Precision Performance Intensive

This 90-minute crash course covers essentials for acrobats, dancers, parkour enthusiasts (or anyone participating in an alternative sport that needs both high strength and high mobility!) to keep you both injury-proof and progressing. Featuring exercises for: overhead shoulder health, hip and back mobility, and core strength (especially at end-range-of-motion). Also plenty of pointers on how to avoid common mistakes in recovery, nutrition, and programming that could be getting in the way of getting the most out of your training. KJ’s focus is always on how to get the strength you need to do the skills you want while spending as little extra time in the gym as possible. 2 hrs (90 minutes of activity with 30 minutes reserved for specific participant questions), open-level, no prerequisites.

Dates: the 16 acts selected to participate will be split into two groups, which meet at the following times:

Group A:

• 6-8pm Wednesday 10/11
• 6-8:30pm Friday 10/13
• 5:30-9:30pm Saturday 10/14

Group B:

• 8-10pm Wednesday 10/11
• 11am-1:30pm Saturday 10/14
• 2:30-6:30pm Sunday 10/15

What’s included:

• Personalized preparation from your instructors to get to know you and your piece before the in-person sessions (primarily conducted over email)
• 2 days of coaching & directing sessions at Monarca In Flight
• Technical rehearsal for performances
• Performance in the Firestarter Cabaret show on either 10/14 or 10/15
• Free entry to the Firestarter Cabaret show you are not performing in

This three-day intensive experience is for anyone with an act (or in the process of creating one) who wants to level-up their storytelling, emotional impact, and overall performance quality. Learn how to take a series of good tricks and turn them into a great show. Participants will bring their current project and receive coaching tailored to their goals to deepen the experience they bring to their audience. The acts from the workshop will then be performed in a cabaret show to follow a performance of Arson 101, A Choose Your Own Adventure on either Saturday, October 14, or Sunday October 15.

This program requires a short application; see Google Forms link below to apply. The 16 acts accepted will be split into two groups of 8 to provide as much personalized direction as possible. In advance of the first session, each student will also receive materials via email from the instructors to help us get to know you and your act so we can come in ready to get right to work on day 1! Cabaret-style acts of all kinds are welcome, including (but not limited to): aerial, ground acrobatics, object manipulation, character/clown, drag, and burlesque.

Applications will close at 11:59pm on Friday, September 15.

Application form: https://forms.gle/ThpthjeBfzGUpo4Q8

 

About the instructors:

Kaylin and Levani are a pair of multi-hyphenate performers who began collaborating after a well-timed conversation about how to tell more kinds of stories with movement. Their first original work together, Arson 101, A Choose Your Own Adventure (“Spirit of the Fringe” and “Artists’ Pick” Awards, San Diego Fringe 2023),is a variable-ending interactive movement romance musical that combines 30+ variety acts to tell the story of one new relationship based on dating advice from the audience using acrobatics, dance, live music, improv, clowning, and more.

Kaylin Saur (she/her) holds a B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science and was going to become a physical therapist before she ran away and joined the circus. She ended up spending 8 years traveling the world as a hand-to-hand flyer and character performer before becoming a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA-CSCS) instead. After settling in San Diego, she delved deeper into drag king performance and has since set to work figuring out how to get all the dance, acrobatics, drag, and other heartfelt silliness into one package. When not onstage she works as a coach and choreographer, specializing in helping acrobats and other movement artists develop both essential strength and their unique performance voice.

Levani (he/they) was going to become a trauma therapist before he discovered that running away and becoming a performing artist was going to be much easier. He was so very wrong. Combining over a decade of experience in theatre, film, Capoeira, and music has formed a character first approach in acting, writing, and directing. His work always starts with music, has strong foundational ties to PTSD therapy, and is characterized by an adaptability to the urgency of the moment and one’s own body. When offstage, Levani has classes in (and based on) capoeira, singing for actors, and has scored multiple theatrical performances using stringed and keyboard instruments.