Instructors teach Johnstone-style impro.
Instructors meet a majority the following criteria:
- minimum of 10 years teaching experience
- have a solid understanding of Keith Johnstone impro techniques and philosophies
- have an international reputation as recognized by their peers in teaching Johnstone-style impro
- have been reviewed by the ITI Education Committee
♦ If you are an experienced improviser who would like to be considered for the ITI Instructor List, you can find an outline of the application process in the RESOURCES FAQ section of the website.
Instructors who have been vetted to teach Keith Johnstone formats will have a 'format badge' in their profile below, indicating that they understand, and can deliver the underlying philosophies :
Theatresports™ 
Maestro Impro™ 
Gorilla Theatre™All ITI Instructors adhere to the ITI Code of Conduct.
CANADIAN INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS | WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise |
| Ali Froggat | Vancouver, British Columbia | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.tightropetheatres.com https://alifroggatt.wordpress.com/ | An alumni of the Loose Moose Theatre and the faculty at Capilano University. She is the founding Artistic Director of Tightrope Impro Theatre in Vancouver, BC Canada. Ali works as an actor, producer and director in film and TV. Her projects have been screened at the Whistler Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival, Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Vancouver Women in Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). | |
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Jeff Gladstone
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Vancouver, British Columbia | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
www.jeffgladstone.com | Jeff was born in Calgary, spending his early theatre training at the U of C and at the Loose Moose Theatre Company. Moving to the west coast Salish territories in the early 2000’s, Jeff made a name for himself as an improvisor, actor, musician, director & teacher with some of Vancouver’s most well known theatre companies. Teaching impro for 25 years, Keith Johnstone is a major influence on Jeff’s approach to teaching and acting, and continues to be a friend and collaborator. Jeff is a proud regional representative and artististic director of the ITI, as well as director of education and engagement for the new Tightrope Impro Theatre. www.jeffgladstone.com | Mask & Half Mask, Shakespeare & Improvising Shakespeare, Acting, Stagecraft, Improvising Music, Physical Theatre, Improv on Film, Theatre Devising, Genre. |
EUROPEAN INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE |
BIO | other influences/expertise |
| Antonio Contartese | Bologna, ITALY | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.teatroamolla.it |
Antonio is an experienced improviser based in Bologna, Italy; he is an improv teacher with more than 20 years of experience, including teaching applied improvisation in corporate settings. He is director and author of both improvised and text-based theatre performances. Antonio began his training in the field of improvisational theater in 1998, and in 2003 he began his career as an improv teacher. In 2007, he founded "Teatro a Molla" improvisational theatre company (based in Bologna), together with Antonio Vulpio and Luca Gnerucci, with which he has carried out fervent research and activities in the field of improvisational theater. Today, he is a regular cast member in Teatro a Molla performances. He teaches regularly at Teatro a Molla's improv school and at CambiScena's improv school in Padova, Italy. | |
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Antonio Vulpio
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Bologna, ITALY | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.teatroamolla.it |
Actor, director with training in theater and improvisation. Teacher and trainer in social and corporate area. In over 20 years of experience he has worked with many companies in the italian and international scene through different artistic collaborations. In 2007, together with a selection of actors of different nationalities, he created the international ensemble "Orcas Island Project" directed by Randy Dixon, to research and experiment on improvisation. In 2008 he founded the company "Teatro a Molla". In 2015 Antonio started to work on his personal "Saboteur" concept with whom he is still touring abroad. In 2017 has developed his solo show "Chi è di scena?" whose goal is to have audience improvise with him. | Basic and advanced improv techniques, acting, mime, mask work, comedy. |
| Daniele Mazzacurati | Bologna + Naples, Italy | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.teatroamolla.it | Actor, director, and teacher specialized in improvisational theater. Trainer in corporate and social settings. He began his theatrical training at a very young age with the Belleville Company and the Teatro Dell'Argine Company in Bologna, later becomes a student of Antonio Vulpio joining the Teatro a Molla Company permanently in 2012. Currently lives between Bologna and Naples and works as an actor and teacher in the most important Italian improvisational theater schools. He is the creator and director of several improvisation formats and leads the "Selfstory" storytelling workshops, where theatrical monologues are created, either written or improvised, starting from small personal anecdotes. In 2016, together with Antonio Contartese, he creates the long-form show "... E niente", which celebrates the figure of the passenger actor, consciously and extremely playing on its distinctive features. | |
| Ollie Rasini | Bologna, ITALY |
