2025 Melee Teaching Staff

Instructors

Sean Michael Chin

Sean Michael Chin (he/him) is an international fight director and combat performer based in NYC. Notable work includes The Good John Proctor (Bedlam), black odyssey (Classic Stage Company), Jane Anger (Shakespeare Theater Company), and Medea (Greek National Opera). Most recently he served as Assistant Fight Choreographer for Othello on Broadway. He is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and an Associate Choreographer with SDC. Sean teaches stage combat at Pace University and Muhlenberg College, and has also taught for organizations such as the National Stage Combat Workshop, Neutral Chaos, Arte Violenta, Theatrica Gladitoria, and Stage Combat Deutschland.

Melissa Freilich

Melissa Freilich works as a director, teacher and fight choreographer in Baltimore, MD. She is an Instructor for Dueling Arts International, a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and recognized member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), having trained with Jane Heirich in Ann Arbor MI. She holds an MFA in Performance Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in Theatre and Classics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Craig Lawrence

Craig Lawrence is a stage combat teacher in the DMV area. He's loved being a part of this community, serving as a teacher and choreographer for productions all over the region, including The Kennedy Center, Washington National Opera, Frostburg State, Bowie State, Montgomery College, and many more. His favorite shows to work on include She Kills Monsters, Romeo & Juliet, and Noises Off! He's extremely happy to be back at the Mid-Atlantic Melee

Jen Pan

Jen (she/they) is a metro-Detroit-based fight and intimacy director, teaching artist, martial artist, and occasional creative. They are a Certified Teacher with the SAFD, co-founder and lead instructor at Theatrica Gladiatoria in SE Michigan, and co-coordinator of the Mitten Mayhem Stage Combat Workshop (www.mittenmayhem.com) held annually in October. They're passionate about lifelong learning, trauma-informed pedagogy, intimacy and consent work, and greater BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation in the arts.

Adam Rector

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.

Hannah Roccisano

Hannah "Rock" Roccisano (she/they) is a New York City/Connecticut based fight and intimacy choreographer, director, educator, movement practitioner, and Shakespeare nerd. Hannah's greatest artistic passions are telling stories of underserved communities. Her specialties include neurodiverency and accessibility, queer, and intersectional feminist theatre. Some of her off-Broadway fight direction most recently include; CATS: The Jellicle Ball, Upside Down, Wolf Play, and Montag. In addition to their MLitt and MFA from Shakespeare and Performance. They are a Certified Teacher with the SAFD and the founder of Expand, Educate, Empower, an initiative bringing free stage combat training to students in underserved communities across the U.S. Rock is a consent-based teacher who gravitates towards for theatrical environments that encourage radical empathy, exploration, and adaptability, always with a healthy dose of silly-goosery. Hannah will be starting as the full-time assistant professor of Movement and Stage Combat at the University of South Dakota this coming fall.

Darrell Rushton

Darrell Rushton is a Fight Director, Certified Teacher and Theatrical Firearms Instructor with the Society of American Fight Directors, and a member since 2000. He is also a member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers, Actors Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.He received his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and has also been a guest artist at Oklahoma University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Rider University, Shenandoah Conservatory, and West Virginia University, and has taught at regional Stage Combat Workshops around the country as well as the National Stage Combat Workshop.

TV and Film appearances include Raising Heroes in NYC and Shot in the Heart directed by Agnieszka Holland for HBO Productions.in the DC/Baltimore area. Regional Theatre appearances include The Woman in Black, Hairspray, Jekyll and Hyde, Bye, Bye, Birdie, Taming of the Shrew and Brigadoon.At Frostburg State University, Darrell teaches Directing, Acting, Stage Combat, Physical Comedy and Musical Theatre History, and was the director for PUFFS in the fall of 2024.Recent Directing credits include directing The Taming of the Shrew at the Cumberland Theatre, and Fight Director for A Few Good Men, Evil Dead, the Musical, and The Play that Goes Wrong, all at The Cumberland Theatre.

Nigel Semaj

NIGEL SEMAJ. (they/them/theirs) is a Baltimore-based director, movement director, choreographer, and Assistant Professor of Performance at UMBC. Notable directing credits include Ntozake Shange’s Spell No. 7, as well as new works such as“wolfchildren runslowly through a Bruegel landscape,” 1558 by Reid Tang, George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum and the Off-Broadway Premiere of Bloodshot by Elinor T. Vanderburg. Their adaptation work includes a five-female adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus entitled 10,000 Moor, “For Hylas,” a queer retelling of the Hercules myth, and Call Me By Any Other Name…Just As Sweet: a queer deconstruction of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Nigel worked as Movement Director/Fight Director of Heartbeat Opera Company’s adaptation of Beethoven’s Fidelio by Marcus Scott, which became a NY Times Critic’s Pick, and for the award-winning short horror film “Not Him,” written and directed by Sarah Young.

