06/19/2026
YoungLiars eight-day physical training intensive for performers - Clown, Yoga and Suzuki. Open to all experience levels.
YoungLiars Summer Training Festival
July 25th - August 1st @ Webster University Old Orchard Studio
All classes are held from 6-10pm nightly from July 25th - August 1st.
Eight hot summer days! Over thirty hours of intense physical training in three disciplines. Please join us for the best week of the year!
YoungLiars are pleased to announce the eighth annual Summer Training Festival. The Festival is a eight-day event featuring three separate physical training styles taught by three different St. Louis theatre artists - Suzuki Method, taught by Chuck Harper; Red Nose Clown, taught by Jef Awada; and Yoga, taught by Maggie Conroy.
Classes are offered on a nightly basis throughout the week. No prior experience is necessary for any festival class. All registered participants are welcome to attend any individual class, and are encouraged to attend them all. Space is limited and registration is first-come-first-serve. All classes will be held at Webster University's Old Orchard Studio.
Suzuki Method - The Suzuki Method is a physical training system for performers that draws from traditional Japanese and Greek theatre, martial arts, and other disciplines. Focus is on expressive presence, physical clarity and breath control. The technique also brings attention to the voice and its connection to the physical body. Come prepared to sweat and laugh, and to develop your stage presence and physical power.
Red Nose Clown - (Re)Invigorate your life on stage! Experience the thrilling possibility of working with a ferocious sense of play, total vulnerability, and profound presence—all at the same time. Succeeding with a red nose requires utter openness and, perhaps more directly than any other territory of performance, clown works the immediate muscles necessary for the performer to survive and thrive on stage. This workshop will challenge you, push you, and give you a new measure for what it means to be present on stage. And, we will laugh a lot…hopefully.
Yoga - Each night begins with a yoga flow aimed at getting you out of your head and into your body. No yoga experience required, and modifications are offered and encouraged! You can expect a balanced blend of held postures and vinyasa-like flows to prepare your body and mind for the demands of the night ahead. Bring a yoga mat and small blanket or pillow to sit on; straps and blocks are provided.
Maggie Conroy (Yoga) is a 200HR certified yoga instructor who has studied yoga over the last decade. Having a background in Suzuki/Viewpoints methods, she became interested in Vinyasa yoga as a way to continually develop the relationship between the breath and the body. She is co-producing director for YoungLiars.
Chuck Harper (Suzuki Training) is a director and actor who has practiced and taught Suzuki for the past twenty years. His training includes intensives with master teachers Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson of Pacific Performance Projects East and Will Bond and Ellen Lauren of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute. He has led Suzuki workshops both in the US and overseas. He is Chair of the Department of Theater and Dance at SIUE and Co-Producing Director of YoungLiars. He has directed YoungLiars' productions of The Dispute, Burrow, Titus Androgynous and Whammy! The Seven Secrets to a Sane Self. His most recent devised works at SIUE include AreUR? and The Tragical Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood in the Land of the Wolf King: A True Story.
Jef Awada (Red Nose Clown) is a theatre artist who has studied with clown master teachers Ronlin Foreman at the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, Philippe Gaulier in France, and Chicago’s 500 Clown. As a director and actor, Jef has explored the clown’s place in comedy and beyond. He has taught at Webster Conservatory for the last 20 years and in workshops in New Delhi, Portland, Oregon, and Pittsburgh, PA. Jef is a Core member of YoungLiars and served as Movement Coach and/or Best Man for the company since 2016.
YoungLiars eight-day physical training intensive for performers - Clown, Yoga and Suzuki. Open to all experience levels.
