UNCSA welcomes new teachers to its world-class faculty

Classes are underway at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with new faculty members who include an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, an Emmy-nominated actor, a textbook author, two educators who formerly led prestigious undergraduate acting programs, and a composer and sound designer who has been nominated for major awards in his field every year since 1999.

Classes began Aug. 20 for undergraduates and graduate students, and Aug. 13 for high school students.

New permanent faculty members include:

Sara Becker

Sara Becker will teach Shakespeare, voice, speech and dialects in the School of Drama beginning in January 2019. She is currently head of the undergraduate acting program at the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and Dance, where she received a Teaching Excellence Award in 2014. She has been a voice and text coach for nine seasons with American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wis., and a voice and text director for six seasons with Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Becker also has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has directed plays for the Ashland New Play Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Ms. Representing Shakespeare Workshop in Austin, Texas. She has extensive acting and voice-over credits. Becker has an M.F.A.in acting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in theater performance from Fordham University.

Susan Crabtree

Susan Crabtree, an author and an award-winning scenic designer with three decades of teaching experience, is the new director of scenic art in the School of Design and Production (D&P). Crabtree has co-authored three scenic art textbooks and is collaborating on a book about scene painting technique and pedagogy. She has received three awards for scenic design from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and a Best Scenic Design of the Season Award from the Colorado Theatre Guild. She has taught at Colorado State University, Brandeis University, the University of Michigan, the University of Arkansas, Metro State University and Santa Chiara Study Center in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Her professional scenic design experience includes “The Nutcracker” Ballet for On Point Academy in Des Moines, Iowa, and for Boulder (Colo.) Ballet; and work for The Local Theater Company in Boulder; the University of Denver, Colorado State University, and Curious Theatre Company in Denver; Bas Bleu Theatre Company in Fort Collins, Colo.; and the University of Michigan. Crabtree has an M.A. and a B.A. in technical theatre and scenic design from the University of Northern Colorado and has completed coursework in the Ph.D. program in theater history at the University of Colorado. 

Christopher Dorr

Christopher Dorr will teach creative producing in the School of Filmmaking graduate program. He brings three decades of executive-level experience in content production, programming and licensing, digital strategy creation, product development, social media strategies, mobile technologies,  new business development, strategic partnership building, large budget management and application development. His previous clients and employers have included Viacom, The Walt Disney Company, Sony, Samsung, Universal Pictures, Ridley Scott, Nokia, Inc., Sundance Institute and Tribeca Film Festival. Dorr is currently president of Dorr Media, which provides strategic and tactical guidance to a wide range of entertainment, media and technology companies. He has a B.A. in religion, magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.

Ulrich Eichenauer

Violist Ulrich Eichenauer, who arrived last year as a visiting faculty member in the School of Music, is now permanent faculty. Eichenauer is active as a soloist and chamber musician at major concert venues and festivals in the United States, Germany, England, France, Finland, and other locations. For five years he was principal violist with the Dresden (Germany) Philharmonic Orchestra, touring Europe, North and South America and Japan. He performed with the Mendelssohn String Quarter for six years, touring extensively in the U.S. and Europe. He trained as an undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate at Musikhochschule Detmold in Germany and has taught previously at UNCSA, Musikhochschule Detmold, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestral Academy, Harvard (as part of the Blodgen Quartet Residency), and various schools in the U.K and Switzerland. He’s offered viola and master classes in the U.S., Europe and Asia. He’s performed on several recordings, most recently with Adolf Busch, “Piano Quartet,” and with Ludwig Tuille, “Trio for Violin, Viola and Piano,” both released in 2015 by international record label CPO.

Joy Goodwin

Joy Goodwin returns to teach screenwriting in the Film School graduate program. She previously taught screenwriting and special topics in producing from 2012 to 2016. Goodwin also has taught at Elon University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, New York University and Hunter College. For five years she was head of creative development for Plum Pictures, developing five features selected for Sundance Film Festival. Her films received Golden Globe, AFI, Berlin International Film Festival, Independent Spirit, Sundance, New York Film Critics Circle, GLAAD, and Gotham awards, and were acquired by Lionsgate, Fox Searchlight, the Weinstein Company, HBO Films, Focus Features, IFC Films, ABC Family, and Magnolia Releasing. She’s been a theater and dance reporter and critic for The New Yorker, The New York Times and the New York Sun.  She was newsroom supervisor for NBC’s coverage of the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. Goodwin wrote, directed and produced documentaries (include two Emmy Award-winning projects) and live events around the globe for ABC, NBC, A&E, Lifetime, The History Channel, and ESPN, and was an associate producer for ABC Sports. Goodwin has an M.A. in education policy from Harvard University and a B.A. in English literature from Wake Forest University.

