2026 Mentors and Staff
Jacqueline Holloway
Mentor JACQUELINE HOLLOWAY (she/her) is a certified fight instructor and fight director based in New York City, specializing in stage combat and intimacy direction. She teaches stage combat at Columbia University, where she also provides fight and intimacy oversight for graduate productions. Additionally, she teaches stage combat at NYU Tisch for the graduate acting program and works regularly with Princeton University as a fight and intimacy director. A seasoned professional in the field, Jacqueline has collaborated with companies such as Barrington Stage, Theatre Exile, Passage Theater, and InterAct Theatre. She has also taught at renowned institutions including the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, AMDA, Atlantic Acting School, and the National Theatre Institute. As the founder of Arte Violenta, a year-round stage combat training program in NYC, she is dedicated to offering actors of all levels a comprehensive and safe approach to stage violence. She also works with Epic Players, an inclusive theater company that highlights neurodivergent and autistic artists, providing stage combat training and certification.
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Jenny Male
Mentor JENNY MALE (she/her) is a Fight Director & Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. She has created choreography for DC theatres such as Studio Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Constellation Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Rep Stage, Olney Theatre, Imagination Stage, Factory 449, and Adventure Theatre. She holds an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and is Associate Professor of Theatre at Howard Community College. Directing credits at HCC include Eurydice, Twelfth Night, Spring Awakening, As You Like It, A Chorus Line, and Much Ado About Nothing. Two of her productions, Argonautika and Medea, were chosen to perform for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Region 2). Jenny has created several stage combat shows including Love Hurts, We Could Be Heroes, and A Little Fight Music.
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Amie Root
Mentor AMIE ROOT (she/her) is a multifaceted artist. She is a director, playwright, actor, fight and intimacy director and teacher. Amie is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has toured the country creating theatre for the last fifteen years. She is the founder and lead instructor of the Central Illinois Stage Combat Teacher Trainer and creator of the Associate Instructor Training Program (AITP) creating opportunities for new teachers at many regional stage combat workshops. She recently Directed Comedy of Errors (Starling Shakespeare Comp) and The Mad Ones (Western IL Univ.). She was the Fight and Intimacy Director for Hamlet and Henry IV Part I (Utah Shakespeare Festival) and Misery (Peninsula Players), and Fight Director for Twelfth Night and The Heart of Robin Hood (Door Shakespeare), She Kills Monsters (Univ. of Southern Miss), five seasons with Unto These Hills (Cherokee, NC) and others. She was a teaching artist for the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington D.C.) for four years. As a playwright, you can find her new works centered on women and queer characters at New Play Exchange including “A Pirate’s Life for She” and “Kegel Games”. Amie has her BA in drama from the UW Stevens Point and is pursuing her MFA in Directing at Western IL University. www.Amieroot.com
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Sarah Flanagan
Mentor SARAH FLANAGAN (she/they) is a Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) recognized Fight Director and Certified Teacher. Sarah has a decade of experience working at the National Stage Combat Workshop and was the NSCW Coordinator from 2020 to 2023. In 2024 she began serving the SAFD as the Coordinator of Community Outreach. In addition to Sarah’s years with the SAFD, she has also tested and trained with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Stage Combat Deutschland, the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, and the Historical European Martial Arts Alliance. Sarah teaches stage combat intensives all over the country, and works as a Fight Director all up and down the East Coast; trusty dog and a bag full of swords in tow. They regularly choreograph for plays, musicals, ballets, and operas. When not on the road, you’re mostly likely to find them out on the water in their kayak, or up a tree with a book.
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Adam Rector
Mentor ADAM RECTOR (he/him) is a martial artist trained in various styles from different cultures and philosophies, holding instructor ranks in Kempo, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, JKD, and Kali. He also trains in Silat, HEMA, kickboxing, and grappling. He holds undergraduate degrees from Indiana University in both Physics and Martial Arts Training Methodologies as well as a Master’s of Science in Kinesiology. He is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors.
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Leraldo Anzaldua
Locations Coordinator/Mentor LERALDO ANZALDUA (he/him) is a Fight Master, Fight Director, and Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) an Intimacy Director, and a Fight Choreographer with Stage Directors & Choreographers society (SDC). Theatres worked with include: Prague Shakespeare Company, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Houston Grand Opera, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Playhouse and more. He has been a motion capture performer and fight director with Sony Pictures in Tokyo, Japan. He has been a Motion Capture Fight Director & Talent for video games in Stockholm & Uppsala, Sweden. He is also a Voice Over performer for anime with titles on Hulu, Netflix, Crunchyroll, HiDive, Cartoon Network: Adult Swim Notable titles include: Kei Tsukishima – Haikyu!, Ryo Kurokiba – Food Wars!, Noda – Angel Beats, Takashi Komuro – High School of the Dead, Largo – One Piece, and many more!
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FD Samantha Kaufman
Head Coordinator SAMANTHA KAUFMAN (she/her) is an intimacy director, fight director, and actor. Based in Chicago and works internationally. Samantha is a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. A certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Regionally, Samantha has worked with theatres such as Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Prague Shakespeare Company (Czech Republic), Cleveland Play House, among others. SamanthaJKaufman.com
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