Presenter Profile
Heather Curran
Guest Artist
Heather earned her Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and has taught students of all ages for 20+ years. As an improviser, she trained in Denver as well as The Groundlings Theater (LA) and has performed with multiple teams on various stages in Colorado and beyond. She loves to perform, teach, and coach improv and focuses on the joy of intention and creative discovery within the art form.
She is a teaching artist with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a facilitator with the Global Play Brigade, a guest teaching artist at local schools, and an instructional coach for new teachers. Heather is a former Board Chair and member of the GroupMind Foundation, a nonprofit that produces the Denver Improv Festival.
Heather's Workshops
IMPROV ROAD MAP: CREATE FUN SCENES WITH SIMPLE TOOLS
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced / Acting, , , , , / Regular
Do you ever find yourself stuck in an improv scene going nowhere fast? Have you ever wished you could exit a scene as soon as it started? You need an improv road map! In this workshop, participants will learn simple, effective tools to find the fun in a scene and keeping it driving towards engaging places. Create characters with strong points of view, develop relationships with interesting dynamics, and build situations that grab the attention of you, your scene partners, and the audience.
Show, Don’t Tell: Techniques for Building Believable Improv Scenes
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced / Acting, , , , , / Regular
Avoid being a talking head in your improv scenes! Get ready to add texture, dimension, and surprise to your character and the world they live in through realistic object work, physicality, and environmental space work. In this workshop, participants will practice using techniques that support and drive character, plot, and setting by showing the audience, not telling them. Walk away with tools to build whatever believable world you want within your scenes!
Specificity: A Secret to Improv Success
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced / Acting, , , , , / Regular
Want in on an improv secret? Specificity is one of the most versatile and effective tools an improviser can use. The ability to contribute specific information verbally and nonverbally to a scene has the potential to transform a situation and its characters from boring to brilliant. It also makes playing the scene a lot more fun. In this workshop, we will work with simple premises and elevate them through details that delight the actors and the audience through the creation of distinct, vivid relationships and worlds.