Postponed to 2027. Stay Tuned for Updates!
This is the Capstone Intensive for all students enrolled in the Teacher Training 2026 program. This experience will expand the prior workshop experience with 40+ hours of review in pedagogy, body logic, and skills test construction with a 3:1 student-to-teacher ratio for Unarmed Combat, Quarterstaff, Medieval Broadsword, Renaissance Rapier & Dagger, Transitional Single Rapier, and Restoration Small Sword. In this intensive, cohort members will continue to hone their technical skills in all weapons, reaffirm DAI’s discipline-specific curricula and training paradigms, and ensure that their own unique voice as a teacher and mentor is adequately developed.
IMPORTANT! This workshop is the final experience in a two-part curriculum, preceded by the mandatory initial 3-week training.
TOPICS (AMONG OTHERS) TO BE COVERED INCLUDE:
- Methods of Building and Choreographing Training
- Test Fights Review of Objectives for Training and Testing Processes in Theatrical Combat
The dail workshop schedule will run from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily.
WORKSHOP TUITION and FEES:
Tuition for the capstone intensive is included in each student’s $3,900 teacher training tuition.
For questions, please reach out to Kris Kuss at the email listed below.
- Location is to be announced.
- Housing is NOT INCLUDED in the tuition fee for the Capstone Intensive and will need to be arranged independently.
PRIMARY WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS
Kris Kuss is a director, fight director, intimacy choreographer, actor, and educator based in Oklahoma City, OK. He has been working with Dueling Arts International since 2014, and is a recognized Full Instructor and certified Advanced Theatrical Combatant. He is the Associate Professor of Movement at Oklahoma City University, and holds an MFA in Directing from University of Southern Mississippi and a BA in Theatre from University of Mobile. He is continually training with Theatrical Intimacy Education.
He is an Artistic Associate and Faculty Advisor for the Emerging Artists Collective at Oklahoma Shakespeare. He has also worked with OKC Rep, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Painted Sky Opera, 3rd Act Theatre Co, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, Emerald Coast Theatre Company, and Southern Arena Theatre.
Lily Anna Blouin is a professional actor, director, fight and intimacy choreographer, and theatre and dance instructor based in the Quad Cities. With over 15 years experience in the industry, Lily’s work has been featured in several productions throughout the Midwest, including Romeo and Juliet (Genesius Guild), Almost Main (Starry Night Repertory Theatre) and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Musical (Spotlight Theatre), as well as internationally at the Shanghai Theatre Festival. She is the founder of Dramatic Action Studios, as well as a resident instructor with The Spotlight Theatre in Moline, Illinois.
Lily holds a B.F.A in Musical Theatre and M.A. in History from Western Illinois University, and is a member of the Illinois Theatre Association and the National Dance Education Organization.
Kathryn Lee is proud to represent Dueling Arts International in her balmy, tropical home of Hawaii. A graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute’s MPSA Dance Program and the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program, she has performed—and fought—her way through more than 30 shows on the Diamond Head Theatre, Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, and the Hawaii Theatre Center stages. She has won awards for her leading performances as Polly Baker in Crazy For You and Rose Hsu Jordan in Joy Luck Club at Diamond Head Theatre.
Certified to perform and teach DAI’s six disciplines of stage combat, she has co-fight directed Punahou School’s The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and Manoa Valley Theatre’s The Game’s Afoot. Kathryn currently teaches stage combat at Windward Community College, as well as Kaimuki High School and Roosevelt High School through Windward’s Early College program.
For any questions regarding the workshop, please contact Kris Kuss at kriskuss47@gmailcom.