Teaching
In all my classes I believe in encouraging curiosity, rigor, risk-taking, and trust. At the core of my teaching philosophy, I ask students to look beyond what they know and find ways to activate continual curiosity. Rigor is necessary to follow up on that curiosity. Rigor tasks the student to commit to the collaborative process, and give body and mind to both the class and the creative work. Promoting risk-taking in students and accepting (even celebrating) their failures, strengthens their will to explore and find their best, most surprising efforts. To take risks, the students must trust all in the room (including themselves), then the risk-taking can develop into a sense of shared history and language within the class, which strengthens their bond and ability to communicate leading to even greater trust.
My acting curriculum is grounded in a combination of styles from Stanislavsky, Chekhov, and Meisner. I appreciate these traditional methods, based mostly on realism, to ground the work of the actors and to give the class a foundational vocabulary based on action and objective on which to build. Once these methods have been explored, we then build on the non-realistic systems of practitioners such as Grotowski, Bogart, and Meyerhold.
My movement and physical theatre curriculum is driven by a blend of the works of Grotowski, Barba, Boal, Meyerhold, Suzuki, and Bogart. I also use the philosophies of contemporary dance practitioners such as Pina Bausch, Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forte, and Tere O’Connor. I find that dance and theatre complement each other greatly when it comes to letting go of preconceived notions about how one uses the body. By using these embodied practices, along with the approaches I explore in my acting curriculum, I find my students create the richest, most detailed characters.
Currently, I am Assistant Professor of Theatre at Seattle University. I have also taught in the Theatre Departments of Randolph-Macon College, Pomona College, University of California, San Diego, San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and Grossmont College. I have been a teaching artist at the Old Globe Theatre, the La Jolla Playhouse, Moxie Theatre, and other theatre companies in Southern California. Courses I love to teach: acting (from beginning to advanced), directing, movement, voice and speech, theatre history, introduction to theatre, theatre for young audiences, voice and movement, and acting for non-majors.
To see a complete course list, please see my hayatshahi_cv.pdf
My acting curriculum is grounded in a combination of styles from Stanislavsky, Chekhov, and Meisner. I appreciate these traditional methods, based mostly on realism, to ground the work of the actors and to give the class a foundational vocabulary based on action and objective on which to build. Once these methods have been explored, we then build on the non-realistic systems of practitioners such as Grotowski, Bogart, and Meyerhold.
My movement and physical theatre curriculum is driven by a blend of the works of Grotowski, Barba, Boal, Meyerhold, Suzuki, and Bogart. I also use the philosophies of contemporary dance practitioners such as Pina Bausch, Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forte, and Tere O’Connor. I find that dance and theatre complement each other greatly when it comes to letting go of preconceived notions about how one uses the body. By using these embodied practices, along with the approaches I explore in my acting curriculum, I find my students create the richest, most detailed characters.
Currently, I am Assistant Professor of Theatre at Seattle University. I have also taught in the Theatre Departments of Randolph-Macon College, Pomona College, University of California, San Diego, San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and Grossmont College. I have been a teaching artist at the Old Globe Theatre, the La Jolla Playhouse, Moxie Theatre, and other theatre companies in Southern California. Courses I love to teach: acting (from beginning to advanced), directing, movement, voice and speech, theatre history, introduction to theatre, theatre for young audiences, voice and movement, and acting for non-majors.
To see a complete course list, please see my hayatshahi_cv.pdf