THE ACTIVATED CLASSROOM

Margolis Method Fundamentals for Educators

a new self-paced online course with Kari Margolis and company

Take the mystery out of acting with concrete, embodied tools you can integrate directly into your own practice and pedagogy.

ENROLL NOW — SAVE $100

Early-Bird Discount Ends May 31

Early-Bird Discount Ends May 31

Break Habitual Patterns

Identify and release the tendencies and social patterns that keep students stuck in imitation and generalization.

Margolis Method Fundamentals for Educators offers more than a way to train students physically. It provides practical tools to open the voice, expand the imagination, and bring fresh perspectives to text interpretation, directing, and theatrical composition. The following six core benefits sit at the heart of the course.

Awaken the Actor’s Instrument

Unite physical, emotional, and intellectual life to unlock immediate, vivid, and playable imagination in students.

◉KEY BENEFITS

Transform your classroom.

Build Creative Confidence

Free students from the paralysis of uncertainty with reliable, dramatic structures they can always return to.

Strengthen Artistic Exchange

Deepen peer-to-peer interaction with language that helps students articulate process and challenges with agency.

Move Beyond Self-Expression

Help students shape raw instinct into crafted choices that create compelling, story-driven characters.

Cultivate Generative Actors

Equip students to own their process and carry the spark of rehearsal discoveries into repeatable performance.

◉ RECONNECT WITH YOUR OWN PRACTICE

Feed your artistic soul.

The Activated Classroom invites you to experience the work as an embodied artist first, then translates that experience into concrete tools you can teach with confidence.

“My students are able to own their experience.”
—Blake Hackler, Head of Acting, Meadow School of the Arts, SMU

“I knew something was missing…”
— Denise Myers, Theatre Professor, Millikin University

“I feel very empowered as a teacher.”
— Kymberly Mellen, Assistant Professor of Acting, UNLV

◉ BACKED BY EXPERIENCE

A living practice proven over time.

The Activated Classroom grows out of more than four decades of Kari Margolis’ teaching and creating across universities, training programs, and theatre companies around the world.

Every exercise and improvisational structure in Margolis Method has been developed in direct response to the needs of students and working artists. What proved effective in practice has been refined through time and lived experience.

56

Certified Educators Worldwide

60+

University and Theatre Residencies

42

Years of Teaching and Research

15

Years of Online Training

10K+

Students and Artists Impacted

◉ABOUT MARGOLIS METHOD

Create theatre with every breath.

Margolis Method is a comprehensive actor training that merges physical, vocal, and intellectual expression. Rooted in universal principles of physics, it creates a concrete framework for developing responsive, theatrically dynamic performers.

Every exercise and improvisation synthesizes the skills of actor, director, and playwright, expanding the performer’s role within the creative process. With the audience’s perspective always in mind, the training provides a systematic approach to daily practice and theatre-making, both collectively and independently.

It makes the invisible teachable.

Margolis Method offers physical
pathways that organically generate emotional states, replacing general prompts like “be more vulnerable” with tangible tools for embodied practice.

It changes the culture of feedback.

Margolis Method’s rich vocabulary for offering and receiving feedback is grounded in observation rather than personal opinion, making communication objective and creatively energizing.

China Brickey, Equity Actor, Minneapolis

"Even though I'm just in my room..."

— Hailey Rose Kasky, Student, Millikin University

“It's a tingling sensation...”
— Kietraille Sutton, Grad Student, Texas Tech University

Margolis Method is not a style to imitate.

It is a training system that strengthens performance across theatrical approaches and aesthetics, supports diverse learners, and fosters a more trauma-informed pedagogy.

◉ WHAT’S INSIDE THE COURSE

Activate your classroom in 10 sessions.

This 20-hour course offers an immersive, on-your-feet learning experience led by Kari Margolis, featuring demonstrations and insights by company members, pedagogical breakdowns of every study and improvisation, in-depth written notes, and optional quizzes to reinforce your learning. The guided path includes one-on-one meetings with Kari and lead faculty.

Created to feel like an in-studio intensive, the course includes invited online participants who ask questions and contribute to the exploration, helping you feel part of an active, engaged cohort as you work.

Session 01
Where Choice Begins

    • Begin in the actor’s most available state, where choice is possible but not yet made.

    • Engage the floor as an active, expressive partner.

    • Develop breath patterns that support groundedness and clarity.

    • Cultivate the ability to make inner life perceptible to the audience.

    • Build internal and external worlds that send, receive, and transform energy.

    • Practice improvisational decision-making through structured physical choices.

