Jay's approach to teaching centers joyful empowerment, rigorous curiosity,
and generous collaboration at the intersection of arts and advocacy.
He nurtures the whole artist, and helps his students balance their resilience-building (to navigate
our current world) with visionary thinking (to fight for a better, kinder world than this one).
Jay is a teaching artist, educational theatre director, and certified sex educator.
He has been teaching students of all ages and abilities for over a decade.
Jay is currently the Youth Engagement Coordinator for Penumbra Center for Racial Healing, and he is a lead teaching artist with Upstream Arts. He has been a resident artist and guest instructor with a wide variety of K-12 schools, colleges & universities, and professional theaters, including the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre Company, and Children's Theater Company, among many others. Jay has devised and directed student productions with Children's Theater Company, the Guthrie Theater, and Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, and he was the Keynote Speaker for the Minnesota Thespian Conference in both 2020 and 2024.
Jay specializes in teaching conservatory-level Acting, Audition Technique, Physical Theater,
and Devised Theater, as well as open-level classes in Movement, Clown, and Aesthetics.
In addition to the wide range of acting and movement classes he teaches, Jay is most well-known for his responsive curricula, courses he designed as an answer to a group or organization coming to him with a specific need. These classes include:
- Wellness for Artists (commissioned by Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists)
- Health & Wellness for College-Age Performers (commissioned by the University of Minnesota)
- Consent & Communication the Performing Arts (commissioned by SPCPA)
- Good Discomfort: Boundaries & Growth Edges (commissioned by Spotlight Education)
- Personal Storytelling for Older Adults (commissioned by the Guthrie Theater)
- Devising Techniques For Directors (commissioned by Children's Theater Company)
- Intro to Theatre: The Role of the Audience (commissioned by the Guthrie Theater)
Jay is available to bring any of his original classes at your organization, and is always open to partnering with you to create a brand new class designed to address unique needs or challenges.
Jay is committed to making arts learning approachable and accessible for students who are brand new to theatre (or dipping their toes back in after years away), including pre-verbal early learners, former professional actors itching to get back into the business, scientists who want to build their public speaking confidence, and lifelong learners trying their hand at autobiographical performance after collecting 87 years worth of anecdotes.
To book Jay for a class, workshop, or professional development session, or to inquire about his rates, drop him a line.