Genesee Spridco

Biography

Genesee Spridco (she/her) teaches Movement in the Acting program focusing on physical habits, character creation, and maskwork. She is also a strong advocate for Devised Theatre processes and the empowerment of creating your own work. She is Co-Vice Chair for the National Playwriting Program and Coordinator for the Devised Theatre Initiative for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region III. She also is a guest respondent to Regions IV and VIII.

Over the past 10 years, Genesee has guided and facilitated the creation of many original devised works, in various theatre venues and styles. She was the Founding Artistic Director for a Chicago based physical theatre ensemble Suitcase Shakespeare from 2008–2012, and the Co-Founding Artistic Director of an ensemble called Imaginez from 2012–2020. Imaginez’s original works featuring specialized skills such as fire performance, aerial silks, dance theatre, mask, mime, clown and more. Genesee led Imaginez throughout the Midwest and into Canada presenting spectacle-based event entertainment and touring their acclaimed productions Take Flight: An Adventure in Cirque and Miranda: One Woman’s Tempest.

Genesee works as a movement performer and movement director throughout the Midwest including Chicago’s Fifth House Ensemble and Piccolo Theatre. University of Illinois credits include Movement Director of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Illinois Theatre), Movement Director/Associate Director of Psh*tter: A Drinking Song for the Year of our Lord 2020 (Illinois Theatre), and Movement Director of The Adventures of Little Sharp Ears (Lyric Theatre at Illinois). She has also created movement design for Milwaukee’s Shakespeare in the Park productions As You Like It, A Winter’s Tale, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While teaching, she also continues to perform nationally with an award-winning vaudeville-style comedy called the Washing Well Wenches.

She received her BFA in Directing and BS in Theatre Education from Viterbo University and her MFA in Ensemble Devised Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre in California. She received her 200-hour yoga teacher certification with the Ashville Yoga Center in North Carolina and is currently registered with Yoga Alliance. Genesee is working toward her certification as an Alexander Technique Teacher with SOMA Studios in Minneapolis, MN. She is a member of the Theatre Communication Group, Association for Theatre Movement Educators, Alexander Technique International, and the Network of Ensemble Theatres.