    • Use repetition and variation to create clarity, surprise, and dynamic storytelling.

Session 02
From Impulse to Structure

    • Engage a three-dimensional core connecting inner and outer worlds.

    • Work with and against gravity as a source of dynamic action.

    • Train through opposition by contrasting habit with alive choice.

    • Shape meaning through expansion and contraction of the core.

    • Distinguish actor from character in physical and dramatic terms.

    • Construct dramatic packets as foundational units of physical grammar.

    • Apply packet structure to text to reveal expressive units.

Session 04
Specificity Elicits Creativity

    • Expand available options through directional variation.

    • Scale structures from solo practice to ensemble interaction.

    • Use specificity to generate dynamic and responsive partnership.

    • Deepen understanding of oppositional forces in action and thought.

    • Strengthen empathy through responsive partner awareness.

    • Carry physical history forward to enrich present action.

    • Activate the will to live against gravity as a dramatic force.

Session 05
Turning Concept into Craft

    • Use breath patterns as repeatable tools for focus and preparation.

    • Explore narrow and broad states as physical and dramatic conditions.

    • Apply cause → absorb → effect as a foundational storytelling structure

    • Create contrast by avoiding harmonizing inner and outer worlds.

    • Maintain gravity and preparation through locomotion.

    • Define honesty as physical congruence between action and condition.

    • Use floor work as ongoing training infrastructure.

Session 06
Training Is Performance

    • Organize movement through core musculature rather than skeletal dependence.

    • Transition between inside-to-outside and outside-to-inside pathways.

    • Support vocal expression through physical alignment and energy flow.

    • Apply gather-and-give structures to animate action and text.

    • Build phrase structures through short scripted sequences.

    • Apply tools in rehearsal and teaching.

    • Integrate stretching and floor work as active training.

Session 07
The Drama of Distance

    • Shape story through breath-driven phrasing and transition.

    • Train memory and timing through pattern-based structures.

    • Translate structure into character-driven intention.

    • Explore relational energy through springs and elastics.

    • Activate space between actors as a dynamic field.

    • Shape relationships through spatial compression and expansion.

    • Apply conform, contrast, and resist in partner work.

Session 08
Muscular Grammar

    • Organize action through inside/outside physical and vocal pathways.

    • Integrate voice and body as a unified expressive system.

    • Expand phrasing through three-beat packet structures.

    • Create private and public expression within a single action.

    • Deepen voluntary and involuntary action with psychological detail.

    • Align physical and vocal storytelling to resolve disconnection.

    • Generate scenes through structured improvisational scripts.

Session 09
The Generative Actor

    • Manifest public and private worlds within simultaneous action.

    • Make inner life legible through the body as a transparent vessel.

    • Use transition as preparation for what come next.

    • Balance outward action with inward transformation.

    • Distinguish voluntary and involuntary forces within character.

    • Extend packet logic into monologue structure.

    • Integrate actor, playwright, and director perspectives.

Session 01 Excerpt
Private and Public Worlds

Session 10
On the Precipice

    • Explore strength and vulnerability through physical states of opening and closing.

    • Direct audience focus between internal and external experience.

    • Shape dramatic space as an active, expressive medium.

    • Activate supportive resistance within all forms of action.

    • Build complexity through layered internal and external scripts.

    • Integrate voice and body through puppeteer-based logic.

    • Ground text in physical timing and structure.

Course Excerpt
Addressing Tendencies

Session 03
Making the Invisible Visible

    • Distinguish internal from external musculature to deepen embodiment.

    • Apply gravity as a force that shapes and grounds performance.

    • Explore up/down causality to establish oppositional physical logic.

    • Initiate action through muscular engagement rather than skeletal reliance.

    • Differentiate voluntary and involuntary action to generate story.

    • Use the vertical plane to express internal emotional states.

    • Develop dramatic timing through effort, momentum, and suspension.

◉ EDUCATOR REVIEWS

Feel the enthusiasm in the room.

In Practice, Margolis Method creates a dynamic ecosystem for teaching and learning, where rigor supports imagination, structure supports freedom, and students take active ownership of their artistic development.

◉ MARGOLIS METHOD FACULTY

Meet your instructors.

Our faculty are part of a vibrant, long-standing community of artists who have trained, created, and taught with Kari over decades. Each is an artist in their own right, bringing both individual perspective and a shared commitment to making Margolis Method clear, embodied, and actionable for the educators and students they serve.

In the Guided Path, you’ll receive direct feedback and support from Kari and lead faculty.

