ABOUT IMPROV FOR WELLNESS

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Dan is thrilled to lead Tightrope’s offerings for the Workplace and for Health & Wellness. His passion is to bring learners into the moment together, where co-creation can happen. A graduate of Queen's University Drama (B.A.H) and Artist in Community Education (B.Ed), Dan has been performing and teaching theatre and improv for over twenty years. Using his background as a high school teacher and corporate trainer, Dan loves to apply the concepts of improv to the way teams work together.  Dan has been training professionals in applied improv for the workplace since 2014. As a facilitator with Improv for Business, he has led successful and impactful training for teams from VanCity, Telus, PCL, ReThink, Microsoft, YVR, BC Children’s Hospital, Amazon, and many more organizations in BC and across North America. Dan trained and went on to perform as a mainstage ensemble player at Vancouver Theatresports for seven years and taught improv on the faculty of the Improv Comedy Institute. In 2015, Dan moved to New York City with his husband Jonathan and studied improv with UCB and Annoyance Theatre. There he founded the Dirty Little Secrets Improv show, which still runs monthly in the East Village of Manhattan. Returning to Vancouver, Dan co-founded Momentous Comedy and continues to produce improv shows across the city. Dan serves as the President of the Queer Improv Society of Vancouver where he builds community through improv, guiding the non profit board, directors, and a troupe of over 40 members.  Dan is also a Leadership Communications Consultant with The Humphrey Group and continues to deliver leadership training and executive coaching across the globe to Fortune 500 companies, governments, professional associations, first nations councils, and with Universities including UBC Sauder Executive Education programs. Dan brings the joy he finds in collaborative performance to every training he facilitates. After resisting for a long time, Dan finally created an instagram account for his dog, Kai. @kaidangerfloof 

Rosemary is a performer, creator, and arts administrator working and living in Vancouver on Unceded Coast Salish Territories. Born and raised in Calgary on Treaty 7 Territory, Rosemary fell in love with the world of performance in the 8th grade, when she joined her Jr. High’s first-ever improv team. She then became a member of Loose Moose Theatre Company, and a cast member of Dirty Laundry’s Young Company, where she also worked as an associate producer. Now, Rosemary is a student at Simon Fraser University, pursuing a BFA in Theatre Performance, and a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. She loves being a part of the Tightrope team, and working to share all the benefits of learning improv!

 Delaney is a versatile performer based in Vancouver. She is an improviser, a freelance voice-over artist, and an accomplished actor. Since her graduation from Capilano University's Acting for Stage and Screen program, Delaney has traveled across Canada performing improv. She regularly takes the stage as a member of The Spontaneous Shakespeare Company and Very Very Improv.

In addition to her improv endeavours, Delaney has embraced diverse roles in independent films, video games, and theatre productions. Noteworthy credits include portraying Sophie in "Running Cables in the Dark," Tessa in "Monolith," and embodying the characters Glory, Marvalyn, and Hope in "Almost, Maine."

Delaney's expertise extends beyond acting; she's well-versed in swordplay, specializing in Italian rapier and longsword techniques. She is an active practitioner and instructor of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) and holds an Intermediate Actor/Combatant certification with Fight Directors Canada, attesting to her proficiency in stage and screen combat.

Delaney is incredibly grateful to be a part of Tightropes Team and to contribute to the community through improv.

 Sarah Ferguson is a Vancouver based actor, improvisor, and theatre-maker. She holds a diploma in Theatre Performance from Mount Royal University, a BFA in Theatre from Simon Fraser University, and a lot of student debt. She has been the Volunteer Coordinator and Social Media Manager for the Canmore International Improv Festival 2018/2019, as well as a founding ensemble member of Sour Dog Theatre since 2015. Sarah hopes to be a part of projects that represent her experience as a gay woman in the LGBTQ+ arts community, and use humour & vulnerability as tools for healing. Because she is a settler on the unceded Indigenous territories belonging to the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, she is critical of her own privilege as a witness and creator. She is excited to continue to be a student, performer, and supporter of Tightrope Theatre! 

Brent Hirose is an actor, writer, director, voice over artist and improvisor based in Vancouver, B.C. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Brent spent the first decade of his career in the prairies where he co founded Theatre by the River and the improv troupe The Horrible Friends. He has toured all across North America with his hit one-man plays including The Suckerpunch and Lost and Left Behind, before relocating to Vancouver and serving as co-artistic director of Instant Theatre from 2016-2019. As an improvisor he has performed a variety of styles, as a cast member of Shakespeare After Dark, A Fistful of Kicks and Hype! An Improvised Hip-Hopera. He has taught improv for The Young Actors Project, UBC Improv, The South Vancouver Youth Centre, Instant Theatre and now Tightrope Impro.  He is thrilled to be working with the team at Tightrope and sharing his love of narrative and character creation with new and seasoned improvisors alike!