Kris Julio

Alumnus Kris Julio, who has been a visiting faculty member since 2015, is now permanent faculty, teaching stage properties in D&P. His professional experience includes work with Triad Stage, Majestic Scenic, NETworks Presentations, Santa Fe Opera, National Black Theater Festival, Peppercorn Children’s Theater, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, American Conservatory Theater and Contemporary American Theater Festival.  Julio traveled as head of props for the national tour of “Memphis the Musical” and the national tour of Disney's “Beauty and the Beast.” At UNCSA, he’s been advising faculty on “The Nutcracker,” A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute’s productions of “La Cenerentola,” “Ariadne auf Naxos” and “Florencia en el Amazonas,” and for School of Drama productions including “Company,” “Arms and the Man,” “Airline Highway,” “The Man of Mode,” “The Duchess of Malfi,” “Side Show,” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” among others.  Julio has a B.A. and a graduate certificate in theater arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an M.F.A. in stage properties from UNCSA.

Cameron Knight

Cameron Knight will teach Shakespeare, acting and directing in the School of Drama. Previously he was head of the undergraduate acting program at DePaul University. Knight also headed the acting program at ArtsBridge, which provides consulting, workshops and summer intensives for students who hope to audition for college arts programs. Knight also has taught at Carnegie Mellon University, Stella Adler Academy of Arts and Theatre, the University of Delaware, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Water works Theatre Company and Flint Youth Theatre. He has extensive stage, television, film, commercial and voice-over acting experience and has directed for Notre Dame Shakespeare, DePaul University, Carnegie Mellon University and Bricolage Theatre in Pittsburgh. Knight has a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan-Flint and an M.F.A. from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theater Training Program.

Andy Paris

Emmy-nominated actor Andy Paris joins the School of Drama, teaching devised theater. As a founding member of Tectonic Theater Project, he helped develop Moment Work, a technique for theatrical exploration and interdisciplinary collaboration.  Earlier this year he published “Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project’s Process of Devising Theater” with Vintage Press.  Using the Moment Work technique, he co-created “The Laramie Project,” one of the most-frequently produced plays over the last 25 years. He has taught the technique for the past 10 years at New York University, DePaul, Bucknell, Amherst College, University of Northern Iowa and Missouri State University. In 2002, he received an Emmy Award nomination for “The Laramie Project” on HBO. He’s appeared in numerous off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions, and recorded “Smile,” a radio play for NPR, and countless audio books for authors including Jodi Picoult, Nathaniel Fick, Wendy Mass and Ursula Le Guinn. Recent directing credits include “Momentum” at Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, the world premiere of “Uncommon Sense” at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and also at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture. Paris completed a B.F.A. with honors at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Scott Ressler

Scott Ressler will teach cinematography in the Film School undergraduate program. His extensive credits as camera operator and head of photography for television include “Twin Peaks,” “Dexter,” “Chasing Life” and “Children’s Hospital.” Film credits as camera operator, head of photography and cinematographer include “Amityville: The Awakening,” “Jurassic Park III,” “My Sister’s Keeper,” “I Heart Huckabees,” the “Scream” franchise, the “Austin Powers” franchise, “Mulholland Drive,” “Lost Highway,” “Cider House Rules, ” “The Extra,” “Mansion of Blood,” and “Pooltime.” He received a Bachelor of Arts in cinema production from the University of Southern California.

Angelina Sansone

Angelina Sansone will teach ballet in the School of Dance. She was previously ballet master for the Kansas City Dance Festival and principal dancer with Kansas City Ballet. Additional dance experience includes dancer and ballet master with Motion Dance Theater; rehearsal director and performer with Quixotic Cirque Nuoveau; and dancer with Chamber Dance Project and Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Sansone has been a guest artist with Kansas Ballet Company and New Orleans Dance Theater. Her teaching and choreography experience includes Piedmont Dance Theater in Charlotte; Lucia Aerial Performing Arts in Overland Park, Kan.; DMB Dance in Argentine, Kan.; Ballet Conservatory of Asheville; Stars Unlimited in Liberty, Kan.; Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg; Danceworks and Ibsen Dance Theater, both in Kansas City, Mo.; and Move & Motion in Hilton Head, S.C. She trained at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Fla., and at Indiana University.

Peter Werner

One of the most highly regarded director-producers in television today, Peter Werner will teach screenwriting in the Film School graduate program. While pursuing his M.F.A at the American Film Institute, he wrote and directed the Oscar-winning short live action film, “In the Region of Ice,” based upon the story by Joyce Carol Oates. He was a visiting professor at UNCSA last year, and has also taught at Savannah College of Art and Design, Antioch University, the University of California at Los Angeles, University of Southern California, American Film Institute, Dartmouth and Vassar. Werner has directed television series, pilots and movies for major networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, FOX, TNT, USA, the Disney Channel and Lifetime; most recently, “Six,” “Instinct,” “Bull” and “Grimm.” This year he produced the television series “Nellie Bly,” which is currently in development. He’s also produced several movies for the Lifetime network and was co-executive producer, executive consultant and executive producer for television projects at CBS and ABC.  In addition to his M.F.A., Werner has a master’s in teaching from Antioch-Putney in Vermont and a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in English and comparative literature from Dartmouth College.