Angela Kiser, Faculty
she/they

  • Angela Kiser is a lead faculty and core ensemble member with MB Adaptors. She is currently developing a solo performance and a theatrical lecture-demonstration with Kari Margolis and was a contributing creator and lighting designer for Flight, Headshot! and Miss Happs.

    Angela assists with all residencies and workshops at the Margolis Method Center, online, and on tour. In addition to their teaching, devising, and performance work, they edited and contributed to “Walking the Artistic Path” by Kari Margolis and are presently contributing to the new Margolis Method Workbook, The Physics of Theatre. She serves as the organization’s Technical Director, Program and Communications Director, and graphic, web, and lighting designer.

    Angela co-wrote, produced, and performed in the full-length production Under the Tree at Idiom Theatre, wrote and directed the short play Pin the Tail on the Elephant, at On the Boards, in Seattle, WA, and co-wrote and performed Stopping by Words on tour. She contributes to the local community as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a principal collaborating artist with Kuntz and Company and Bellingham Repertory Dance, in Bellingham, WA. They co-founded the technical and design company On the Precipice Productions, and co-hosted the theatre performance podcast Stage Hackers. She holds a BFA from WWU and has showcased her original performance and design work throughout the United States and Barcelona, Spain.

Kari Margolis, Founder

Kari Margolis is an internationally celebrated theatre artist, educator, and author who has worked with thousands of students, actors, directors, playwrights, and educators for more than 40 years.

Margolis Method grew out of her work to create “a theatre of humanity” with her award-winning company, MB Adaptors, and through ongoing collaboration with artists around the world.

Until now, training directly with Kari meant traveling to the Margolis Method Center in Highland Lake, NY or Barcelona, or encountering her work through a school or company where she was in residence.

The Margolis Method Network opens that access—making it possible to engage with this work and study with Kari from wherever you are.

  • Kari Margolis has been committed to the creation of original theatre productions and the exploration of the actor's craft for over four decades.

    She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the MB ADAPTORS Company, and has conceived and directed 17 full-length evening productions for the company that have toured both nationally and internationally to Barcelona, Berlin, London, Reus, Singapore, and across Mexico and Canada.

    Additionally, she has created several site-specific works for such places as the Brooklyn Museum, the Minnesota Science Museum, the Roebling Bridge in Minisink Ford, NY, and the beach at Coney Island, NY.

    Over the last four decades, Kari has developed an in-depth approach to theatre training and creation (Margolis Method) that merges the skill sets of the actor, director, and playwright.

    She has, since 1984, led professional training programs in Brooklyn, Barcelona, and Minneapolis, and presently at the Margolis Method Center International in Highland Lake, NY. 

    The Center is also home to the MB Adaptors Company and offers Intensive Workshops, Educator and Professional Certification Programs, and the Margolis Method Network, an online learning platform. 

    Kari has been a lead teacher for the Kennedy Center’s National American College Theatre Festival for fourteen years, working with the Irene Ryan Finalists from across the country. She has created several original works at universities that have been invited to perform at the National Festival at the Kennedy Center and at Regional Festivals. Kari was awarded a Gold Medallion from Region I. 

    She served on the Theatre Faculty at the University of Minnesota for seven years, where she was instrumental in reshaping the B.A. Acting Program to emphasize the actor/creator and developed On The Edge, a performance series of original works created in collaboration with the theatre, dance, and music departments. 

    Kari has authored “Walking the Artistic Path” and “The Physics of Theatre,” a Margolis Method Workbook. She conducts master classes, extended residencies, and lecture demonstrations across the United States and internationally and is a keynote speaker.

    Her work has been recognized with six National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, A Pew/TCG National Theatre Fellowship, A “NY Bessie” Performance Award, A McKnight National Theatre Fellowship, Creative Capital National Artist Fellowship, an ATME Lifetime Achievement Award, and multiple McKnight and Jerome Foundation Fellowships, among other awards and recognitions.

Jarod Hanson, Faculty
he/they

  • Angela Kiser is a lead faculty and core ensemble member with MB Adaptors. She is currently developing a solo performance and a theatrical lecture-demonstration with Kari Margolis and was a contributing creator and lighting designer for Flight, Headshot! and Miss Happs.

    Angela assists with all residencies and workshops at the Margolis Method Center, online, and on tour. In addition to their teaching, devising, and performance work, they edited and contributed to “Walking the Artistic Path” by Kari Margolis and are presently contributing to the new Margolis Method Workbook, The Physics of Theatre. She serves as the organization’s Technical Director, Program and Communications Director, and graphic, web, and lighting designer.

