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.
Rosa Nicholás (she/her)
Vice President, British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat
Certified Teacher, British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat
Rosa Nicolás, is a Certified Teacher with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat (BASSC). Since 2000, Rosa has taught in London, Moscow, Chicago, Germany, and Spain. Her fight direction and choreography credits include theatrical productions of Hamlet, The Beauty and the Beast, Romeo and Juliet and several short films. In 2010, Rosa joined the Associació Catalana d'Esgrima Antiga (ACEA), a historical fencing academy based in Barcelona which focuses on the Verdadera Destreza Spanish fencing style, longsword, sword and buckler, messer, and saber techniques. Rosa has been a professional actress and singer since 1984. Notable theatrical credits include The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, The Magic Flute by W. Amadeus Mozart, Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, and The Truepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht among many others. Additionally, she participated in six-time Goya award-winning Black Bread (2010), Blog (2010), and recently she played parts in Isle (2024) and A Journey To You (2025). Also, she participated various TV series, including two-time Emmy award-winning Genius: Picasso (2018), and as a stuntwoman in Vikings (2017) and Tierra de Mujeres (2024). She combines her acting career with stage combat teaching and continue her professional development attending acting courses for professional actors and stage combat workshops for certified stage combat teachers. Actually, she teaches stage combat at the IAB (Institut of the Arts Barcelona) and other drama schools in Barcelona and she is co-starring in the plays Donde Reirla written by Triana Doce and Darwin’s Turtle by Juan Mayorga.
Taqqee Khabir (he/him)
Instructor, Satria Fighting Arts
Taqqee Khabir is an esteemed international speaker, educator, instructor, life coach, and martial artist dedicated to empowering individuals through integrative movement, mobility, and mindfulness. With over a decade of experience, he is a respected authority in his field. Instructing through a trauma informed lens, Taqqee utilizes martial arts and movement to uplift and heal students of all backgrounds. As Michigan’s foremost certified Satria Silat Instructor and head coach of the United States Silat Association, (usasportsilat) Taqqee draws from a diverse background in Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hapkido, Silat, and Kali. Taqqee has facilitated enlightening self-defense workshops and speaking engagements for notable organizations, such as; Concordia University, Toyota, Alpha Gamma Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, U of M, EMU, Pengicon, and The Barre Code. These transformative experiences allow him to share his profound knowledge and practical expertise, equipping individuals with the essential skills to protect themselves and cultivate resilience in mind, body, and spirit, while promoting overall well-being.
Patrick Kelly (he/him)
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Stuntman
Patrick currently works as a professional martial artist and educator serving as the Director of Martial Arts at Indiana University, currently the largest academic martial arts program in the US. He has studied Kickboxing, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Savate, Escrima, Silat, Hapkido, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Fencing, and Archery in addition to tactical firearms training. He served as consultant and action designer for The Wick Lab, a metabolic study for the John Wick movie franchise. He worked on the Stunt/Fight Team for the History Channel's Vikings and Netflix’s Vikings:Valhalla television series. He has served as Stunt Coordinator for several feature films including So Cold the River, Runner, We Strangers, and The Duel, starring Dylan Sprouse in addition to various docu-dramas, stage productions, music videos and mo-cap. He has taught combative, competitive and performative martial concepts and fight design courses at seminars/workshops in New York, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Washington and California.
Joe Wright (he/him)
Co-Coordinator, Mitten Mayhem
Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors
Joe is a Fight & Intimacy Director based out of the Southeast Michigan area, where he is a co-coordinator for the Mitten Mayhem Stage Combat Workshop, has instructed for the University of Michigan SMTD, and is a co-founder and lead instructor of Theatrica Gladiatoria; a guild of stage combat and stunt performers focused on evolving the art of martial storytelling for stage and film. He is a Certified Teacher and Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, a Teacher Candidate and Advanced Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada, and has trained with the Intimacy Professionals Education Collective as well as Intimacy Directors & Coordinators Some of his latest work has been on A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Livonia Shakespeare in the Park), Loving Lives (PTD Theatre Co), and The Man Beast (Penny Seats Theatre Co). www.fightglad.com
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.