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Ollie Rasini is an improviser, actress, and teaching artist currently residing in Bologna, Italy. She is a native of Milan, Italy, but spent most of her formative years in the United States. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Brown University, and has studied acting at HB Studios and improv at UCB Theater in New York City. She has lived in Italy since 2006, where she has continued her training in the philosophy of Keith Johnstone, Del Close, and Viola Spolin under the direction of teachers such as Patti Stiles, Randy Dixon, and Aretha Sills. Since 2012 she has been company member of Teatro a Molla, an improv company with which she performs regularly and teaches classes. In 2007 she co-founded Teatro delle Due, a company that produces original-language Shakespeare with professional actors from the US. She also works with Gruppo Dopo di Nuovo, a company in Bologna that integrates disabled and non-disabled actors. She is a member of Ohana European Impro Project, a network of improvisers across Europe that focuses on sharing and experimenting with different improv techniques. | |
| Peppe Marchei | Rome, ITALY |
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Peppe has been performing improv since 2005 and in 2008, co-founded the theater company "i Bugiardini," where he continues to be involved in production, training, and research. He has trained with Shawn Kinley, Patti Stiles, Steve Jarand, Jun Imai, and Antonio Vulpio. He has performed in numerous countries worldwide, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where we presented our original production "Shhh. An improvised silent movie." Among the most significant projects developed with the company, "WELCOME!" stands out, an international festival dedicated to improvisational theater, welcoming international artists from every corner of the globe in various editions. |
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| Mark Jane | Paris, FRANCE | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.markjane.co.uk |
Mark is an actor, director and teacher specialized in improvised theatre since 1994. Originally from England he moved to live in Paris in 1996. He has explored a wide variety of improvisation techniques, worked with many international improvisation teachers and performed and taught in festivals all over Europe. In 2012 he supervised the French translation of “Impro-improvisation and theatre” by Keith Johnstone. He directed the first regular Maestro in French and now runs the group Trance Mask France. n 2018 he published his own book on improvisation in French: «Jeux et Enjeux: La boîte à outils de l’improvisation théâtrale» | Trance Mask, Mask Making, Audience participation, Genres, Long form, Bilingual English/French |
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Steen Haakon Hansen |
Copenhagen, DENMARK | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. http://www.steenhaakon.com/ |
Today Steen Haakon Hansen is considered one of the best acting-teachers in his field. The improvisation methods and teaching ethics of Keith Johnstone has a big impact on how Steen uses his own qualifications in his work. That is why Steen empathize the importance of creating a safe environment where the students have permission to free their imagination and let it come to life on stage.In his work with his students, Steen creates new exercises, rooted in the work of Keith Johnstone, Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Etienne Decroux, Yves Lebreton and Mikhael Chekov, to bring the best out of the people he´s working with. | Theatre Clown – expressive character work, Expression Corporelle – abstract mime technique, Classical mime, Trance mask, Staging, Finding new formats of improvised shows, Auditioning and improvisational skills |
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Nadine Antler
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Leipzig/Hamburg, Germany | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.nadineantler.de |
Nadine Antler has been involved with improvisation since 1998. She co-founded the improvisation ensemble „Der Kaktus“ in Wuerzburg. She now mainly works with the company „Steife Brise“ in Hamburg and lives in Leipzig. Nadine has taught many workshops for actors, improvisers, social workers, teachers, students and business people. In 2002 Nadine began to set up the annual Wuerzburgean Impro-Theatre-Festival. She handed over the festival to her students in 2013 and started a new festival in Hamburg in 2017: TÖRN. Nadine has performed and taught at festivals in South and North America as well as Australia and Africa and regularily performs at various improvisation festivals around Europe. | Clown, creating show concepts both long and short form, cultural manager of Improvisation Festivals and events, direction and Emcee work |
| Nils Petter Mørland | Oslo, NORWAY | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Nils Petter learned his skills from Loose Moose alumnis Tony Totino and Shawn Kinley almost 20 years ago. He is a merited teacher, director, actor and artistic director. He has lead several impro companies and was a founding member and for the first five years the artistic director of Det Andre Teatret i Oslo – one of Europe’s busiest theatres since it’s opening in 2011. He is now the artistic director at a regional theatre in the county of Buskerud just outside Oslo, but still performing on and off at Det Andre Teatret. | Nils Petter also teaches Keith Johnstones maskwork, musical improv, improvised plays in a variety of styles. |
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS & WEBSITE | WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise |
| Jenny Lovell | Melbourne, AUS |
