Chris Heller Email & Phone Number

New York, United States

New York, Ny

Brooklyn, Ny

Teach “Beginner and Slow-Intermediate Jazz/Contemporary” to adult beginner dancers using the Simonson technique designed by Lynn Simonson incorporating contemporary music with a basic dance vocabulary emphasizing injury prevention and principles of anatomy and kinesiology.

New York, Ny

• Serves as one of 6 collective members who work together to create workshops and other activities that sustain the inclusive dance community once housed at Dance Space center and Dance New Amsterdam.• Choreographed a group piece with adult beginner dancers. In 30 hours of rehearsal, set an original piece of choreography on the dancers who then performed the piece in a dance concert at Gibney Dance Center.• Help with administration of workshops and other programs.

New York, Ny

New York, Ny

Queens, New York, United States

Brooklyn, Ny

● Administered and supervised all programs, which involved communication with schools, teachers, parents, graphic designer, set and costume designers. Managed all logistics of dress rehearsals, performances and enrollment.● Supervised and mentored Program Managers, conducting weekly or bi-weekly check-ins and problem solving. Supervised and mentored teaching artists, costume and set designers.● Created and implemented a program of professional development with teaching artists and assistants focusing on: goal-setting, classroom management, targeted theatre activities, and directing.● Directed and choreographed elementary, middle and high school groups, teaching them the basics of blocking, emotional expression, vocal projection and choreography and culminating in the live performance of an original musical. (Piloted 5 new Broadway Junior/Kids musicals for Disney as part of this work, giving detailed feedback to Disney as a part of the process.)● Wrote original musicals (in collaboration with composers) for children in grades 1-5.● Created study guides and annotated directors’ scripts for the Muslim Voices project (funded by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.) ● Successfully pioneered quick transition from in-person to virtual productions due to covid-19 pandemic.

New York, Ny

Teach “Beginner and Slow-Intermediate Jazz/Contemporary” to adult beginner dancers using the Simonson technique designed by Lynn Simonson incorporating contemporary music with a basic dance vocabulary emphasizing injury prevention and principles of anatomy and kinesiology.

Brooklyn, Ny

● Worked with a group of students over a 5-week period to devise an original musical to be performed at the end of camp. (4th-7th graders)● Collaborated with music, dance and tech theatre artists to create this original piece, planning and co-teaching with these other artists on a regular basis throughout the camp.

New York, Ny

● Taught Drama in classrooms as a teaching artist in grades 1-12, teaching basic drama skills, and helping students to create and perform original work in the schools throughout the five boroughs.● Served as the Broadway Junior program advisor for various middle schools for their schools’ spring musicals. Train teachers in production and organizational skills. Teach them to create budgets and production schedules, to run blocking rehearsals and organize cast and crew in rehearsals. ● Served as a Mentor to a Drama Specialist through the Arts Achieve program, a partnership between arts organizations and the New York City Department of Education. Trained the mentee in drama teaching techniques, lesson planning, and formative assessment techniques.● Served as a Mentor through the Arthur Miller Theatre Education program. Gave feedback to the mentee through a series of school visits and observations.

New York, Ny

● Teach “Beginner and Slow-Intermediate Jazz/Contemporary” to adult beginner dancers using the Simonson technique designed by Lynn Simonson incorporating contemporary music with a basic dance vocabulary emphasizing injury prevention and principles of anatomy and kinesiology. ● Choreographed a group piece with 9 adult beginner dancers. In 30 hours of rehearsal, set an original piece of choreography on the dancers who then performed the piece in a dance concert at the DNA theater.

New York, Ny

• Create a mission and vision for a youth theatre company which provides young people ages 14-20 access to theatre classes, workshops, and performance opportunities free of charge.• Lead theatre workshops focusing on: creative dramatics, improvisation, devising, acting, playwriting and performance skills.• Coordinate and direct the (re)ACTion Improv Players, a comedy improv group that performs at various venues throughout the city.• Designed and ran Original Expressions: Mainstage ’06, an after-school program where youth created, wrote, and performed an original full length play in December 2006.• Collaborated with Urban Assembly Media High School to design and run Sol: Summer Out Loud, a 2 week summer theatre intensive in July 2006. Expanded to a 3 week program in July 2007.• Write grants and organize other fundraising events; administer paperwork with the State of New York, the IRS, and fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas; coordinate the efforts of the board of directors and other supporters.

Brooklyn, Ny

• Teach a weekly theatre performance workshop class to teens focusing on: advanced drama skills, improvisation, scenework, playwriting, creating original characters, etc.• Direct the ensemble in four performances throughout the school year, including an evening performance, which consists of a piece entirely created by the students.• Taught Drama and Movement to students in grades 6-8 at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies.• Collaborated with classroom teachers to integrate performing arts projects into the Humanities curriculum.• Worked with teachers to plan and execute culminating performances to showcase the work students created during each residency

New York, Ny

Spanish Language Film Teacher• Designed and taught a daily class to 10th and 11th graders for 10 week session.• Used the viewing and analysis of films in Spanish to teach elements of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation to native and non-native Spanish speakers. Drama Teacher Taught Drama classes twice a week to 9th and 10th graders.• Worked with them to devise, script and perform an original play based on their ideas and experiences.• Collaborated with administration and staff to organize class times, rehearsal, and performance.• Directed two performances attended by students and staff.

New York, Ny

• Taught Spanish as a Foreign Language, Drama & Dance to students in grades 6-12 using the communicative method.• Created an after-school performing arts program. Directed five student productions performed at TADA!, HB Playwrights Horizons, The Looking Glass Theater and Lincoln Center Institute. Created budgets and coordinated all logistics as well as developed student performances. • Served as an advisor to 11th and 12th grade students. Served as a liaison between parents, teachers, guidance staff, and administration. Helped students to develop graduation portfolios and to prepare for portfolio defenses. Helped students to apply to college and to read transcripts.• Served as a member of the programming committee, programming all of the students in the high school by hand.

Brooklyn, Ny

• Taught Spanish as a Foreign Language to high school students in grades 9-12 using the communicative method.• Assessed students with portfolios and other alternative forms of assessment developed by the Spanish Department.• Taught Acting and Dance through the elective program, which included collaborative work with teaching artists from DreamYard Drama Project and Dancing in the Streets.• Directed three full-length plays and six performing arts showcases involving students in grades 6-12.• Developed and administered exit criteria to graduating students as part of the Senior Institute teaching team.

Master Of Arts - Ma, Educational Theatre

Education record