Dr Christina Kapadocha
Email
ckapad@essex.ac.ukLocation
EAST15 LOUGHTON HH3.2 HATFIELDS, Loughton Campus
Academic support hours
EA405-7-FY Movement EA602 Character & Scene Work EA606-G-SU MA Practical Project EA613-G-SU MFA Practical Project
Biography
I am a London-based theatre and somatic practitioner-researcher and founder of Somatic Acting Process®. My earliest artistic and professional development included studies and qualifications in classical piano and singing (Advanced Certificate-Distinction), music theatre (LCM, Level 5-Distinction), dance and literature (BA-Dissertation Distinction). My ongoing professional experience in theatre and acting practices started formally in 2005 when I began my studies at the Greek National Theatre (GNT) Drama School, which operates in tandem with the National Theatre of Greece. As a Greek-born actress, I shaped the ground of my expertise in acting as a first-class GNT Drama School graduate (Diploma in Acting). While in Greece, I performed, among others, in productions of the National Theatre of Greece and the Athens Festival. In 2010 I was awarded a full-time scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY) to advance my acting studies in the UK. I moved to London and completed my postgraduate degree in acting at East 15 Acting School (MA Acting International-Distinction). During my studies at East 15, I also got the opportunity for a residency in Bali (ISI Denpasar) and Moscow (GITIS) where I studied and performed. After my MA, I started developing an expertise in the interrelation between modern somatic movement and theatre practices through a Practice-as-Research PhD at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD) and my professional development as somatic movement educator (RSME, Diploma IBMT/BMC®). For these studies I was additionally awarded an Elsie Fogerty Research Degree Studentship by RCSSD. As part of my PhD and the critical investigation of actor-training pedagogies, I shaped a new actor-training approach introduced as Somatic Acting Process. I started teaching my practice and related subjects in major London-based drama schools (such as RCSSD, East 15, Mountview, Rose Bruford) and independent contexts. Since April 2018 I am a full-time Lecturer in Movement for Acting & Research at East 15 as a member of both the Movement and Research teams. As a practitioner-researcher, I focus on the investigation of embodiment processes through somatically inspired practices into theatre-performing environments and beyond. I particularly introduce new praxical (practical-theoretical) discussions on the somatic in theatre-performance and voice studies, including the edited collection Somatic Voices in Performance Research and Beyond (Routledge, 2021), several articles for international journals, blog posts and practice-research videos. For my artistic research activities, I have been awarded 2020 Outstanding Early Career Researcher in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Essex and Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year 2023-2024. My theatre experience in the UK includes performances at the Cockpit Theatre and Roundhouse, as an independent artist and as a member of Andreas Skourtis-Performing Architectures company. I have, among others, directed and/or facilitated performances (as acting coach, movement director, embodiment/intimacy/stage fight facilitator) at the Park Theatre, Cockpit Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Hoxton Hall, Embassy Theatre (RCSSD) and Corbett Theatre (East 15). My latest artistic-research focus is the investigation of a theatrical form that re-evaluates the dynamics between performers and non-performers/active participants through embodied dramaturgies and contemporary approaches to catharsis. I identify it as Somatic Theatre.
Qualifications
PhD Royal Central School of Speech and Drama,
MA in Acting East 15 Acting School, University of Essex,
BA in Acting Greek National Theatre (GNT) Drama School,
BA in Greek Literature University of Patras,
Appointments
University of Essex
Lecturer in Theatre and Movement, East 15 Acting School (9/4/2018 - present)
Movement Tutor, East 15 Acting School (7/10/2014 - 9/4/2018)
Other academic
Visiting Lecturer, Rose Bruford College (6/3/2017 - 9/4/2018)
MA Tutor, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts (1/2/2016 - 9/4/2018)
Visiting Lecturer, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (3/6/2013 - 9/4/2018)