New York-based Rick Sordelet seems to be the most prolific fight director in America right now. The certification of Fight Director is a lot easier to attain in the U.S. than in Canada, so most of those certified aren’t really worth a damn. Rick is the opposite end of that spectrum: he has an excellent philosophy which he puts into practice getting phenomenal results in a huge number of productions every year.

Rick Sordelet is not only an excellent fight choreographer, he’s incredibly articulate. In this video, he says it better than most:
Sordelet Fight Director Video

Rick is in the news right now for his Romeo & Juliet, which he directed and fight directed in Philadelphia. Here’s a snippet from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

‘Romeo & Juliet,’ splendidly staged
The sexy, passionate Romeo and Juliet that opened last weekend at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is just what R&J should be: a mix of potent chemistry between the two teens that rips through a starry-eyed first half and a star-crossed second.

It’s directed with a command of both the characters and the language by Rick Sordelet, who also happens to be the busiest fight choreographer on Broadway; this season, he’s directed the brawling in the revival of Fences and the new musical The Addams Family. Sordelet also provides a historic link to this production: He did the fight scenes for Romeo and Juliet at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, on the campus of DeSales University near Quakertown, in 1992 – its inaugural season.

This time, he does double duty as director and fight director, and expect to see lavish swordplay, at one point with a Tybalt (Mike Rossmy) who brandishes a weapon in each hand as the characters swoop through Steve TenEyck’s simple but evocative set.
‘Romeo & Juliet,’ splendidly staged | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/27/2010

We’ve got to get this guy into Fight Directors Canada. I think an invitation to teach at next year’s Nationals would be an excellent opportunity to share expertise.

Click image for larger view

Visit May Stage Combat Course for more info.

Just a quick note that the next FDC Basic Certification course that was scheduled for this week has been delayed until 17 May, 2010.

For full details, check this out: May Stage Combat Course

Sorry for any inconvenience… actually, it should be a convenience, because now you have time to sign up and get these essential actor’s skills.

After our hugely successful first stage combat course in which all students passed their examination with Fight Master J-P Fournier, Academie Duello is doing it again – right away. The next 10-week stage combat certification course will begin on 12 April 17 May!

First Class: Monday, 12 April 2010 17 May, 2010
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Duration: 17 May – 24 July (10 weeks)
Place: Academie Duello, 412 W. Hastings, Vancouver, BC

Mondays: Basic Quarterstaff

Staff training gives the student coordination using both hands on a weapon that uses a lot of space. Circular and linear attacks combine with different ways of handling the staff make the weapon challenging and versatile. Eastern and Western martial arts incorporated various kinds of staves and spears, so this discipline is important in many contexts.

Wednesdays: Basic Unarmed

Throwing a good punch is a tiny part of unarmed fighting, even without considering martial arts styling. The most common need for the stage are slaps and falls. We cover many techniques of attacks, defenses, hair pulls, chokes, and all the violence that looks untrained and brutal.

Saturdays: Basic Sword

Learn the fundamentals of sword for the stage and screen. The Fight Directors Canada basic level of sword is practiced with sabre-hilted epees, in order to be adaptable to many international and historical sword systems, with the utmost concern for the safety of performers and the excitement of the action. From swashbuckling cutlass to Persian short sword, the FDC system is a universal foundation that is essential for the actor or stunt-person.

Fridays: Extra Practice (optional)

Starting mid-way through the course, students will have the opportunity to come in on Fridays for additional time to rehearse their scenes. This is supervised time, but will not contain additional tutoring or instruction.

Fight Directors Canada Certification

Fight Directors Canada is internationally recognized quality, and the only stage combat training officially recognized by the Canadian Actors Equity Association. Learn the foundations:

• Unarmed combat
• Quarterstaff
• Sword

It’s not just weapons, FDC emphasizes:

• Safety: You need to move with high speed and intensity, without risking any kind of injury.
• Storytelling: It’s not a game, it’s part of the play/movie… learn to incorporate combat into a scene.
• Style: Techniques change based on history and geography. Learn a versatile system.

Note that FDC Certification at the Basic Actor-Combatant level requires 60 hours of training, a written exam and the evaluation of an FDC Fight Master.

What’s Included?

• 10 weeks of instruction and practice.
• Over 60 hours of training
• The FDC glossary
• Written exam
• Practical exam with Fight Master J-P Fournier
• Membership in FDC until September 2011

Exam Details

There are two parts to the final examination: a written test and a practical test.
Written test:

• 90 minutes
• Demonstrate knowledge of terminology
• Show understanding of principles of all 3 weapons and theatrical concerns

Practical Exam:
Performance of one scene for each weapon (3 scenes). Each scene will have:

• About 2-3 minutes total length
• Text from a published play
• Different partners
• Demonstration of acting and stage combat skills
• Safety for the performers and the audience
• No need for costumes or other staging

Cost

$1,000 for the course, including materials and testing mentioned above.

