I’m a professor in the Department of Theatre of the University of Ottawa, where I’ve worked since 2005. I teach acting and directing for the stage in our professional programs, and performance analysis and theatre history in our academic programs.

I’ve directed original theatre in Canada and the United States since 1999 and contributed to the creation of productions in the UK and Europe since 2007. I’ve taught actors, directors, dancers and choreographers internationally since 1999.

I’ve practiced Chinese martial arts 中国武术 since 1993. They have become a part of my work as an artist and the principal subject of my research as a scholar.

Scholarship & Writing

In 2005 I earned a Doctorat en études et pratiques des arts from l’Université du Québec à Montréal supervised by director Serge Ouaknine and ethnomusicologist Nicole Beaudry.

In 1997 I earned a Maîtrise en arts dramatiques, also at UQÀM, supervised by playwright Larry Tremblay. In 1993 I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Drama and Theatre from McGill University where my advisor was the late theatre historian Denis Salter.

My published writing since 2006 has examined the role of Chinese martial arts in cultural history - recent and distant - with special attention to the performing arts and religion.

In 2016 I began to contribute regularly to Martial Arts Studies, a new research area and journal created in collaboration with colleagues from around the world.

Theatre & Dance

I apprenticed as an actor with director Richard Fowler between 1993 and 1997. More recently and far more briefly I have been guided by the late choreographer Tedd Robinson, director Eugenio Barba, and dramaturg Guy Cools.

In the late 1990s I created original theatre with La Compagnie du Pont-fleurs, alongside Olivier-Hugues Terreault and Tamar Tembeck, in Montréal.

In the early 2000s I directed One Reed Theatre Ensemble, with Frank Cox-O’Connell, Megan Flynn, Marc Tellez, and Evan Webber, in Montréal and Toronto.

In 2007 I began to collaborate with playwright Mike Geither, who has created original scripts for my professional productions and for my student performances and acting classes at the University of Ottawa.

From 2009 to 2015 I led Les Ateliers du Corps, a contemporary theatre studio based in Ottawa.

Since 2015 I have served as a dramaturg and facilitator for choreographers and dancers in Canada and internationally. I've worked with individual artists, for the National Arts Centre of Canada, and as a guest of the Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts in the Netherlands.

Martial Arts

In 1993 I began to practice Choi Leih Faht Kyuhn 蔡李佛拳 with Sui Meing Wong 黃小名, adding Dung Pihng Taai Gihk Kyuhn 東屏太極拳 in 1995, and Zhi Neng Qigong 智慧氣功 in 1997.

In 1999 I began to practice the Bagua Zhang of B.P. Chan 曾文柏八卦掌, various qigong 氣功, and several vernacular Chinese martial arts 民間武藝 with Ken Cohen.

In 2005 I began to practice Chen Taijiquan 陳氏太极拳 under the incomparable Chen Zhonghua 陈中华.

I studied Chinese swordplay 劍術 regularly with Michael Babin from 2012 to 2018.

Over the years I’ve also had the good fortune to study short term with expert teachers and to make exchanges with skilled friends, all around the world.

Photos by Laura Astwood 2010