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Fight Choreography by Will Snyder at BattleKat Combat

About Will and BattleKat:

"I am fight choreographer/stage combat teacher/actor originally from Memphis, TN who got his start in acting at age 9 at Playhouse on the Square's production of Peter Pan.

I graduated from MTSU with his Bachelor's degree in Speech and Theatre with an emphasis in Performance, and here it was in a production of Waiting for Lefty that I gained my first experience in Stage Combat.

Upon graduation, I performed in regional theater including 3 summers in TECUMSEH!, a dinner theater production of Over the River and Through the Woods and a personal favorite role of Count Dracula in Jenny Wiley Theatre's production of Dracula in Tombstone. While in my second season of TECUMSEH!, I received my first Society of American Fight Director's certification in Quarterstaff which started my path as a fight focused artist.

In 2012, I moved to Chicago, IL where I received my 7 remaining SAFD weapon disciplines becoming an Advanced Actor Combatant. While in Chicago, I had the fortune to perform along some of the greatest actors that city had to offer with a few memorable productions being The Fall of the House of Usher at Chicago Opera Theater, Oliver! at Windy City Music Theatre, and the Jeff Award winning show (in fight choreography) The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity with Red Theatre where I was assistant fight director and wrestling specialist.

In Fall of 2019, my wife and I moved to Nashville with the intention of forming a stage combat community through my company BattleKat Combat but after the pandemic, fate had other plans and I found myself in the Scenic City.

Since living in Chattanooga, I have taught numerous stage combat classes and choreographed fight for Scenic City Shakespeare, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Back Alley Productions, and Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga with their production of She Kills Monsters where I also played the role of Miles.

As a member of the fight community, I have served on staff at several regional stage combat workshops including Winter Wonderland in Chicago, Brawl of America in the Twin Cities, The Left Turn in Albuquerque, and most recently at The Stage Combat Workshop at Louisiana Tech University. I hope to apply for the SAFD Teacher Certification Workshop in the future with the intent in teaching full time here in Chattanooga and the surrounding areas. I am currently a student at University of Idaho in the Distance MFA program with a focus in Theatre Pedagogy.

Thanks to Emma and Ryan, it's great to be back on stage after about a year and I look forward to future productions here in Chattanooga

If you are interested in having me teach stage combat classes or are in need of a fight choreographer, please visit www.battlekatcombat.com or come speak to me after the show!"

www.battlekatcombat.com