Since 1991, I have run an independent acting studio based in Manhattan, where I teach weekly group classes and intensive workshops. I also work four weeks a year in Los Angeles, conduct an annual workshop in Berlin, and most recently worked in week-long, intensive workshops with actors in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo. I have also taught in England, Spain, and South America.
I coach clients privately for film, television, theater, and a wide range of special projects. My clients range from established actors to newcomers, comedians, singers, dancers, models, rappers, public figures, and on-air personalities. Though I work with many top-flight performers, I am also known for my ability to develop less experienced actors, providing them with a strong and enduring foundation and technique. I also shape noted personalities with little to no experience as actors and help them make a successful career transition into acting.
Although I work primarily with actors, I have also coached clients outside the world of arts— businessmen, sales representatives, advocates, government officials, politicians, and academics—who wish to strengthen their performance and presentation skills. I use relaxation, improvisation, a loosely structured rehearsal process, role-playing, body language, music, and feedback to meet each client’s specific needs, helping them achieve their goals.
My clients also include individuals looking to explore their own creative instruments and deepen and refine their capacity to express themselves imaginatively and emotionally. I use various forms of relaxation—imaginative, interactive, written exercises, improvisation, and dream work. These approaches can take place in creative group workshops and/or private sessions.
Born in Manhattan, I grew up in the world of theater and began studying acting as a teenager. I studied privately in the city with many teachers. My first mentor was Sandra Seacat, a member of the Actor’s Studio and a Method-based teacher who also taught dream work. I was also influenced by Marcia Haufreicht, another Studio member with a more traditional Method and sensory-based technique. I worked as an actress for 15 years in New York, Los Angeles, and abroad. Eventually, I began teaching for Sandra in 1991 and by 1992 I had found my true calling. Developing my own hybrid approach and fusing methods, techniques, improvisation, original exercises, and material, I started to teach full time.
I received a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College, where I studied with several prominent writers, among them Grace Paley, Thomas Lux, and Jane Cooper. I have led outreach activities and creative workshops in New York City public schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and homeless shelters.
My varied background and experiences have allowed me to collaborate as a creative consultant to writers, directors, producers, casting directors, and performers on a wide range of projects. I am currently developing a project of my own as a writer/director and writing a book about my Modern Method-Acting Technique.