MELBOURNE: Tuesday evenings from 3rd June to 15th July 2025 (excluding 24th June)

A new and exciting Conditioning Series for all performers, to enhance your movement range, dexterity and strength for action performance – working with Personal Trainer and Fight Director Joshua Bell.

WHAT IS IT?

Expand your range. Move the fight.

Activate is a six-week training series designed to elevate your capacity for action performance through conditioning and mobility training – whether you’re an experienced mover or ‘movement-phobic.’

If you’re a performer your body is your primary tool and it needs to be tuned, agile, and ready for action – whether for fight choreography, movement sequences or any demanding physical performance. This series will give you focused space to explore the key physical ingredients underpinning safe and effective action performance.

Through specialist and personalised training, Josh will guide you to build greater joint mobility and resilience, enhance physical agility and responsiveness, and develop a working base of strength and muscular endurance. This all means that you can expand the ways you let your body tell the story. Beyond the physical growth, this series will also teach you how to ‘train smarter’, with tools to support your long-term physical practice and expand your casting range.

The series is taught through the lens of stage combat, so you have the opportunity to exercise your discoveries in industry-relevant applications. Those who are new to stage combat will gain experience in key principles of safety, technique and performance. Those with prior experience can elevate their skills to the next level and learn a fresh approach to skill development. Get ready to Activate!

WHEN IS IT?

Tuesday evenings June 3rd to July 15th (excluding June 24th)

6:30pm – 8:30pm

*A small number of single-class spots are available – see below*

WHERE IS IT?

Dancehouse Carlton

150 Princes St, Carlton North, 3054

WHO IS IT FOR?

These workshops ideal for performers from a range of backgrounds: actors, musical theatre performers, opera performers, stunt performers, dancers… anyone who wants to expand their movement skills, or anyone who’s curious to know how to perform dramatic fights.

Captivate actively supports safe, diverse and equitable work- and learning-spaces. If you have any concerns, questions or requests for support of any kind please get in touch with us.

DO I NEED ANY EXPERIENCE?

The course will cater to all levels of experience – from absolute beginners to experienced performers wishing to further their craft.  

The training is designed to expand your movement range and fitness, but that doesn’t mean you have to be particularly ‘fit’ to join! Just be ready to break a sweat and the work will be structured to your capacity.

HOW MUCH IS IT?

EARLY BIRD: $335 (+GST) Register and finalise payment by 15th May 2025
CCONCESSION: $355 (+GST)
STANDARD: $375 (+GST)

A small number of single-class spots are available each session, for $65 (+GST) per session. Please get in touch if you would like to enquire about one of these spots.

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HOW DO I JOIN IN?

Bookings are now open. Spots are very competitive as we have strict capacity limits, so register early to save your spot (and to get the Early Bird price). Just fill out the online registration form and we will reply with your registration confirmation and invoice. A minimum 50% deposit is required to complete the registration.

SIGN ME UP

Make sure you get a text box confirmation that your registration form has gone through as soon as you SUBMIT. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours, check your junk mail, and then send us an email.

You can either pay your invoice by online card payment (additional 1.7% admin fee) or online bank transfer (no additional admin fee).

Places are confirmed only on completion of full payment, which must be completed prior to the course commencement. Please note we are unable to hold places without a deposit, and any payments made are not refundable.

About your tutor:

JOSH BELL (he/him): Fight Director, Personal Trainer

Joshua Bell (he/him) is a Melbourne-based fight director, performer and personal trainer. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Theatre Practice, Hons) and a member of the Society of Australian Fight Directors since 2018, Josh currently works under the mentorship of Lyndall Grant and serves as an associate fight director with Captivate Action.

Josh teaches stage combat across public workshops, schools, universities, and training institutions including NIDA Open, National Theatre Drama School, Collarts, and Captivate Action. Josh is also a coach and personal trainer at Northside Movement in Fairfield. Drawing on his background in fitness and personal training, Josh brings a holistic understanding of the body to his work—supporting performers not only in executing choreography, but in sustaining performance at a high level. He has a passion for storytelling through physicality, and his approach emphasises safety, storytelling, and empowering performers of all experience levels to feel confident in their movement.

Josh has worked as a fight director on theatre productions across Melbourne since 2019.  Recent credits include The Boys in the Band at Chapel off Chapel, Ilarun: The Cutting Comb at fortyfive downstairs, The Effect with Et Tu Theatre Company, and Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and The Whale with Melbourne Shakespeare Company.