    Angela co-wrote, produced, and performed in the full-length production Under the Tree at Idiom Theatre, wrote and directed the short play Pin the Tail on the Elephant, at On the Boards, in Seattle, WA, and co-wrote and performed Stopping by Words on tour. She contributes to the local community as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a principal collaborating artist with Kuntz and Company and Bellingham Repertory Dance, in Bellingham, WA. They co-founded the technical and design company On the Precipice Productions, and co-hosted the theatre performance podcast Stage Hackers. She holds a BFA from WWU and has showcased her original performance and design work throughout the United States and Barcelona, Spain.

Jonathan Beller, Faculty
he/him

  • Angela Kiser is a lead faculty and core ensemble member with MB Adaptors. She is currently developing a solo performance and a theatrical lecture-demonstration with Kari Margolis and was a contributing creator and lighting designer for Flight, Headshot! and Miss Happs.

    Angela assists with all residencies and workshops at the Margolis Method Center, online, and on tour. In addition to their teaching, devising, and performance work, they edited and contributed to “Walking the Artistic Path” by Kari Margolis and are presently contributing to the new Margolis Method Workbook, The Physics of Theatre. She serves as the organization’s Technical Director, Program and Communications Director, and graphic, web, and lighting designer.

    Angela co-wrote, produced, and performed in the full-length production Under the Tree at Idiom Theatre, wrote and directed the short play Pin the Tail on the Elephant, at On the Boards, in Seattle, WA, and co-wrote and performed Stopping by Words on tour. She contributes to the local community as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a principal collaborating artist with Kuntz and Company and Bellingham Repertory Dance, in Bellingham, WA. They co-founded the technical and design company On the Precipice Productions, and co-hosted the theatre performance podcast Stage Hackers. She holds a BFA from WWU and has showcased her original performance and design work throughout the United States and Barcelona, Spain.

Gregory G. Schott, Faculty
he/him

  • Angela Kiser is a lead faculty and core ensemble member with MB Adaptors. She is currently developing a solo performance and a theatrical lecture-demonstration with Kari Margolis and was a contributing creator and lighting designer for Flight, Headshot! and Miss Happs.

    Angela assists with all residencies and workshops at the Margolis Method Center, online, and on tour. In addition to their teaching, devising, and performance work, they edited and contributed to “Walking the Artistic Path” by Kari Margolis and are presently contributing to the new Margolis Method Workbook, The Physics of Theatre. She serves as the organization’s Technical Director, Program and Communications Director, and graphic, web, and lighting designer.

    Angela co-wrote, produced, and performed in the full-length production Under the Tree at Idiom Theatre, wrote and directed the short play Pin the Tail on the Elephant, at On the Boards, in Seattle, WA, and co-wrote and performed Stopping by Words on tour. She contributes to the local community as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a principal collaborating artist with Kuntz and Company and Bellingham Repertory Dance, in Bellingham, WA. They co-founded the technical and design company On the Precipice Productions, and co-hosted the theatre performance podcast Stage Hackers. She holds a BFA from WWU and has showcased her original performance and design work throughout the United States and Barcelona, Spain.

◉ A BRIEF HISTORY

A note from Kari.

The search to understand what the teachable, repeatable skills of acting actually were took me across the country and around the world.

Undiagnosed scoliosis also left me immobilized for over a year and I was told I would never touch my toes again or regain full use of my body—but I wasn’t willing to accept that reality.

Much of what has become Margolis Method’s approach to acting came out of the years I spent developing strength and physical intelligence.

When developing The Activated Classroom: Margolis Method Fundamentals for Educators course, I wanted to respond to a frustration that educators have been sharing with me over the years. They could see potential in their students and sense where their work was blocked, but needed a more concrete, embodied way to help students make substantial change. 

This course was built to bridge the gap between identifying a limitation and building powerful, accomplished actors.

Whether you are new to Margolis Method or beginning your path toward certification, you are stepping into a living theatrical practice and joining an international community of theatre artists who value connection and creative agency.

I very much look forward to meeting and working with you.

I’m so glad you’re here!

This is an invitation to a different kind of practice.

◉ BEGIN THE PRACTICE

Choose your path.

The energy of the studio, reimagined for wherever you are.

Enroll now to save $100 before the course officially opens on June 1. Both paths are fully self-paced, so you can choose the one that best aligns with your artistic and professional goals.

Need an invoice for your school? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

◉ JOIN THE COHORT

The first step toward certification.

The Course-Plus Path is the prerequisite for the Margolis Method Certification Program. It lays the groundwork for fully engaging with a lively, committed cohort from across the country and abroad. 