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website | Jenny has been performing on stage, screen and TV for over 30 years in Sydney and Melbourne, including Picnic At Hanging Rock and Gallipoli and Prisoner (Cell Block H). On stage she has appeared in scripted plays in Sydney and Melbourne. Jenny has been performing as an improvisor since 1987 in Sydney, Melbourne and at international festivals in San Francisco, Seattle, Hong Kong, Wellington and Edmonton, Canada. She is a founding member of Impro Melbourne and current General Manager. She has done masterclasses with Keith Johnstone and was an International Fellow at the Globe Theatre. | Voice work, acting and audition technique and preparation, corporate presentation training. I teach long form genre styles: Shakespeare, Poe, Austen, Dickens |
| Sarah Kinsella | Melbourne, AUS |
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website | Sarah Kinsella is one of the most exciting Improvisational teachers you will ever find. She has over 20 year’s experience as an improviser, actor, business trainer and teacher and will bring to each class a uniquely Australian perspective of technical skill and energy. Sarah is a founding member of Impro Melbourne Australia who has created shows for theatre, corporate groups and schools. Sarah’s workshops create a positive hive mind, where taking risks is supported and trust is fostered. You will have fun, laugh you ass off and leave her workshops on a high and with knowledge in your Impro tool belt. | TV, traditional stage acting, long form, improvised plays, genre work, singing, corporate entertainment and training, character actor, comedian, mc. |
UK INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise | |
| Tom Salinsky | London, UK | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Website | Tom is a founder and director of The Spontaneity Shop, a London based company which holds licences for TheatreSports, Gorilla Theatre and Micetro. Tom has been teaching improvisation since 1997 and has worked with Keith Johnstone on several occasions and even more frequently with Patti Stiles. With Deborah Frances-White, he is the author of The Improv Handbook, now in its second edition. | Playwright, scriptwriting |
US INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | WEBSITE | BIO | other influences/expertise | |
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Dan O’Connor
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Los Angeles, CA | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.danoconnor.net www.improtheatre.com | Dan O’Connor is the producing artistic director of Impro Theatre. Impro Theatre creates full-length unscripted plays with sets and costumes in the style of some of the world’s best authors at some of LA’s best theatres. They have performed at the Garry Marshall Theatre, the Pasadena Playhouse, the John Anson Ford Amphitheater, the Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center, at A Noise Within, The Other Theatre in Oslo, and the Dubai Fringe. They are currently artists-in-residence at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica performing 10 different productions over 10 months. Dan’s television directing credits include the critically acclaimed ABC hybrid sitcom Sons and Daughters and Campus Ladies for the Oxygen Network. Dan also teaches and consults for Disney and Dreamworks Animation. He just wrote a book with noted psychiatrist Dr. Jeff Katzman called Life UnScripted about using improvisation to live a happier and more fulfilling life. He has taught and performed improvisation all over the world for more than 30 years. | I have directed television and produced/created improvisation shows for television. I have directed hundreds of full-length narrative genre improvisation production using the world’s greatest writers as inspiration. I have helped to create 4 different Theatresports companies and can offer help and advice to anyone seeking to do Keith’s work. |
| Kat Koppet | Schenectady, New York |
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Kat is co-director of the Mopco Improv Theatre and a performer, director and teacher with BATS Improv in San Francisco, where she studied with Keith Johnstone & Freestyle Repertory Theatre in New York City. Her book “Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning” is considered a seminal work in the field of applied improvisation. | ||
| Rebecca Stockley | San Francisco, CA | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.improvlady.com | CO-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco, Rebecca has been teaching and performing impro since 1984. Originally a player with Unexpected Productions in Seattle, Rebecca moved to San Francisco in 1989 where she held the position of Dean of BATS School of Improv for 11 years before forming her own Applied Improv company Improv Lady. Over the years, Rebecca has performed and taught all over the world. Sometimes working with performing groups, and sometimesusing the principles of Improv to enhance collaboration and interpersonal interaction in organizations. Since meeting him in 1985, Rebecca studied with Keith as often as she's been able, following him to Australia, traveling to Canada and hosting his workshops in San Francisco. She has directed and performed in Theatresports™, Gorilla Theatre™, Maestro™ Impro and has performed in The Lifegame™. | Applied Improvisation |
