About Me

Combat & Classics

Long story short: Joan of Arc changed my life.

I had never held a sword before, and suddenly I was thrust into a rehearsal room full of carefully orchestrated chaos with a rapier in my right hand and a dagger in my left, playing Joan de Pucelle in an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry VI. And I fell in love.

Thanks to the tutelage of Fight Masters, Certified Teachers, and many other talented individuals, I now hold seven weapon certifications through the Society of American Fight Directors, and the rank of Intermediate Actor/Combatant. My future goal is to become a Certified Teacher. I am currently a teaching assistant to Certified Teacher Jacqueline Holloway at her combat school, Arte Violenta. I also fight direct and choreograph with theaters all around NYC.

Shakespeare has held a special place in my heart since 5th grade, when I took home a book from the school library that told all the stories of his plays in modern language. In high school, my mom and I took a road trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR, and I was well and truly hooked. Seeing the Bard's work live on stage for the first time further confirmed my conviction that Shakespeare is not simply heard or understood - Shakespeare is felt, and anyone can feel it if they choose to.

I now teach Elizabethan vernacular lessons and direct Shakespeare in the Shire at the New York Renaissance Faire. And whenever I spot Joan of Arc in a museum or book, I am filled with a sense of immense gratitude for the journey that she sparked and the path that I continue to follow.

Passion & Purpose

I have two degrees in thinking about thinking. Yes, you heard that right. I graduated from Muhlenberg College with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Neuroscience in May of 2020. It's a disciplinary combination that perplexes many at first, but one that has gifted me with a myriad of ways to connect my passions for creativity, philosophy, and fostering empathy. Throughout college and beyond, my work has allowed me to engage deeply with theories of emotion and consciousness from multiple angles, informing my growth as an actor and human being.

So much of what drew me to both acting and neuropsychology was the desire to understand why. Why can two people have vastly different experiences when presented with the same stimuli? Why - if I've never experienced a particular character's given circumstances - did I feel such profound emotion when I performed that monologue?

Consciousness is a meaning-making machine. Humans are hard-wired around the concept of narrative, of story, and we have chosen to share our meaningful stories with each other for thousands of years through the art of theatre and film. I think Shakespeare summed it up quite neatly:

O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! - The Tempest, V.i.184