Stage Combat & Fighting Courses
Located in the heart of Hollywood, the Theatre of Arts drama conservatory offers stage combat & fighting acting classes to all students enrolled in our accredited two-year acting degree program. Interested in pursuing an acting career? We invite you to apply or request free information today.
Combat Unarmed
CF110, Year One, (2 Credits)
This is a general introductory course in Stage Combat. Students learn the basics in the mechanics of conflict and acting it truthfully, Stage Combat Safety, and necessary skills pertaining to Unarmed Combat and Found Weapons. Emphasis is on the actor’s approach to fight scenes and the use of body, movement and style. We carefully examine the necessary elements for an actor to make a fight scene safe, truthful and interesting. Just as movement and dance is an essential physical skill for the modern actor, skill in stage fighting has to be on the marketable actor's resume. Students engage in exercises that will emphasis the importance of fighting distance, sight lines and fight vocabulary. Classes are designed to provide an opportunity to choreograph and participate in a believable and safe fight scene for the Stage. Through proper warm up techniques and disciplined repetition, students achieve the confidence and physical ability to take on a professional role that requires stage violence.
Course Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students should demonstrate:
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Knowledge of basic safety procedures and working skills and knowledge of acting conflict in Unarmed Combat and Found Weapons
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Ability to develop more advanced performance skills through the use of body and movement
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Ability to contribute confidently and skillfully to the collaborative process involved in creating stage combat choreography with both a partner and a choreographer
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Evolved and deep understanding of your process, the way you learn, how you create and communicate, and the unique gifts you bring to groups, situations and roles
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Disciplinary skills in advanced physical warm-up, concentration, improvisation, collaboration, and individual strengths
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Imagination and creative thinking in theatre exercises based in conflict having a working vocabulary and an advanced knowledge of the terminology in relation to stage combat and the craft and process of acting
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Ability to form both subjective opinion and objective observations and develop effective application of this knowledge
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Ability to continue the journey of personal discovery, imagination, self-expression and creative growth
YEAR ONE
Combat II
CF120, Year One (2 Credits)
Further to your previous training in the Combat course, you will learn how to SAFELY execute fight scenes for theatre and film. Physical techniques used to achieve this result include unarmed combat, falls, rolls, parrying, attacks (cuts and thrusts), targeting, partnering drills, fighting on the 360, mass battles. The weapons of choice will be the epee bladed saber, found weapons, and the broadsword.
Prerequisite(s): On-Camera Fundamentals
Course Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students should demonstrate:
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Physical conditioning (strength, balance, endurance, flexibility) and overall health through daily warm-ups and stage combat activities
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Positive partnering skills by emphasizing teamwork, adaptability, and the principles of safety in all partnering exercises
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Development of powers of concentration and physical control through daily warm-ups, use of slow-motion exercises and variable speed fight technique
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Competence in armed stage combat by learning a wide variety of combat techniques and by incorporating them into improvised and scripted scenes of violence
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Safely simulating unarmed and armed violence for the stage