Can I Do One Weapon?

If, for whatever reason, you can’t take the whole course, or you’re not interested in certification with FDC, there are a couple of options:

1. You may take any one class (Sword Saturday, Quarterstaff Monday or Unarmed Wednesday) for $300.
2. You may certify in one weapon (Sword, Quarterstaff or Unarmed) for an additional $100.

Note that if you certify in one weapon, you will not receive a certificate to that effect. FDC only certifies actor-combatants who complete the level. In order to complete your official certification, you’ll have to pass the other weapons within 12 months. If you choose to take the class but not do the certification test, you may not list FDC certification on your resume. Most students will be certifying and need partners to fight with them on test day. If choose not to certify from the start, we will try to avoid those partnering issues and you will not be obligated to come to the test day.

Sign Up ASAP

Call Academie Duello 604-568-9907 for information or to sign-up for any of our programs or Drop by 412 W. Hastings in Vancouver, BC. Space is limited to 8 students!

The long-awaited announcement of the first Basic Actor-Combatant Certification course at Academie Duello.

First Class: Monday, 18 January 2010
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Duration: 18 January – 26 March (10 weeks)
Place: Academie Duello, 412 W. Hastings, Vancouver, BC

Mondays: Basic Sword

Learn the fundamentals of sword for the stage and screen. The Fight Directors Canada basic level of sword is practiced with sabre-hilted epees, in order to be adaptable to many international and historical sword systems, with the utmost concern for the safety of performers and the excitement of the action. From swashbuckling cutlass to Persian short sword, the FDC system is a universal foundation that is essential for the actor or stunt-person.

Wednesdays: Basic Quarterstaff

Staff training gives the student coordination using both hands on a weapon that uses a lot of space. Circular and linear attacks combine with different ways of handling the staff make the weapon challenging and versatile. Eastern and Western martial arts incorporated various kinds of staves and spears, so this discipline is important in many contexts.

Fridays: Basic Unarmed

Throwing a good punch is a tiny part of unarmed fighting, even without considering martial arts styling. The most common need for the stage are slaps and falls. We cover many techniques of attacks, defenses, hair pulls, chokes, and all the violence that looks untrained and brutal.

Saturdays: Extra Practice (optional)

Starting mid-way through the course, students will have the opportunity to come in on Saturdays for additional time to rehearse their scenes. This is supervised time, but will not contain additional tutoring or instruction.

Fight Directors Canada Certification

Fight Directors Canada is internationally recognized quality, and the only stage combat training officially recognized by the Canadian Actors Equity Association. Learn the foundations:

• Unarmed combat
• Quarterstaff
• Sword

It’s not just weapons, FDC emphasizes:

• Safety: You need to move with high speed and intensity, without risking any kind of injury.
• Storytelling: It’s not a game, it’s part of the play/movie… learn to incorporate combat into a scene.
• Style: Techniques change based on history and geography. Learn a versatile system.

Note that FDC Certification at the Basic Actor-Combatant level requires 60 hours of training, a written exam and the evaluation of an FDC Fight Master.

What’s Included?

• 10 weeks of instruction and practice.
• Over 60 hours of training
• The FDC glossary
• Written exam
• Practical exam with Fight Master J-P Fournier
• Membership in FDC until September 2011

Exam Details

There are two parts to the final examination: a written test and a practical test.
Written test:

• 90 minutes
• Demonstrate knowledge of terminology
• Show understanding of principles of all 3 weapons and theatrical concerns

Practical Exam:
Performance of one scene for each weapon (3 scenes). Each scene will have:

• About 2-3 minutes total length
• Text from a published play
• Different partners
• Demonstration of acting and stage combat skills
• Safety for the performers and the audience
• No need for costumes or other staging

Cost

$1,000 for the course, including materials and testing mentioned above.

Can I Not Do The Whole Thing?

If, for whatever reason, you can’t take the whole course, or you’re not interested in certification with FDC, there are a couple of options:

1. You may take any one class (Sword Monday, Quarterstaff Wednesday or Unarmed Friday) for $300.
2. You may certify in one weapon (Sword, Quarterstaff or Unarmed) for an additional $100.

