Greg Poljacik | Adam Miller-Batteau | Dwight Sora | Angela Bend | Diana Christopher | Zev Steinberg | Gabriel Howard
Greg Poljacik
Founder
Greg received his stage combat training from a burly fight guru named Gregg Lloyd at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA (that’s in the very southeast corner right by Virginia Beach, a bunch of warships and a very large shipbuilding crane). Since moving to Chicago he has choreographed fights for over 30 shows with a wide range of theatre companies. He has been a teaching assistant at March Madness Stage Combat Workshop in Cincinnati, as well as assistant to Neil Massey at Roosevelt University, and is currently the Assistant Coordinator for the Winter Wonderland Workshop, the largest stage combat workshop in the U.S. Greg also makes swords with Neil at Rogue Steel…that’s right, swords.
Adam Miller-Batteau
Choreographer/Resident Shakespeare Scholar/Fight Jam Foreign Correspondent
While his official stage combat training began at the University of Michigan under the watchful eye of SAFD Co-Founder Erik Fredricksen, Adam has been playing with swords since as far back as he can remember. Trading in the wooden swords his grandfather made him so he could play Robin Hood for masterly crafted steel rapiers Adam has gone on to stage violence for more that 25 shows including Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, and Cyrano de Bergerac. His is an Advance Actor Combatant with the SAFD, an Assistant Coordinator with the Winter Wonderland Workshop and Fight Jam’s only Foreign Correspondent. Adam shocked the world when he let it be known that he was taking his talents to South West England to pursue his master’s degree in Staging Shakespeare from the University of Exeter. There he is laying the ground work for his grand opus, merging both his loves of stage combat and Shakespeare into one definitive collection“Fight Till The Last Gasp – a Definitive Study of Shakespeare’s Fights.” To be released in the near distant future.
Dwight Sora
Dwight has studied the Japanese martial art of Aikido since 1993. As an exchange student to Japan, Dwight began his training with the Waseda Aikikai at Waseda University in Tokyo, which included classes at Hombu Dojo (World Aikido Headquarters) under Hiroshi Tada Sensei. Upon returning to the U.S., he continued with the University of Chicago Aikido Club under Prof. Donald Levine and at the Chicago Aikikai under Kevin Choate Sensei, eventually earning his first and second dan (black belt) ranks. Dwight now trains with and helps manage the Chicago Aikido Club, based at Chicago Wushu. He has also trained in Stage Combat at the Actors Gymnasium, fought onstage in the opera Romeo et Juilet (Lyric Opera Chicago), and provided fight choreography for The Wind Cries Mary (A-Squared Theatre Project) and Pacific Overtures (Porchlight Music Theatre).
Angela Bend
Actor/Combatant/Choreographer
Angela earned her BA in Theatre at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. She loves fighting! She enjoys going to stage combat workshops and has interned at several including the Winter Wonderland Workshop, Carnage in the Corn, and March Madness (currently known as Cease and Desist). On stage, she has used her combat skills to portray Mercutio in Janus Theatre Company’s all female version of Romeo and Juliet (choreographed by the great John Tovar) as well as a witch and murderer in Macbeth (also choreographed by Tovar). Angela has choreographed fights for several local theatre companies, high schools, and also has taught unarmed classes at Greenman Theatre Company. She is a member of an improv troupe called The Fabulous Rembrandts and is looking forward to attending the United Stuntmens Association International Stunt School this August. Swag!
Diana Christopher
Choreographer/Alexander Technique Teacher
Don’t let the bitty flowers fool you, Diana “Tiny” Christopher will make you cry. Okay, probably not, but you never know. Diana received her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University where she studied stage combat and other movement modalities with Paul Dennhardt. It was at ISU that Diana was introduced to the Alexander Technique; so directly after (ISU) graduation in 2007 she started the three-year training course to become a teacher of the Alexander Technique. Diana teaches stage combat through Fight Jam Chicago and SAFD sanctioned workshops in addition to her private Alexander Technique teaching practice
Zev Steinberg
Zev Steinberg is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and the SAFD’s first certified Fight Rabbi. Zev received his BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois where he began his stage combat training with Robin Mcfarquhar. As a fight director and stuntman, Zev has been designing violence in Chicago for the last two years. Most recently Zev choreographed the stunts and fights for Hamlet at the University of Chicago, and for Reefer Madness! with Brown Paper Box Co. and Emerald City Theatre’s house and touring productions of Peter Pan. Zev also coordinated the stunts for the Jeff nominated Poseidon! An Upside-Down Musical with Hell in a Handbag Productions. Zev really likes chicken nuggets.
Gabriel Faith Howard
Actor/Combatant/Dancer/Choreographer/Webmaster
Gabriel became an Actor-Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors after being dragged to the Winter Wonderland Workshop by his mom several years ago, and hasn’t looked back since. Gabriel received a BFA in modern dance and choreography from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has studied stage combat with Chuck Coyl and John Tovar. Gabriel has been climbing on things since before he could walk, and is a big fan of a good blood effect. A performer at the Bristol Renaissance Faire since 2008 — most recently on the Fight Cast — Gabriel is always looking for more opportunities to design violence and to tell stories with physical bodies.
