<p>Heather holds a Master of Fine Arts degree with highest honors from the Boris Shukin Theatre Institute, Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow, Russian Federation, where she was mentored by the premiere stage movement director and professor in Russia, Andrei Borisovich Droznin.</p> <p>In 2007, Heather formed DA! Theatre Collective in Austin, Texas, a not-for-profit theatre company under the sponsorship of Hyde Park Theatre. From its inception, DA! has been an award-winning and critically acclaimed company. Heather directed DA!'s debut production, <em>Direct Object</em>, which won "Best of Fest" honors at The FronteraFest Short Fringe in 2008. Since then, she has gone on to produce seven successful performances as DA!'s Artistic Director, many of which she directed or co-directed, including <em>Heron & Crane</em> (invited to perform as a FringeJR selection at the New York International Fringe Festival, 2010; and nominated for two "B. Iden Payne" awards for Best Play for Youth), <em>57 Boyfriends</em> (winner of "Best of Fest" at Frontera Fest 2009), and a revised re-mount of <em>Direct Object</em> (B. Iden Payne nomination for Outstanding Director of a Comedy). In 2009, DA! received a prestigious "Best of Austin" award from <em>The Austin Chronicle</em> for "Best Non-Profit Upstart." Along with its high artistic standards, DA! is committed to producing innovative work that positively impacts the community. Recent directing credits outside of DA! include <em>Dead Man's Cell Phone</em> at Southwesten University, April 2012; <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</em> at St. Stephen's, February 2012; and <em>The Laramie Project</em> at St. Stephen's, November 2011. </p> <p>Heather is in her twelfth year of teaching acting, movement for actors, and dance. In addition to leading numerous workshops and master classes throughout Texas, she has had the pleasure of teaching and developing curricula for Harvard University, Drama Centre of London, Shakespeare at Winedale (a program of the University of Texas at Austin), Baylor University, St. Edward's University, McLennan Community College, St. Stephens' Theatre Focus, Texas Arts Project, Waco Musical Theatre, Young Actors' Shakespeare Project, Footworks, Ballet Austin's Musical Theatre Training Program, Perfoming Arts Program at Huntington-Surrey School, The Performers' Workshop. In 2010, she served as a Visiting Artist in Residence for the Theatre Department at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX teaching Voice & Movement and serving on the production team for mainstage productions as the Voice & Movement Counsultant. She is currently the Director of Theatre Focus at St. Stephen's Episcopal School, an Adjunct Professor in the Drama Department at Austin Community College, and a freelance director.</p> <p>Regionally she has performed with DA! Theatre Collective (Beverly, <em>Leave it to Beverly</em>; Haunting/a little shade, <em>Direct Object</em>; Ensemble, <em>Relative Space</em>), Tongue & Groove Theatre (Ensemble, <em>The Red Balloon</em>), Hyde Park Theatre (Rhonda, <em>You're No One's Nothing Special</em>; Angie, <em>Glory of Living</em>; Kathleen, <em>Chopper</em>; Sandra Cook, <em>The Exonerated</em>), Willi Dorner's award-winning <em>Bodies in Urban Spaces</em> (FuseBox Festival 2009), Austin Musical Theatre, Zachary Scott Theatre Center (<em>Smokey Joe's Cafe</em> and Frenchie in <em>Cabaret</em>), Broadway Texas!, Vortex Repertory Theatre, Sharir + Bustamante Danceworks, Silver Star Productions, Waco Musical Theatre, and Zilker Theatre Productions.</p> <p>Heather is a CORE company member of Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, Texas, and a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor, RYT 200. She is AEA Eligible.</p>