Certification is an annual hybrid experience, with ten virtual group sessions held from October through March, followed by a summer retreat week at the Margolis Method Center in Highland Lake, New York.

“By meeting over many months, you have the opportunity to really absorb the work, engage in a group setting, and receive invaluable one-on-one feedback. I’ve been trickling vocabulary and exercises into my classroom, and the results are immediate!”

—Matt Harbor Schwader, Associate Professor, Avila University

Learn More About Certification ➚

◉ GUARANTEE

Do the Work. Feel the Change. Or It’s On Us.

Engage fully with the course and spend time with the material.

If, within 30 days, you feel the course has not given you new tools, fresh perspectives, or a meaningful shift in your approach to actor training, we will refund your enrollment.

We believe in the integrity of this training—and we stand behind it.

Train with specificity. Teach with clarity. See your students transform.

Enroll now before the doors officially open on May 1st.

Get an early-bird $100 discount and begin your Margolis Method journey when the time is right.

In Practice, Margolis Method creates a dynamic ecosystem for teaching and learning, where rigor supports imagination, structure supports freedom, and students take active ownership of their artistic development.

FAQs

  • This course was built for acting teachers, directors, vocal coaches, movement instructors, and theatre educators who want practical tools to help students develop specificity, imagination, and stronger connections between voice and body. If you work with performers, you’re in the conversation.

  • The course opens on May 15, 2026, and once it is live, you can begin at any time. No synchronized starting pistol, no need to rearrange your life around a launch day.

  • The course includes approximately 20 hours of training, divided into 10 thematic sessions. Each session contains 5 to 10 focused lessons you can complete at your own pace. So yes, you can go deep — no need to wait for a sabbatical.

  • Yes. We’re guessing you already have at least seven overlapping deadlines. You can move through the material on your own schedule, pause when needed, and return to the lessons and exercises as often as you like.

  • You can! The course was designed for working educators. The material is broken into manageable sessions, and many participants begin using the work in their teaching immediately — often before they finish the full course.

  • You will have lifetime access. That gives you plenty of time for both comprehension and hindsight — and for revisiting the material whenever you want to refresh your teaching or return to a concept with new eyes.

  • Each session includes video lessons, extensive written notes, quizzes to reinforce key concepts, and teaching insights that help you bring Margolis Method directly into your classroom or studio. Plenty to geek out over.

  • Not at all. This course is designed as an entry point for educators who are new to Margolis Method, while still offering depth and structure for those who already know the training. So whether you’re brand new or already Margolis-curious, you’re in the right place.

  • This training meets you where you are, and every exercise can be modified as needed. The focus is not on being “in shape,” but on developing specificity, awareness, and a deeper understanding of how the body generates dramatic life. The body you currently occupy will do nicely.

  • The course is designed for educators, but many actors find it deeply valuable as well — especially those who want to understand the why behind the work, create their own material, or eventually lead a room. If you’re an actor who wants a deeper relationship to Margolis Method, you’ll find a great deal here.

  • That’s absolutely fine. This course can support you now as a learner and later as an educator. The training gives you a strong foundation in Margolis Method, so when you step into the classroom, studio, or rehearsal room, you’ll already have language, structure, and practical tools to draw from.

  • Yes. The course is designed to be immediately applicable in university, conservatory, and studio settings. You’ll leave with practical studies, clear language, and repeatable structures you can begin using in your teaching right away.

  • Because Margolis Method is not an abstract theory; it’s a physical training system with clear exercises, precise language, and repeatable structures you can use right away. This course helps you see more, teach more clearly, and build more specific, alive, and dramatically compelling work in your students. It turns “I know something’s off” into “I know what to do.”

  • Yes. You can choose the one-time payment option and save, or select the monthly installment plan if that works better for you. We’re very much in favor of making the logistics less dramatic than the training.

  • You can take the course independently or choose the guided version, which includes one-on-one meetings with Kari Margolis and Margolis Method faculty. These sessions give you space to ask questions, receive feedback, and get support as you apply the methodology in your own teaching. It also gives us the chance to work with you directly, which is one of our favorite parts.

  • Yes. This course is designed to be both a stand-alone experience and the prerequisite for the Margolis Method Certification Program. It gives educators the foundational training needed before moving into certification. The guided option is required to receive a Certificate of Completion or enter the Certification Program. This is the place to begin if you’re interested in dipping your toes, deeper study, guided mentorship, or the next phase of the training.

You’ve got this.

START THE WORK