Cool Course Dispatch: Physical Theatre and Improvisation

Steinhardt’s Educational Theatre course layers words, sounds, and movement in exercises that free students' imaginations and help them develop performance skills.

There’s no room for shyness in the Black Box Theatre on the ground floor of Pless Hall, where Clinical Professor of Educational Theatre Nan Smithner teaches Physical Theatre and Improvisation, a course that explores the art of improvisation through specific vocal and movement techniques.

Required for Educational Theatre students, the course encourages undergraduate and graduate students to be playful and experimental as they discover ways to communicate with their entire body. In any given session, that means jumping, miming, groaning, or any combination of sounds and gestures that express an intention or idea.

“I teach a lot through play, and improvisation is embedded in everything,” Smithner explains. “I’m advocating for the whole body to be expressive.”

NYU News attended a recent session of Physical Theatre and Improvisation, where the students worked with Smithner and teaching Assistant Jordan Stewart on techniques used in Action Theatre.