About the Instructor

Maya Vinice Prentiss (Fight and Intimacy Coordinator) is an SAFD certified actor-combatant, fight choreographer and dialect coach. Chicago performance credits include An Octoroon (Definition Theatre Company); Clyde’s, How to Catch Creation, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes (The Story Theatre); and Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Company). Regional credits include School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (TheatreSquared); As You Like It, Pride and Prejudice, Caesar (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); and Origin Story (Illinois Theatre). Film and television credits include Jade and The Chi (Showtime). Fight choreography credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Definition Theatre, The Story Theatre and The Impostors Theatre. Dialect coaching credits include Goodman Theatre and The House Theatre. Prentiss has a BFA in Drama from Spelman College and an MFA in Acting from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received a Jeff Award (Best Fight Choreography) for Ethiopianamerica.