TEACHING
Tea currently serves as a Professor in Directing at The New School, College of Performing Arts, School of Drama.
Since 2012, she has served as professor of directing and collaboration at The New School, College of Performing Arts, School of Drama (both MFA and BFA levels) and served as the Head of Directing Department Chair between 2016-2020.
Current Classes Include: Advanced Directing, APEX advisor, CMP 1, Project 1, all MFA The New School for Drama.
Past Teaching Credits Include Young Artist Leadership Summer Program at the University of Miami, The PIMA MFA Program at Brooklyn College, Adjunct Professor in Acting, Movement, and Acting Career Development at Lee Strasberg Institute, Directing Mentor at the University of Texas, and Assistant Instructor in Acting at Yale University Summer Program.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Tea currently serves as a Professor in Directing at The New School, College of Performing Arts, School of Drama.
So far, Tea has been advising on all aspects of the MFA Directing thesis writing curriculum, admissions, production additions, and designer hires for productions and new faculty, guest artists, and Opera Classes with NYU. Classes that Tea has been taught so far include Playwrights and Director Relationships, BFA Adaptations, BFA Devising, and BFA The New School for Drama. Current classes include Advanced Directing, APEX advisor, CMP 1, Project 1, and all MFA The New School for Drama.
Since becoming Head of the Directing Program at the New School for Drama in 2016, Tea has brought numerous artists into the program from my professional collaborations: Daniel Alexander Jones,(Playwright) Kate Volk (The Wooster Group), Dan Rothenberg (Pig Iron), Jeffrey Horowitz (TFANA), Linda Chapman (NYTW), Beth Morrison,(Producer) John J. A. Jannone (PIMA), Daniella Topol (Rattlestick Playwright Theater), Blanka Zizka, (The Wilma Theater), Morgan Jenness,(Dramaturgy) Susan Bernfield (New Georges), Julie Crosby(Producer), Arin Arbus (Director), Stew Stewart, (Tony Awards, Passing Strange) Maiko Chii,(Designer) Lauren Yee,(Playwright) Portia Elmer, (Designer)Geoff Sobelle,(Writer and Performer), Anne Hamburger,(Producer), Carl Flanigan (Maximum Entertainment Productions), Erica Schmidt (Director and Actor), Chay Yew (Director and Playwright), Louisa Thompson (Artist and Designer), John Hart (Evamere Entertainment), Maegan Morris (Managing Dirctor at The Rattlestick Theaater), Micheal Barker (General Manager), Lisa McNulty (Artistic Director WP) and many others. Each of the artists brought inspiration, knowledge, and mentorship to our students, giving them confidence to carry into the profession.
In 2019, Tea initiated a partnership between The New School and the Schaubühne Festival in Berlin, where our directing students could learn with Thomas Ostermeier and theater artists from around the world. Under her leadership, the department developed a sandbox project for directors to present their experimental work, from idea to full production, devising pieces in collaboration at The Performing Garage.
As well, during her time as Head of Directing, Tea created partnerships between NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Design for Stage and Film, and Opera productions for The New School MFA Directing students.
You can find details of some classes Tea has taught below.
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This course is a practical, analytical and theoretical class structure as collaboration lab examining all elements of composition in performances arts. Class will have strong homework assignments of reading, writing and research. For the class students will be divided in three groups creating original work on all elements of composition. Work has to be presented as live performance; each piece will have public presentation and critical feedback. The role of audiences is composed from the whole class as well drama school students, faculty and audiences outside of The New School for Drama. Student’s assignment is to invite audiences, announce presentations.
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Students will develop short performance pieces drawn from a variety of theatrical and non-theatrical sources, through which they will explore the fullest extent and possibility of performance, building skills as creators, developers, and performers.
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CMP2 (Collaborative Making Process 2) continues the students’ exploration and understanding of the collaborative dynamics between actors, writers and directors in the creation, rehearsal and production of new work. By the end of the course participants should have a more sophisticated, experiential knowledge of the development process and be ready to engage their talent in more challenging, ambitious pieces. Writers will have prepared a draft of the plays that each actor and director will work on for the entire semester. Directors and writers will be matched with plays for the rehearsal, development and presentation of the new pieces. At the end of the semester the pieces will be performed for the public.
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This course is designed to serve as the central ‘hub’ for MFA directors in their third year. This course focuses on the preparatory creative work required for directors to direct full-length projects, and will also incorporate paper projects tied to related investigations into directors and dramatists. This course takes the form of a close mentorship-based relationship through which third year directors will have their developing creative ideas pushed and challenged as each director hones their unique creative process and style. The course includes pre-production work, based on the play Antigone by Sophocles. Detailed text analysis, casting process, design costumes, set, lights, sounds, projection, directors pitch, budget, production meetings, scene work.
FULL TEACHING CREDIT and EDUCTION PRODUCTION
2012-present: Professor of Directing, Acting, Playwriting, Collaboration, Design, Production, The New School for Drama, MFA, BFA Program
2023: Professor of Directing at Pace University, BFA
2022: Professor of Directing at Sarah Lawrence College, MFA
2016-2020: Head of Directing Department, BFA and MFA, The New School University
2019: Yale School of Drama, MFA playwriting, Fordham University, BFA in directing
2016: Youth Artists Leadership Summer Program, University of Miami
2012: Directing and collaboration, The PIMA M.F.A. at Brooklyn College
2008-2009: Faculty Adjunct: Acting, Movement, Acting Career Development, Lee Strasberg Institute, NYC
2008: Mentor at the University of Texas, Austin
2007: Assistant Instructor in Acting, Yale University Summer Program, New Haven
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THE BABBEL PROJECT
Experimental theatre Wing (NYU)
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ANTIGONE
Youth Artist Leadership Summer (YALS) Program
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PIANO SLAM 10
PIANO SLAM