Visiting Faculty Members include:

Among the visiting faculty members, Drama alumnus Lindsay Jones will teach sound design in D&P. He’s created original music for film, television, commercials and video games and has been sound designer for stage productions on and off-Broadway, internationally, touring and in regional theaters across the country. Every year since 1999, Jones has been nominated for major awards in his field, including Drama Desk, Helen Hayes, Joseph Jefferson, Broadway World, NAACP Theatre, and LA Weekly Theatre awards. His is a native of Winston-Salem.

David Brown will teach art history in the Division of Liberal Arts (DLA). He has a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University, an M.F.A. with honors from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.F.A. with honors from Old Dominion University. Brown is an arts management consultant with experience that includes the art gallery at Western Carolina University; Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Va.; the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem; and the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

UNCSA high school alumnus Immanuel Davis will teach flute in the School of Music. He holds a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Juilliard and is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. For 17 years Davis has taught in the School of Music at the University of Minnesota. He’s performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, the Quad Cities Symphony, and New York Baroque Incorporated, including a 2017 performance at Carnegie Hall.

Margaret Eginton will teach movement in the School of Drama. She has an M.F.A. in acting and directing from the University of Iowa and a B.A. with honors in Dance and Philosophy from Sarah Lawrence College. A registered educator and therapist in Somatic Movement, Eginton was recently engaged in private practice in Iowa City, Iowa. She has previously taught at Florida State University; New College in Sarasota, Fla.; Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; and the American Repertory Theatre (ART) at Harvard University. She was head of movement for ART/Moscow Art Theatre and the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard.

Rudy Gaines will teach screenwriting for undergraduates in the Film School. He has a B.F.A. in writing and directing from Auburn University and was adjunct faculty there. His screenwriting credits include work for 21st Century Fox, MGM, Universal and Warner Bros. Directing credits include PBS Films, Peet Theater at Auburn University, and the State Theater of Beijing, China.

Erika Latta will teach movement in the School of Drama. She earned an M.F.A. in acting from Columbia University and studied with the Suzuki Company in Toga-Mura, Japan. She is a director of devised theater, the artistic co-director of WaxFactory, a devising company based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a member and associate director of the trans-media company Begat Theater of Marseille, France. She has extensive credits as an actor, director, writer, and photographer.

Loredana Moccia will teach Italian and German in DLA. She has a degree in teaching Italian as a foreign language from the University of Torino in Torino, Italy, and has studied in Siena, Italy, and Nurnberg, Germany. Moccia has taught at High Point University, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, the University of Tulsa, the University of Tennessee, the University of Michigan, and the Italian Consulate in Toronto, Canada.

Bita Nikkholgh will teach science in DLA. She holds a medical degree from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran, where she practiced as an emergency room physician. She also has a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Nikkholgh completed a post-doctorate fellowship at Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine and is currently a post-doctorate scholar there. Previous instructional experience includes Winston-Salem State University and teaching posts in Iran.

Raina Clare Parker will teach costume design in D&P. She received her M.F.A. in costume design from UNCSA and a B.F.A. in costume design and construction from Southern Oregon University. She has designed costumes for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Triad Stage, Peppercorn Children’s Theatre, Avant Bard Theater, Willamette Shakespeare Company and Hand2Mouth Theater.

Alumnus Clint Smith will teach sound editing in the Film School. He is a freelance sound editor whose credits include “Cloverfield,” “John Carter,” “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “Avatar,” “War Horse,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “Super 8” and “Despicable Me.”

Cristina Velez-Justo will teach film music composition in the Film School. She earned her M.F.A. in film music composition from UNCSA and her B.A. in music composition from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She is the owner of ReelScoring, composing scores for independent feature and documentary films. She was a composers’ assistant in Los Angeles, working for Craig Richey, Anton Sanko, and Michael A. Levine. She completed a music internship with the Television Academy in L.A., and was media and communications director for Escúchame, Inc. in Charlotte.

Rebecca Whitehurst will teach movement in the School of Drama. She is currently on the faculty at Northern Arizona University. Whitehurst received her M.F.A. from the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Theatre program at Harvard and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study movement training in Russia. She also holds an M.F.A. in choreography from California Institute of the Arts and was a member of the United States Gymnastics team from 1995-97. 

by Lauren Whitaker