Teaching

Jack Romans performs A Chorus Line routine with musical theatre students in Taiwan

Jack has been working with students since 2015 in a wide variety of educational positions. His educational work ranges from crash courses as a guest instructor to full-time teaching positions responsible for department programming in dance and musical theatre. Jack has choreographed dozens of routines and full productions, and he has worked as a music director for over 10 productions.

Class sizes have ranged from personalized private instruction to groups of over 100 students at a time. Jack has worked with children as young as 3 years old in performing arts classes and has created theatre cirricula for various age groups from elementary, secondary, and post- general education.

Through interdisciplinary instruction, Jack’s courses foster newness and play among his students as future theatre makers.

Sample Courses

Pre-Tap: learn the basics of making rhythm with your feet in this introduction to tap dance! Exercises and games aim to build students’ awareness of different sounds created in tap, inspire creation of their own unique moves, and boost comfort and confidence in tap shoes. Flexible models available for ages 3 - 5, 5 - 7
Early Movement: begin your exploration of theatre dance in this introductory course to dance. Exercises and games aim to build students’ confidence in exploring new movement, teach fundamental moves that appear in jazz, ballet, and modern dancing (including turns and leaps), and strengthen their ability to retain choreography. Flexible models available for ages 3 - 5, 5 - 7
Jazz Fundamentals: explore the world of jazz dance through a series of units geared towards different eras. Course provides instruction in preparing the body, training fundamental moves, and learning original as well as iconic broadway routines. Styles include swing, Fosse, theatre jazz, and modern jazz. Flexible models available for ages 6+
Tap: develop your technique in tap dance through guided warm ups, technical exercises, and learning choreography. Exercises and routines provide students with the opportunity to refine their skills in matching rhythm and constructing group polyrhythm. Flexible models available for ages 6+
Musical Theatre: take your performance to the next level by integrating your singing, dancing, and acting skills into a single cohesive performance. Students will learn skills in breathwork and movement to better support their vocal performance while dancing. Exercises culminate in a musical theatre routine. Flexible models allow for solos, small or large group routines. Ages 7+
Acting Song: enhance your singing with guided instruction in emoting the voice. Students will learn to analyze music and lyrics for emotional material, refine their vocal techniques, and learn strategies to engage with audiences during vocal performance. Flexible models create opportunities to practice solos, duets, or large group numbers from musical theatre. Ages 7+
Musical Theatre: take your performance to the next level by integrating your singing, dancing, and acting skills into a single cohesive performance. Students will learn skills in breathwork and movement to better support their vocal performance while dancing. Exercises culminate in a musical theatre routine. Flexible models allow for solos, small or large group routines. Ages 5+
Puppetry: explore the world of puppetry through object improvisation, arts & crafts, and original routines. Students can learn from a wide array of puppet traditions including shadow, marionette, and tabletop puppetry. Students will learn games and exercises to help them learn the art of bringing objects to life as well as explore various building techniques to inspire the creation of new puppets. Flexible models available for ages 3 - 6, 6 - 10, 10 - 14, 15+
Clown: jump into the world of physical comedy and buffoonery as you learn the fundamentals of creating your own clown. Students will learn exercises and games using the model of le Jeu from Ecole Philippe Gaulier to better understand improvisation and comedic timing onstage. Games and exercises have the opportunity to culminate in a wide variety of original clown shows created by the students. Flexible models available for ages 6 - 10, 10 - 14, 15+
Physical Storytelling: a survey course exploring several nonverbal storytelling techniques. Exercises may include objectwork, clown, mime, puppetry, and platform work. Students will combine these techniques to create their own adaptations of classic stories or entirely original pieces. Available for ages 10+
Technical Theatre: further develop your production skills through a series of exercises designed to improve technical theatre skills. The course is designed to build upon theatre making foundations. Through exercises focused on framing space, scenery, props, costumes, light, and sound, students will grow in their preparedness to collaborate with designers as well as strengthen their own technical theatre skills. Available for ages 12 - 14, 15 - 18, 18+
Giant Puppetry: take your crafted creatures to bigger heights with this course in making giant puppets! We explore crafting methods for making large masks, pageant puppets, and characters with different material bases. This course explores crafting large scale characters with cardboard & paper, foam, and upcycled materials. Available for ages 15+
Acting for the Stage and Screen: an introductory course to acting at the undergraduate level. The course explores physical, psychological, and improvisational methods for exploring characters and telling stories through performance. Student review productions, journal about their own performance progress, and perform a series of exercises culminating in three separate scenes. Students perform a monologue, duet, and a small group performance.
Elementary Drama: an elementary educational program, students will explore a wide variety of performance styles including frozen images, puppetry, mime, clown, and narrative storytelling. Campers also learn a series of games designed to develop confidence, vocal projection, focus, and teamwork. Suitable for ages 5 - 10