| William Hall | San Francisco, CA | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.ImprovGames.com | William Hall is an actor, director, trainer and mask maker.In 1986, his friend Rebecca Stockley said, “I’ve written a cool story, guess what it’s about?” After about ten minutes William had guessed the whole story. When she revealed that he had written the story with his guesses, William’s life changed. He realized that there were stories in all of us and that storytelling could be effortless. That lead him to a copy of Impro (by Keith Johnstone) and his life was changed forever. He co-founded BATS Improv in San Francisco (1986) where he continues to teach and perform. He has performed and taught improv around the world. He has taught and performed The Life Game as well as Theatresports, Gorilla Theater and Maestro. His Commedia Dell’Arte company (Fratelli Bologna) wrote and performed original comedies for over a decade and their physical interactive performance style to business theater and training in Silicon Valley. He has also appeared in a few feature films and TV show. He is part of a teaching team at Stanford University Graduate School of Business for a course on power and status. He works with major corporations around the world on innovation, leadership, collaboration, communication and storytelling. His book of improv games is a must-have for many performers and teachers. The Playbook: Improv Games for Performers. And his site for improv games is updated frequently with activities for the classroom and performance games for the stage. | Effortless Storytelling: Things I have learned from Keith Johnstone. Masks and Character. Status and Power: the secret language of impro. Games. Games. Games. Games and activities for teachers and facilitators. Games and activities for business |
| Randy Dixon | Seattle, WA | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.unexpectedproductions.org | Randy Dixon began improvising in 1980. In 1983, he is Artistic Director & founding member of Unexpected Productions, Seattle’s longest running improvisational theater and the first TheatreSports™ in the US. UP has an established reputation of presenting high quality shows, classes and workshops. In 2006, Randy founded Orcas Island Project a performance group of twelve international improvisers. Randy has taught all over the world. He’s been influenced by his studies and friendships with Del Close, Paul Sills, and Keith Johnstone. His book, Being Present: Spontaneous Storytelling and the Art of Improvisation has been published in German, Slovene, soon in Swedish. | Directing, acting, devising plays and materials, mythology, and Jungian Depth Psychology |
NORDIC REGION INSTRUCTORS
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Mats Eldøen |
Oslo, Norway |
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Mats is Artistic Director at Det Andre Teatret and has been improvising for over 20 years. He is a versatile actor with experience from both screen and stage. He played a major part in the crime/comedy “Headhunters” and is soon to be seen in the Finnish film “Heavy Trip 2”. He has also written five books for children. |
SOUTH AMERICA INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | WEBSITE | BIO | OTHER INFLUENCES/EXPERTISE | |
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Felipe Ortiz
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Bogota, Colombia |
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Coming soon |
Felipe Ortiz is a performer, director, and teacher interested in exchanging and sharing experiences with artists worldwide. He explores movement through acrobatics, improvisation, clowning, and physical theater. Felipe has been the artistic director of La Gata Cirko for 17 years and co-director of the improv ensemble PICNIC for 10 years. |
Mask, mime, clown, movement, long form, physical theater, formats, magical realism, action, acrobatics, stage fighting, bouffon, directing, circus, and impro-circus |
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Daniel Orrantia |
Bogota, Colombia |
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Daniel Orrantia is an artist passionate about performance's transformative power. Known for his innovative approaches to improvisation, he co-founded the PICNIC theater group and the MonkeyFest International Festival. His work bridges performance and visual arts, enriching his improvisational repertoire. |
Mask, eccentric performing, physical theater, Meisner, clown, bouffon, interactive performance, melodrama, phonetics, and improvisation |
ASIAN INSTRUCTORS
| NAME | CITY | EMAIL ADDRESS | WEBSITE | BIO | OTHER INFLUENCES/EXPERTISE |
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Jun Imai |
Tokyo, Japan |
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Jun Imai lived in California for 8 years, where he studied method acting. He has been coaching and directing improv since 1995 and has published five books on the subject, including the long-selling “It’s Tough to be Free”. He followed up in 2009 and 2010 with the three-volume “Japanese Who’ve Begun to Improvise: Keith Johnstone’s Impro”, and “Keith Johnstone in Japan” in 2013. He has interpreted for method acting and improv workshops led by Keith Johnstone, Roberta Wallach, Lyn Pierce, Dennis Cahill, Shawn Kinley, Steve Jarand, and Mark Lamb. He has taught “Zen Impro” in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, and Dubai. |
Zen Impro, method acting, directing, improvisation, and cross-cultural performance. |
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Chris Wells |
Tokyo, Japan |
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Chris helped found the Tokyo Comedy Store in 1994, and is now director of the improv program at the TCS School of Improv at Studio Gokko and the Improvazilla Show. His ground-breaking *Punching Up* workshop proactively explores humor about and with minorities and ethnic groups before it comes up in a show. He has taught in English, Spanish, and Japanese all over the world. As a narrator, his voice is heard throughout Japan, including in museums and Japan Rail lines, guiding passengers in a soothing voice. |
Voice work, long form, improvised musicals, and cross-cultural improv techniques. |