Workshops are open to the public, anyone can join!
Upcoming workshops
Triple Threat Weekend
Ages 11-16 Nov. 20-21st
Who wants to be a triple threat? Practice your singing, dancing, and acting in this weekend long workshop with guest artist, Nina Pongratz! Students ages 11-16 are welcome to join on November 20th and 21st at ITW, MN for a musical theatre masterclass in technique and performance. Those who participate will become characters, learn music and choreography to songs from the hit musicals Hairpsray! and Matilda! If you're ready to sing, dance, and act all at the same time, this workshop is for you.”
MEET YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER
Nina received a BA from Muhlenberg College in Dance & Communications, a MA from The University of Limerick in Contemporary Dance Performance, and a Postgraduate Cert. in Anatomy & Kinesiology from The University of Edinburgh. Most recently Nina has been the Director of Dance at the Middlesex School, Choreographer at Solomon Schechter Day School and Wayland High School, and the Head of Dance at The Independent Theatre Workshop in Dublin, Ireland where she lived for 6 years. She has danced with Orcha Dance Theatre, Six Meters Dance Company, and Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company. Nina has choreographed over 50 productions in 4 countries and has won dance/choreography awards from Muhlenberg College, ACTF, Disneyland Paris, the Irish Arts Council, and more.
DRAG DAYS
What is drag? Why is Drag important? What’s it like being a Queen? How does someone become a Drag Artist? This workshop will answer these questions and more, while giving students a chance to create their own Drag Diva persona; covering basics on Confidence, Makeup, signature Dance moves, and Modeling. Perfect for anyone who might want to become a Drag Artist or just a more empowered person.
Improve Your Improv!
How do you tell a good story? Does it involve interesting characters, surprising plot twists, or happy endings? This class will look at how a story is put together and what makes a really good one and how we put them together on the fly while we're improvising. Specifically we will be learning how to act spontaneously while still staying true to the stories we build together, happy, sad, or in between. This class is for everyone: improvisation veterans, interested actors, or those who just have a passing interest. While we will be trying to become better storytellers, we will also be having a blast improvising with each other. Let's get together and make something cool.
MEET YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER
Martinoa Mayotte attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and is an actor, writer, producer, music director, choreographer, educator, costumer, and orchestrator. They have taught for Youth Performance Company, Steppingstone Theatre for Youth Development, Top Hat Children's Theatre and more.
They have performed professionally for 17 years as their Drag Persona (Martina Marraccino) in Drag, Storytime, Circus and Variety shows in Minnesota, New York, Detroit and all over the country, also touring colleges speaking about Gender and Performance with Esme’s Traveling Gender Show and Tell.
MEET YOUR Workshop
LEADER
Daniel Collette is an improviser, playwright, and dramaturg currently based in the Twin Cities. He has coached and directed improvisational theatre at GREAT Theatre in St. Cloud, St. Mary's University of Minnesota as well as multiple independent projects helmed by himself or his colleagues. He likes to focus on creating improvisational work that fuses together his experience as a playwright and dramaturg, emphasizing character relationships, authenticity, and story structure.