Workshop origins

A New Workshop...

...with a rich history.

The 2025 Fight Director Training Workshop is coordinated by Tonya Lynn (SAFD Certified Teacher and Fight Director) and Jonathan Ezra Rubin (SAFD Certified Teacher & Treasurer), with additional lead instruction from another incredibly experienced professional Fight Director to be announced.

The Fight Director Training Workshop had overwhelming success in its inaugural run as the 2023 Fight Choreographer's Track (FCT) at the Summer Sling Stage Combat Workshop under the trio of Tonya, Jonathan, and Lisa Kopitsky (SAFD Certified Teacher and Broadway Fight Director), who took over the reins of the workshop from Lewis Shaw (SAFD Certified Teacher Emeritus) and J. David Brimmer (SAFD Fight Master), founders and coordinators of the FCT from 2014-2019. 

Tonya and Jonathan came together to revitalize and overhaul the workshop training curriculum, bringing their combined experience of working in a variety of roles with the FCT every year since its 2014 inception and years of educational and workshop coordinating experience to implement years of lessons learned into the workshop revival. Bringing Lisa into the fold, the trio were able to lead 15 early- and mid-career fight directors through 4 days of intensive training and choreographic learning labs, create an exceptionally supportive and uplifting room, and challenge the participants to grow their craft in new and exciting ways.

Now operating as a stand-alone workshop, the newly rebranded Fight Directors Training Workshop is able to expand to add a fifth day of training while moving to a new, active theatre venue at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, just north of Washington, DC.  The new location features a sizeable black box theatre, rehearsal room, and more spaces available for our cohort to explore choreographic possibilities, as well as access to a plethora of nearby lodging and food options.