Note that if you certify in one weapon, you will not receive a certificate to that effect. FDC only certifies actor-combatants who complete the level. In order to complete your official certification, you’ll have to pass the other weapons within 12 months. If you choose to take the class but not do the certification test, you may not list FDC certification on your resume. Most students will be certifying and need partners to fight with them on test day. If choose not to certify from the start, we will try to avoid those partnering issues and you will not be obligated to come to the test day.

Sign Up ASAP

Call Academie Duello 604-568-9907 for information or to sign-up for any of our programs or Drop by 412 W. Hastings in Vancouver, BC. Space is limited to 8 students!

Good climaxes like this one from Rob Roy are not only exciting fights that are well performed, but also reflect the themes and actions in the rest of the story:
embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube link: Rob Roy

What is the climax of a play or movie?

It’s the point where the tension gets so high that something snaps. Psychological tension is released by physical action. It’s usually either a fight or a kiss. In a romance, the two lovers are kept apart by their own misunderstandings or by forces outside their control until they overcome the odds, and embrace. In most other forms of drama, the climax is an explosive fight. Even in romances, there are often fights along the way as mini-climaxes or complications to the plot.

Characters talk and tension builds up, they form goals, and they meet obstacles. Eventually, things get physical. In order to achieve, they have to overcome their greatest obstacle. That obstacle is the villain, and vanquishing the villain is usually done in combat.

High Stakes

Remember that the play is the most important time in your character’s life. The climax is the single most important moment within that story, and is usually a life-or-death struggle.

The question for actors, directors, and anyone in the process is this: If the climax of your production is a fight, and that is the most important part of your show, wouldn’t you want to devote more time, energy and resources to that moment than to any other?

Or think about the opposite question: Is the fight in your play a disappointment?

Beyond Genre

Maybe you have a kitchen-sink drama, and the climactic violence is a single slap. The slap is the culmination of frustrations of both characters. It is the physical release of every emotional step before it. It is the turning point and the instant when words fail. That slap has to be perfectly executed, because if it looks fake it has ruined your show.

Maybe you’re doing Hamlet. You have four hours of internal conflict and interpersonal drama that culminates in a duel between Hamlet and Laertes. In that scene, everyone important dies. Earlier, we had the death of Polonius, but that merely heightened the tension. We had Ophelia going mad and we hear that she drowned herself. Important events, but we are still waiting for the moment when Hamlet will avenge his father. We can’t bear him to choose “not to be” and give up. In the critical fight at the end, Hamlet overcomes. Although he dies, he takes all the evildoers with him.

The fight is 5 minutes compared to the rest of the play’s 240 minutes. Does that determine its importance? No way. The fight and the deaths in the final act have to be planned from the first rehearsal, with plenty of time to choreograph and perfect the moves. Otherwise the audience will feel cheated of those arduous 240 minutes if you don’t give them a spectacular final fight.

Proportion

I’d go so far as to say that the longer the build-up — the more time is spent on talking and non-fighting — the more time must be spent rehearsing the fight scene. If you have a 5-minute skit, spend a few minutes on the fight. If you have a 60-minute Fringe show, devote a few hours with a fight choreographer to getting the violence right. If you’re doing a full-length play, spend one out of every 4 hours of rehearsal on stage combat. And if you’re doing a fight-heavy show, consider that maybe that’s what the audience came to see, and spend more time on fights than you do on acting.

I’m not exaggerating or thinking only of a fight director’s ideal world… think about The Three Muskateers. People go to that play to see the swordfights. People bring their kids because they know it will be exciting because of the action and the fights. And if that’s the major draw, then make it the majority of the rehearsal time.

Reality Check

Directors: give yourself a reality check. Your mind is full of each character’s motivations, the set construction, the symbolism of your chosen props, and all kinds of details. Take a step back and just focus on the climax of your story. If it’s a fight, will it be a fizzle? If so, all your other work will be for nothing.

3 Hours of Unarmed Stage Combat
3 Hours of Sabre for the Stage

Stage Combat Fundamentals in One Day

To perform fights on stage, there are two elements: performer safety and the illusion of violence. When you want to look like you’re trying to kill someone, it’s a bad idea to improvise. The fight looks like crap and people get hurt.

In this intensive one-day workshop, we’ll cover the basics of stage combat, including:

• Slaps
• Punches
• Hair Pulls
• Chokes
• Falls
• Sword parries and footwork
• Sword attacks
• Wounds and death

Important and Convenient

Anyone who performs fights for entertainment needs to know these essentials, whether you’re acting in plays or film, or performing fight demonstrations.

It’s at Academie Duello, conveniently located in downtown Vancouver.

