Meet the 2022 Lessac U.S. Intensive Workshop Teaching Faculty!
The Lessac Training and Research Institute is pleased to announce that its U.S. Summer Intensive workshop is scheduled to be back in-person next summer on the campus of DePauw University, and will be led by Master Teacher Crystal Robbins from Los Angeles, CA and Certified Trainer Morné Steyn from Cape Town, South Africa.
These talented trainers have been pivotal in the evolution of Lessac Kinesensics and bring their unique perspectives and considerable experience to the workshop; 2022 will mark Crystal Robbins’ 6th year teaching at the U.S. Intensive, and an exciting first for Morné Steyn who has taught the Lessac Intensive in South Africa for several years. We are thrilled to have them both!
The annual 4-week workshop, which took place fully remote last year due to Covid-19, will return to its home at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, from June 19-July 16, 2022.
About the Instructors
Crystal Robbins and Arthur Lessac in 2000
Crystal Robbins, (University of Memphis, BADA, Oxford, England, LTRI-Master Teacher) has taught Lessac Kinesensics for over twenty years. Her international client base include students, professional speakers/singers/actors/voiceover artists/content creators, and professors in arts and science fields. Crystal worked directly with voice legend Arthur Lessac (1909-2011) the last thirteen years of his life which has directly impacted how she uses the work. She currently teaches at Santa Monica College and at UCLA-extension's Professional Actor Program. She created the application of the work (Kindersensics) to youth and children and developed programming for theatre using it in the K-12 markets, for which she has received multiple grants. Crystal co-developed the Lessac short-form workshop and taught week-long and weekender workshops in multiple US locations and has presented the work at ATHE, VASTA, & LTRI conferences and collaborated internationally on performance art projects. She recently shared the work as an invited panelist for an entirely French-speaking organization on the importance of language learning, bilingual school education and linguistic approaches. A trained performer in film, tv and theatre, Crystal brings her lived experience to her teaching and firmly believes in Kinesensic principles which teach us that when we build off of the natural behaviors we all have within us we gain optimal development of vocal and physical freedom.
Crystal is a member of the Master Teacher Team and is deeply engaged in facilitating the process for new teachers working toward Lessac certification. She is committed to teaching with an Abolitionist and Racial Justice mindset and has been involved in the passionate discussion and action of decolonizing the work through this lens.
Morné Steyn (right) at the 2019 Lessac Intensive in South Africa .
Morné Steyn is a practitioner-scholar and lecturer at the University of Cape's (UCT) Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (CTDPS). As a performer, Morné has appeared in a diverse range of professional theatre and film productions in South Africa. He holds an MA (Drama) degree in Gender and Performance Voice studies from the University of Pretoria (UP). Morné’s artistic-research practice is informed by and explores a sensuous approach to knowledge, one which is grounded in a host of global perspectives. This approach aims to explore the intersectional dynamics of a diverse, yet inclusive way of discovering the world through performance. The critical nexus of Morné’s work resides at the performative explorations of race, sex, gender, class and culture in and through performance.
Morné is a Certified Lessac Voice and Movement Teacher as well as a qualified Yoga Instructor. He currently serves as a Board Member of the Lessac Training and Research Institute. Morné has shared his work on bodymind/voice and performance at multiple national and international forums and platforms. He endeavors for his work to contribute towards stimulating an embodied yet critical poetic for inter-relational and postapartheid relationality.
About the Intensive Workshop
Crystal Robbins (front, second left) with the 2019 U.S. Summer Intensive Participants.
You will find opportunities all over the US and the world for learning Lessac Kinesensics, but perhaps the backbone of the Lessac Institute’s offerings is the Intensive Workshop. Although conditions may vary, most of these intensives are conducted in retreat-like settings over three to four weeks so that participants can immerse themselves fully in the process of learning.
The U.S. Lessac Intensive is a four-week workshop. During the first two weeks, students learn about the origins and foundations of Lessac Kinesensics through experiential voice and body work. The last two weeks are devoted to actively applying the work to specific texts, tasks, and contexts. Each day of the intensive starts with body work, followed by large-and-small group voice classes. Participants are given several hours of free time to lunch, rest, meet with their assigned buddies for assignments, and private coaching. The day ends with a second small group class.
The Intensive is so named for a reason; the days are full and much material is covered. But the evenings are free and the Greencastle community offers parks, hiking trails, restaurants and pretty places to bond with your peers and absorb the material in conversations about the events of the day. The Intensive experience tends to produce lasting effects and friendships. As Crystal notes, “You don’t have to be a performer to make use of this training. This is for everyone. We all have voices that would benefit from a sense of freedom and ease. We all have bodies we can learn to rely on to support how we share our unique perspectives. The first step in discovering how to understand the voice as we teach it is through what you tactically feel. She looks forward to sharing how to perceive the bodyvoice through your senses.”
For more information about the Summer Intensive at DePauw University email us at: info@lessacinstitute.org or click below.