Meet Monice, an accomplished actress with over 15 years of experience performing on some of North America’s most prestigious stages. She has played notable roles such as Portia in Julius Caesar and Creusa in The Aeneid at The Stratford Festival, toured in the USA as Queen Greutide with Why Not Theatre in their production of Prince Hamlet, and has worked with The Shaw Festival. Monice is now an ensemble member and instructor at Tightrope Theatre and a faculty member with Improv for Work and Wellness at Tightrope, where she assists with presentations and public speaking courses, co-leads courses for women, and provides individual coaching. Her specialties include grounding practices, embodiment, and presence for professionals, which enhance public speaking skills and allow individuals to remain calm and focused in high-pressure situations. Monice is studying Sustainable Business Leadership to add to her impressive skill sets, with the hope of leading the next generation toward a sustainable, equitable and caring future.

  Margot Escott, LCSW is thrilled to join the team at Tightrope. She is an improvisational theatre teacher in Naples, Florida. Margot has been teaching Improv for people with Parkinson’s and their care partners since 2017, in person and virtually.  Her classes also include folks with other movement disorders such as PSP and MSA.

She was a care partner to her father, Ivan Escott, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1998 and died with Lewy bodies in 2007.

In her clinical psychotherapy practice she has worked with people with PD and other movement disorders and care partners and is a frequent speaker at conferences for mental health providers.

She presents workshops on “The Healing Power of Laughter and Play” for over 30 years, teaching adults how to discover the joy of play.

When she discovered Improvisational Theatre she immediately saw the connection between therapy and improv and has been using applied improv for over a decade. She teaches people with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, people on the Autism Spectrum and trains therapists to use improv in their clinical work.

She performed onstage and is currently performing with various groups online.

She received her training in improvisation with  Jay Sukow, Laura Hall, Michael Gellman, Aretha Spolin Sills, David Razowski and many other teachers from Second City Chicago and IO.

She produces the podcast, Improv Interviews, with leading improvisers and actors for over a decade at: https://margotescott.com/podcast/

 Rick Horner is an improviser in suburban Philadelphia. Rick founded the improv incubator, a weekly evening of improv for improvisers and actors in the area to meet up, get connected, and play. Rick is an Advisory Board member for The Collective Success Network, and on the Workshop Development Team for the Global Play Brigade. He is currently the Ensemble Director for Bright Invention and has taught many classes and workshops in and around Philadelphia. Rick studied at The Second City Training Center in Chicago and has also studied in Philly with such teachers as Keith Johnstone, Joe Bill, Ali Farahnakian, Ari Voukydis and Matt Besser of the Upright Citizens Brigade, among many others. He has studied online with David Razowsky, Michael Gellman, Deana Creiss and Liz Allen, among many others. Rick is an Army veteran who really likes Planet of the Apes.

 Stephen is a Brooklyn-based and award-winning improviser, actor and writer. Through Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, Stephen facilitates Tightrope’s Improv For Parkinson’s program. He is passionate about the myriad ways improv can spark community building and communication. In the workplace, Stephen has facilitated workshops for companies all over North America, applying the principles of drama to team-building and creating inclusive cultures at companies such as TD Bank, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Duke University’s School of Business (MBA program), Amcor, JP Morgan Chase and others. Stephen is a graduate of Queen’s University in Canada (BAH with distinction, where he studied as a chancellor’s scholar) and Circle In The Square Theatre School in NYC. As a performer, Stephen has studied improv at all of New York City’s major training programs and has performed improv (and theatre) all over Canada and the US. Stephen had a major ‘aha’ moment when he started to notice how his improv experience was parlaying and benefiting other parts of his life. Thanks to improv, his listening and collaboration skills have expanded exponentially. For Stephen, it’s a no-brainer that the transformative skills and concepts that improv embodies are ripe for inspiring growth in individuals and businesses all over.   

Dr. Squires attended medical school at the University of Ottawa before completing a neurology residency at UBC, followed by fellowship training in movement disorders at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel in New York City. He is currently co-medical director of the UBC Movement Disorder Clinic and cares for patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, such as dystonia and essential tremor, among others. He assisted in the development of improv for Parkinson’s disease and brain health, helping to educate facilitators at Tightrope Improv Theatre about Parkinson’s disease and other brain diseases. He hopes that patients and their families will be able to apply improv skills to their life with chronic disease and better able them to cope with the unpredictability of these disorders and the impact they have on their day-to-day lives.