Meet the 2025 Instructors
Christina Traister (she/her)
President, Society of American Fight Directors
Fight Master, Society of American Fight Directors
Christina is the Head of Performance and a Professor of Acting & Stage Combat in the Department of Theatre & Drama at the University of Michigan. Prior to that she was an Associate Professor of Acting & Movement for eleven years in the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University, teaching Classical Acting, Movement, and Stage Combat; she also served as the Graduate Acting Program Director for five years during her tenure there. Before she began her career in academia, Christina was a San Francisco-based actor and fight director for twelve years before moving back to her home state of Michigan. Professional fight directing and teaching venues include the American Conservatory Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Play House, The American Shakespeare Collective (TASC), Shakespeare Santa Cruz, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Purple Rose Theatre Company, Williamston Theatre, BoarsHead Theatre, Stormfield Theatre, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of San Diego, University of California-Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Adrian College, and Hillsdale College. She has also taught stage combat master classes at numerous workshops both nationally and internationally. Christina holds an MFA in Acting from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and a BFA in Performance (Acting) from the Department of Theatre & Drama at the University of Michigan. She is the Founder and Coordinator of The Fredricksen Intensive. She is also a freelance audiobook narrator with over 300 recorded titles.
Tammy Everett (she/her, they/them)
Director of Training, Fight Directors Canada
Fight Instructor, Fight Directors Canada
Fight Director, Fight Directors Canada
Tammy Everett is a certified Fight Instructor and Fight Director with FDC. She is a singer, actor, actor-combatant and martial artist who has performed in Canada, the USA, and Europe working in theatre, music theatre, film, television, and recording studios. Her work as a martial arts instructor has fostered a strong understanding of the body, and a passion for helping students grow safely past their original expectations of their physical abilities, while her work on trauma and the actor roots her practices firmly in creating spaces where actors can explore their characters, and the work safely mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. Fight Director credits include Shadowed (Galant Productions), Don Giovanni (Highlands Opera Studio), Cabaret (RCPA), White Elephant (Jaded Pictures), Love and Anger (Durham Shoestring Performers), City of Angels (RCPA), Les Miserables (Marquee Productions), August: Osage County (Whitby Courthouse Theatre).
Samantha Egle (she/her)
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Samantha is a movement director and instructor based in Colorado specializing in dramatic combat and intimacy for the stage. In addition to being a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, she is also an Advanced Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada, a Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, a past Resident Artist as an Intimacy Director at Arena Stage, apprentice with Intimacy Directors International, and has studied with Nordic Stage Fight Society, British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc., Theatrical Intimacy Education and Intimacy Professionals Association. Her work has been seen on the stages of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Colorado, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Phamaly Theatre Company, Colorado Springs Fire Arts Center, Theatreworks at UCCS, Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, Curious Theatre Company, Aurora Fox, Lone Tree Arts Center, Denver Children’s Theatre, Athena Project Festival, Lagoon Theme Park, Upstart Crow, New York Fringe Festival, The BiTSY Stage, Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado Boulder, and numerous other educational institutions in Colorado. She is the Workshop Coordinator of the Paddy Crean International Workshop, Producer of the Virtual Paddy Crean Workshop, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the International Order of the Sword and the Pen. She is the founder of Humble Warrior Movement Arts and consistently works supporting productions across the Rocky Mountain Front Range and facilitating in-person and virtual educational experiences.
D Casellian (she/her)
Voice Actor
Aerial & Yoga Instructor, Flying Skull Aerial and Movement Arts
D Casellian is a voice actor, aerialist, choreographer, and certified yoga teacher living in southeast Michigan. As the owner of Flying Skull Aerial and Movement Arts and the former owner and founder of Ringstar Studio, she has instructed thousands of students of all ages in aerial and circus arts, stage combat, and fire manipulation and safety. She is a YT200 and AIReal Yoga certified teacher who has led classes at Washtenaw Community College, the University of Michigan, the Michigan Education Theater Association’s annual MiFest, and inside Michigan Stadium. As a voice actor, she specializes in character work, appearing in video games (Smite 2, Chernobylite 2), audio dramas (The Sojourn, Feminist Fairy Tales), books (Vessel: Bonded Earth), and more.
Adam Rector (he/him)
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
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.
@adamtrainsmartialarts
Dave Gonzalez (he/him)
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Certified Teacher, American Society for the Alexander Technique
Dave is a Chicago-based Certified Teacher of both Stage Combat (SAFD) and the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). Previous Fight Direction credits include Lookingglass Theatre; American Theatre Co; Williams St. Rep; Elmhurst University; Carthage College; St Mary's College; and A Red Orchid Theatre, where his work received an Equity Jeff Award nomination. As a stage combatant, he has performed multiple times at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Additionally, he has been part of Rogue Steel beginning in 2013, working to help make the finest and hardest-working stage combat weapons available. Since 2022 alongside CT's Nicky Jasper, Mikey Saubert, and AA/C Kate Booth has been a part of Open Gate Movement Arts, offering SPT classes to working actors in the Chicago area; and has served as guest faculty at DePaul University, Illinois State, and adjunct faculty at Carthage College.
Joe Wright (he/him)
Co-Coordinator, Mitten Mayhem
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Joe is a movement coach, fight & intimacy director, stuntman, actor, and general movement enthusiast based out of South-East Michigan. He is a Certified Teacher and Theatrical Firearms Instructor for the Society of American Fight Directors, a Certified Instructor for Fight Directors Canada, a founder/co-coordinator for the annual Mitten Mayhem Stage Combat Workshop held at the end of October, and a founder/lead instructor for Theatrica Gladiatoria (which teaches ongoing classes and certifications in Theatrical Combat). He has taught for the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) School of Music, Theatre, and Dance as well as Eastern Michigan University’s Department of Theatre. His general mission is to help make the magic of movement and storytelling accessible to everybody (and every -body-).
Jen Pan (she/they)
Co-Coordinator, Mitten Mayhem
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Jen is a fight and intimacy director, movement teaching artist, actor, stunt performer, and occasional creative based in metro-Detroit, MI. Their work has been recently featured on the stages of Detroit Public Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Festival, University of Michigan SMTD, Oakland University, Eastern Michigan University, and Croswell Opera House. They’re a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), co-founder and lead instructor of Theatrica Gladiatoria (academy for stage and film combat in Ypsilanti, MI - www.fightglad.com), and co-coordinator of the annual Mitten Mayhem Stage Combat Workshop in October (www.mittenmayhem.com). Jen is passionate about lifelong learning, trauma-informed pedagogy, intimacy and consent work, and greater BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation in the arts.