Daniel Judah Sklar
Daniel has taught Playmaking, his technique for writing and performing plays, at institutions ranging from the Yale School of Drama to P.S. 133 in Harlem to The Native American Preparatory School in Bemidji, Minnesota.
He also brought Playmaking at the 52nd Street Project in NYC and numerous other agencies across the country.
His book PLAYMAKING: Children Writing and Performing Their Own Plays, won The Distinguished Book Award from The American Association of Theatre and Education.
He received The Sustained Achievement Award from the New York City Arts in Education Round Table and is a National Teaching Artist for the Kennedy Center.
Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s he has worked with Kurt Brungardt and Cecilia Fontanesi to develop Shakespeare for Parkinson’s, a technique which combines Shakespeare’s poetry and plays with Rudolf Laban Movement Analysis and voice work from various sources.
Cecilia Fontanesi
Cecilia Fontanesi is a dancer, movement educator, dance movement therapist, and researcher.
As a dance artist, she has been practicing improvisation, modern, contemporary and aerial dance for 30 years, both in Europe and USA. She is the co-founder of a new dance modality, Parcon NYC, a collective of dancers and movers dedicated to challenging our connection to the environment and social relationships through movement, play, touch and reflection.
Fontanesi taught partnering, contact improvisation, and modern dance both in Italy and New York. In 2011, she became a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS®, NY). She was a registered yoga teacher at The Yoga Trail in Central Park, a teaching assistant in Movement Observation at Sarah Lawrence College, as well as an adjunct Anatomy instructor at Marymount Manhattan college, Dance Department. She is currently part of LIMS Core Faculty, teaching Introduction to Laban Movement Analysis, as well as Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies (LBMS) for the Yearlong and New Pathways certification programs.
She is a Registered-Dance Movement Therapist (R-DMT) through both Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY and Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. She has extensive experience implementing dance movement therapy interventions to a range of individuals including those affected by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. She is currently serving as Research and Practice Committee Chair of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA).
Fontanesi holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Biology Neuroscience from CUNY The Graduate Center, and a M.S. in Biology of Behavior from University of Florence, Italy. She is eager to apply her knowledge of neuroscience in the field of somatic education, movement, and dance, to foster awareness of and an appreciation for the art of dance and the benefits of accessible movement throughout the life cycle.
Kurt Brungardt
Kurt is a writer, director, teacher, and personal trainer.
He is the author of 12 books (several bestsellers), mainly in areas of health, fitness, sports, and physical culture. His bestsellers include: The Complete Book of Abs (Random House) and The Complete Book of Core Training (Hyperion/Hachette), and his most recent book, The Running Revolution (Penguin), was co-written with Dr. Nicholas Romanov. He also writes for Vanity Fair, SLAM, and Men's Health.
Kurt has directed over a dozen plays in New York, Los Angeles, and regional theaters. He’s taught acting and Colorado State University and acting workshops in New York City. Most recently, he co-wrote and directed My Father’s a Cop, which premiered in New York City (2017) and Los Angeles (2018). He is currently workshopping a new play, Medicated. He studied theater at NYU (The Experimental Theater Wing, Tisch School of the Arts).
As personal trainer, for over the last 20 years, Kurt’s worked with wide variety of clients from first time exercisers, kids, senior citizens to elite athletes. His company PROOF (founded with his brothers), uses athletic testing data to create customized workouts for athletes. He’s certified personal trainer with American College of Exercise (ACE).
Kurt has created educational residencies in theater and poetry for Teachers and Writers Collaborative and the Salvation Army. At the Salvation Army he created the Williams Players, a senior citizen theater group that wrote their own plays and toured Salvation Army Senior Residencies in the tri-state area. Currently, he teaches Shakespeare to senior citizens at the New York Public Library.