It’s happening on a Saturday, a one-day commitment, ending early enough that you still have your evening to see a show and enjoy the rest of your weekend. It’s also affordable to anyone who has an interest: $80 for the full day.

More Info

Keep yourself safe and look like an action hero. Register by dropping by Academie Duello: 422 Richards Street (upstairs), or call 604-568-9907. We have a Facebook Event here: Facebook | Slaps & Slashes Stage Combat.

Update: Due to scheduling conflicts, the first day of class is July 13. The course will be 3 weeks, 2 hours per day: 5pm to 7pm. Since the time is reduced, the price is reduced to $250.

Are Your Stage Combat Skills Rusty?

How long has it been since you took a stage combat class? Have you ever? Most theatre schools in Vancouver don’t even teach stage fighting. However, it is a fundamental skill for the performer.

Get a Refresher For Your Physical Performance

Stage combat is a shortcut to mastering your instrument by incorporating:

• moving around the stage with purpose
• interacting with another character in a life-or-death situation
• playing fear, anger, injury, effort while still concentrating on the choreography
• staying aware of your environment
• breathing, yelling, speaking your lines while exerting yourself

Don’t Accept Less Than FDC

Learn the foundations of Fight Directors Canada:

• Unarmed combat
• Quarterstaff
• Sword

It’s not just weapons, FDC emphasizes:

• Safety: You need to move with high speed and intensity, without risking any kind of injury.
• Storytelling: It’s not a game, it’s part of the play/movie… learn to incorporate combat into a scene.
• Style: Techniques change based on history and geography. Learn a versatile system.

Fun and Intensive

This is a jump-start program:

• 3 weeks
• Monday-Wednesday-Friday
• 3:30-6:30 5pm-7pm
• Starts July 6 July 13

Convenient

Any actor can do this:

• Afternoons: So you can get to other jobs in the evening, or auditions during the day
• Short duration: You don’t have to plan for 4 months of classes
• Affordable
• Downtown: Getting to Richards and Hastings is so easy

Get in gear, get an advantage over the other actors, get real safety and FDC standards (internationally recognized quality), get to Academie Duello.

Only $499 $250

Register Now – Call 604.568.9907

Drop by Academie Duello 422 Richards St. (upstairs)

The first class is July 13!

ps: Are you auditioning for Bard on the Beach in August? With this workshop on your resume, they’ll know you can handle a sword.

My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the Stratford Festival. He is also the associate fight director for Macbeth.

The Stratford Festival website recently ran an article about Daniel and his work. It’s a brief look at the ideas that a fight master can bring to a show, and a little about the process of building a fight for a specific production. Here’s a little excerpt from that article:

Stratford Shakespeare Festival – Scene Notes

At its most basic level, the job is to choreograph fight scenes. But to do this effectively you need more than an arsenal of combat skills. You need an actor’s understanding of character, a director’s eye for story and a dancer’s feel for movement.

Go read the whole interview, because Daniel is articulate yet brief in his comments. In every interview I’ve read with him, he has so clearly captured the importance of stage combat and its effective use on stage. There is also great footage of a fight rehearsal embedded on the site. Stratford.ca: “Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?”

I’ve always admired Daniel for his pragmatic approach to every problem and his attention to what really matters. As you read in the interview, and saw in the video, he does not go on at length, but chooses his words well. He also doesn’t cloud the issue, but is always clear yet friendly and very funny.

He’s everything I aspire to be in a teacher and fight director.

Daniel’s website is RapierWit.com, which details the goings-on at his studio, Rapier Wit, located near the corner of Bathurst and Wellington in Toronto.

“You must practice until the sword becomes an extension of your body.”

A study published recently in the journal Current Biology shows that when you use a tool, your brain incorporates it into your body-plan. The idea of tools being part of your body (especially an expert) is not a new idea. It just never had any evidence from scientific research – until now.

After using a mechanical grabber that extended their reach, people behaved as though their arm really was longer, they found. What’s more, study participants perceived touches delivered on the elbow and middle fingertip of their arm as if they were farther apart after their use of the grabbing tool.

That second finding means that the grabber tricked their brain into thinking their arm was longer than it really was.

“We believe this ability of our body representation to functionally adapt to incorporate tools is the fundamental basis of skillful tool use,” Cardinali said. “Once the tool is incorporated in the body schema, it can be maneuvered and controlled as if it were a body part itself.” Brain represents tools as temporary body parts, study confirms

If a student is performing a cut inefficiently, using too much muscle to force the weapon around, I’ll often tell them to “put your mind in the tip”… meaning that they should not think that they are so far from the action. I’m glad that there’s a solid foundation for that kind of advice, instead of hocus pokus.