Associate Instructors

Kate Lass

Kate Lass (she/her) is a fight choreographer, intimacy director, actor, and teaching artist based in Chicago. Kate is a Certified Teacher with the International League of Fight Directors and Choreographers, an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Kate has worked with theatres such as Kokandy Productions on the award-winning Chicago premiere of American Psycho the Musical, Teatro Vista, Nashville Repertory Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Babes with Babes Theatre Company, and more. You can find Kate teaching monthly workshop classes and more at Strike & Reason. katelass.com

Emily Norris

Emily Norris (she/her) is a Fight Director, Teaching Artist, and Actress based out of Central Kentucky. She originally comes from Lexington, Kentucky where she earned her Bachelor's of Arts in Theatre from the University of Kentucky. Emily has acted, taught, and fight directed all over Lexington and the surrounding areas. She then moved to Louisiana and earned her Master's of Arts in Theatre from Louisiana Tech University and worked in the area for two years. She holds the rank of Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.

Alex Taylor

Alex Taylor is an actor, fight & intimacy director, actor combatant, and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, New York. As an actor, some of Alex's favorite past roles include Aufidius (Coriolanus), Richmond (Richard III), and Macy (The Cake). As a fight/intimacy director and combatant, she has choreographed and performed violence and intimacy for stage and screen and is fortunate to be an Associate Instructor at Neutral Chaos Combat as well as a member of the Vixens En Garde, an all-female Shakespeare and swordfighting troupe that performs across the country. She has taught and choreographed violence and intimacy for Marymount Manhattan College, Pace University, Columbia University, and NYU. Alex is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association and the Society of American Fight Directors. Alextayloractor.com and @taylorrosealex on Instagram.

Kira Nutter

Kira Nutter (they/she) is a Chicago-based Fight and Intimacy Director, Advanced Actor Combatant, as well as all-around movement artist. Their work often revolves around self-created sentiment – “The universe was created by collisions; together we can create worlds” – with recent credits such as PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (Paramount Theatre), ROMEO AND JULIET (Oak Park Festival Theatre), EURYDICE (Snails on a Bike), and BIG LOVE (Producing Body). Recently, Kira made their Broadway-debut leading signature workshop, ENEMIES TO LOVERS: THE TANGO BETWEEN FIGHT AND INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHY, alongside developing a new live-action comic-book form that marries traditional hand drawn storytelling with cinematic adaptation as premiered in their independent project, NIGHT OF FIGHTS: COMIC BOOK EDITION. Outside the rehearsal room, you can usually catch them hanging from a lyra as they learn to fly…and fall…and probably fall again…on this circus staple and more. Follow along @point.and.pommel!

Molly Van Pelt

MOLLY VAN PELT (she/her) is an actor and fighter in New York and DC, and has been performing stage combat professionally for 15+ years, particularly as part of the Vixens En Garde, the all-women sword-fighting and Shakespeare troupe, of which she is a founding member. AEA. BFA from NYU. IG: @molly.van.pelt

Teaching Assistants

James Finley

James Finley is an actor and fight and intimacy choreographer who has been working in the DC area for over 20 years. He and his work have been seen on many area stages, including with Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club, AvantBard, NextStop, Keegan, Rorschach, Flying V, and Constellation Theatres. He has achieved Advanced Actor-Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, is a member of the International Order of the Sword and the Pen, and licensed as a Professional Wrestler in MD and VA, performing as "Dragonheart" Jim Finley.

Chris Niebling

Chris Niebling (he/him) is an Artistic Associate for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC), and a graduate of Oberlin College. He has worked as an actor, director, fight choreographer, intimacy coordinator, or combination thereof at numerous regional theatres including: Ally Theatre Company, Baltimore Opera Company, CSC, Catalyst Theatre Company, The Hatchery Festival, Journeyman Theatre, Live Action Theatre, National Players, Olney Theatre Center, Pallas Theatre Collective, Red Eye Gravy, Rep Stage, Rorschach Theatre, Six Flags America, Solas Nua, Washington National Opera, Washington Shakespeare Company, Alvernia College, Howard Community College, and Carroll Community College.

Ja'Nae Puckett

Ja’Nae Puckett is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and still calls Kentucky home. Ja’Nae is a recognized Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. She is an actor, fight choreographer, and teaching artist. She has an extensive movement background, where she grew up training in athletics at state and national levels. When Ja’Nae isn’t working in stage combat, she works as a tumbling instructor and a speed and agility coach. She has a passion for storytelling through movement and is committed to creating safe, impactful storytelling for actors and audience members. She is looking forward to continuing her journey with stage combat for years to come!