous Gemstones, and Emily in Paris, along with more than 100 national commercials. He co-created, executive produced, and starred in World Cup Comedy (NBC/PAX), served as consulting producer and series regular on Quick Witz, directed Sons & Daughters (ABC) and Campus Ladies (Oxygen), and has written for The Wayne Brady Show, Payne(CBS), and The Weekenders (Disney).

O’Connor has taught acting, writing and improvisation at USC, UCLA Extension, Pepperdine, Duke, and UT Austin’s MBA program, and has led workshops internationally. His corporate work includes Disney, DreamWorks, Cirque du Soleil, KPMG, and Bank of America, where he applies improvisation to storytelling and creative development. He also co-developed The Living Storyboard, a process used in animated feature development.

He is the co-author, with Dr. Jeff Katzman, of Life Unscripted and Ensemble!, published by North Atlantic Books/Penguin Random House. He has trained with Patsy Rodenburg and extensively with Keith Johnstone since 1986. He is a member of the DGA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and AEA. 

Dan lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actor Edi Patterson. www.danoconnor.net

Leigh Fondakowski is a playwright, screenwriter, author, director and and founding member of Tectonic Theater Project. She was the head writer of The Laramie Project, a co-writer of Laramie: Ten Years Later, and an Emmy nominated co-screenwriter for the film adaptation of Laramie with HBO Films.

Leigh’s other original plays include I Think I Like Girls, The People’s Temple, and Spill.  Leigh is the author of the non-fiction book, Stories from Jonestown, and is currently adapting the book to television with Margo Hall.

Leigh’s work has been developed and produced around the country, including American Theater Company, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Denver Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Guthrie, Hartford Stage,  HERE Arts Center, New Georges, Perseverance Theatre, Swine Palace and TimeLine Theatre.

As a director, Leigh has worked with playwrights Stephen Belber, Colman Domingo, Laura Eason, Julia Jordan, Moises Kaufman, Lisa Ramirez, Ellen Gordon Reeves and Bennett Singer.

In the audio world, Leigh is the creator / host of Feminist Files, starring Jodie Foster, a multi-part series that tells the hidden history of Title IX.

Leigh is the recipient of the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, a MacDowell Fellow, a Sundance Theatre Lab alum, A New Georges Audrey resident, A Drama League Fellow, a recipient of The National Endowment of the Arts Residency for Collaborative Teams at Yaddo, and the 2010 Distinguished Visiting Chair at the University of Minnesota.

Leigh teaches and lectures nationally and internationally, and is a Teaching Artist at Louisiana State University and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.  Leigh is a member of Tectonic Theater Project and is the current Chair of Tectonic’s Moment Work Institute.

Leigh’s latest play in development is Casa Cushman based on the life of 19^th century American actress, Charlotte Cushman and her circle of female friends and lovers, including Emma Stebbins, the sculptor who created the Central Park Angel.