2012 Carnage Staff
2012 Instructors
Michael G. Chin - Fight Master
Michael G. Chin is a Fight Master with The Society of American Fight Directors, one of only seventeen people to hold that distinction. He has choreographed on Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and in Regional Theatres around the country. He teaches stage combat on the adjunct level at The Juilliard School, Brooklyn College, Pace University all in New York City and at Muhlenberg College in Allentown PA. and for The United Stuntman Association. He has yet to miss a Carnage!
Michael Jerome Johnson - Fight Director Emeritus
As a fight director and/or actor, Michael has worked in NYC at the Epic Theatre, Fluid Motion, Sonnett Rep and the Lady Cavalier Theatre Company. His national work includes productions at the Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth,Theatre at Lime Kiln and most recently, Off Square Theatre Company where he was a company member for a year. His university work includes productions at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Georgetown University, Catholic University, University of Maryland, and his alma mater, University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Michael created the stage combat program at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in DC and taught there for 11 years. He has been a regular teacher at the NY Summer Sling and the Cincinnati workshop now known as Cease and Desist. He has also taught at the Philadelphia and Chicago regional workshops, as well as the SAFD national workshops in Las Vegas and North Carolina.
Michael is the creator of the Knife discipline for the SAFD. When teachers of the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat wanted to create their own Knife discipline, they invited Michael to London to advise them. Michael is both honored and humbled that the Governing Body and the College of Fight Master voted to make him the SAFD's first Fight Director Emeritus.
Michael created the stage combat program at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in DC and taught there for 11 years. He has been a regular teacher at the NY Summer Sling and the Cincinnati workshop now known as Cease and Desist. He has also taught at the Philadelphia and Chicago regional workshops, as well as the SAFD national workshops in Las Vegas and North Carolina.
Michael is the creator of the Knife discipline for the SAFD. When teachers of the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat wanted to create their own Knife discipline, they invited Michael to London to advise them. Michael is both honored and humbled that the Governing Body and the College of Fight Master voted to make him the SAFD's first Fight Director Emeritus.
Jay Burckhardt - Certified Teacher
Jay Burckhardt is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, a Stunt Coordinator and Fight Arranger for film, and owner of JKChoreography, a stunt/Fight company based out of Chicago, and Owner of The Fight Factory- Stunt training, Stage Combat and Movement education. Coordinator for numerous award-winning independent films, Jay has worked with Columbia College Chicago, Depaul University , University of Illinois Chicago, Wayne State University as well as the Independent Film Board of Chicago.
Craig Lawrence - Certified Teacher
Craig Lawrence has been a staple at Carnage in the Corn since its inception, and is proud to be back for another round - this time, as an SAFD Certified Teacher. Craig is a fight choreographer based in the Washington, DC metro area.
Adam Noble - Certified Teacher
Adam returns to Carnage this year, fresh from choreographing the violence for Jeffery Hatcher’s new adaptation of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde at Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis. He serves as Assistant Professor of Acting, Movement and Combat for the Department of Theatre & Drama at Indiana University. He is also a professional actor, with credits including Shakespeare in the Park (NYSF), Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Julliard, P.S. 122, Seattle Rep, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and On the Boards. In addition to his roles as professor and actor, Adam is a martial artist, traceur, and stuntman, with movement and combat credits in the worlds of film, theatre, and opera. Adam is a member of the Actors Equity Association and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the Treasurer for the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, and a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Adam has taught movement and stage combat both nationally and internationally – most recently for the Ilkhom Theatre School of Mark Weil in Tashkent, Uzbekistan – and he has choreographed the violence for over 80 stage and film productions.
Barbara Seifert - Certified Teacher
Jason Tipsword - Certified Teacher
D.C. Wright - Certified Teacher
A Senior Instructor with Dueling Arts International, D.C. is currently the Head of Movement and Stage Combat at Western Illinois University. D.C. has been very active in teaching at national, regional, and local stage combat workshops including the DAI Winter Workshop, DAI Teachers Symposium, DAI Fight Director and Performance Workshops, the SAFD National Stage Combat Workshop in Las Vegas, the SAFD Winter Wonderland Workshop in Chicago, the Rumble in the Rockies in Denver, the Stage Combat Training Workshop in Eureka, IL and the United Stuntmen’s Association’s International Stunt School in Seattle.
D.C’s work as a Fight Director has been viewed at numerous venues around the country including: the Off Broadway production of The Blowin of Baile Gall at the Donaghy Theatre at the Irish Arts Center, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and Henry VIII at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Of Mice and Men and Romeo and Juliet for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Additionally his work has been seen at the Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston Musica Viva, Boston University Theater, Boston University Opera Institute, Tuachan, Actor’s Repertory Theater Ensemble, Brigham Young University, University of Kansas, University of Utah and Western Illinois University.
In conjunction with Dueling Arts International, D.C, wrote, directed and/or performed in three Wild West Stunt Shows for Leo Foo amusement park in Taiwan and he has also acted in and/or been the stunt coordinator/fight director for several commercials and industrial films. Most notable is the recently released DAI production called “And They Fight…”, a 23 hr. six volume stage combat instructional series covering all major weapon styles in which he is a primary demonstrator.
D.C’s work as a Fight Director has been viewed at numerous venues around the country including: the Off Broadway production of The Blowin of Baile Gall at the Donaghy Theatre at the Irish Arts Center, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and Henry VIII at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Of Mice and Men and Romeo and Juliet for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Additionally his work has been seen at the Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston Musica Viva, Boston University Theater, Boston University Opera Institute, Tuachan, Actor’s Repertory Theater Ensemble, Brigham Young University, University of Kansas, University of Utah and Western Illinois University.
In conjunction with Dueling Arts International, D.C, wrote, directed and/or performed in three Wild West Stunt Shows for Leo Foo amusement park in Taiwan and he has also acted in and/or been the stunt coordinator/fight director for several commercials and industrial films. Most notable is the recently released DAI production called “And They Fight…”, a 23 hr. six volume stage combat instructional series covering all major weapon styles in which he is a primary demonstrator.