Profile
Training
2021-2023 The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, MFA Movement: Directing and Teaching
2008 University of Alberta, B.F.A. in Acting
Notable Intensives
2021 Banff Centre Creative Practice for Contemporary Dance
2018 Mocean Dance Choreographic Lab and Residency
2014-2017 Nomadic College-Axis Syllabus: Experiential Anatomy, Contact Improvisation and Partnering, Contemporary Dance
2016 Residency for Advanced Dancers, Leviathan Studio
2015 Ghost River Theatre National Devised Theatre Intensive. Contact Improvisation Intensive with John Faichney and Anne Cooper, Leviathan Studio.
2014 Transformation Danse: Axis Syllabus, Fighting Monkey, and Creation with Mélanie Demers. Impulstanz: Axis Syllabus, Contemporary Dance,
2009 One Yellow Rabbit Summer Lab Intensive
Experience
Movement Experience whilst on the MA/MFA Movement: Directing and Teaching
2023 Attachment as Teacher. Teaching on MA Music Theatre for Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Classes taught: Actor Movement and Movement & Body Awareness.
2022 Attachment as Dance Captain, Actor in Cowgirl Up by Anna Chatterton for Alberta Theatre Projects. Directed by Christine Brubaker and choreographed by Tania Alvarado.
2022 Placement as Assistant Movement Director. Mentored by Sabina Netherclift. Working with MA Acting students at Guildford School of Acting. Assisting on creation of movement sequences and character movement for Mike Bartlett’s 13 directed by Anna Marsland.
2022 Placement as Movement Support. Mentored by Jonathan Broadbent. Working with second year BA (Hons) Acting Musical Theatre students, RCSSD. Dance choreography and assisting on character movement for Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s School for Scandal, directed by Jonathan Broadbent with assistance from Clare Rich.
Movement Teaching
2019-2020 Movement for Actors. Sessional Instructor. Theatre Arts, MacEwan University. Utilizing contact improvisation, dance meets text improvisation, and ensemble improvisation to cultivate sensory awareness, freedom of movement, and compositional thinking in relation to acting choices.
2017 Movement for Actors. Guest Instructor. B.F.A. Acting Program, University of Alberta. Utilizing contact improvisation, dance meets text improvisation, and ensemble improvisation to cultivate sensory awareness, freedom of movement, and compositional thinking in relation to acting choices.
2015-2016 Movement for Actors. Guest Instructor. Theatre Arts, MacEwan University. Utilizing contact improvisation, dance meets text improvisation, and ensemble improvisation to cultivate sensory awareness, freedom of movement, and compositional thinking in relation to acting choices.
2015-2020 Contact Improvisation. Guest Instructor. Open Level Public Classes, Mile Zero Dance. Teaching of fundamental concepts of contact improvisation partnering, as well as technical skills for falling and rolling safely. Facilitation of jams and scored improvisations.
2012 Movement for Actors. Guest Instructor. Young Company, Acting and Musical Theatre–Citadel-Robbins. Utilizing physicalization of tactics, objectives, and obstacles to deepen understanding of scene work.
Selected Productions as a Choreographer
2020-2022 A Freckle. Short dance on film. Presented by CanAsian Dance and Springboard Performance.
2021 Running Live. Hybrid live digital and pre-recorded dance theatre-on-film. Presented as part of the Found Festival, Common Ground Arts Society.
2021 Sideshave. Short dance on film. Presented by National Arts Centre for the Transformations Project.
2020 All that Binds Us. Evening length play story-woven by Makram Ayache. Azimuth Theatre. Directed by Reneltta Arluk
2017 Complicité. Dance Theatre work for stage. Presented by CanAsian Dance.
2015-2016 When Words Fail, with Kunji Ikeda. Evening length dance-theatre work for stage. Presented by Mile Zero Dance and Springboard Performance
Selected Productions as a Dancer
2018-2021 Know the Rules, Win the Game. Choreographed by Kunji Ikeda for Cloudsway Dance Theatre. Presented by the National Arts Centre, CanAsian Dance, and Springboard Performance.
2020 The Disaster Show. Choreographed by Gerry Morita for Mile Zero Dance.
2019 The Particulars. Choreographed by Alida Kendell and directed by Matt Mackenzie for Punctuate Theatre. Presented by the Theatre Centre and Punctuate Theatre.
2015-2017 We’ll Be Fine. Choreographed by Mélanie Demers. Presented by Festival Quartiers Danse, Montreal and Good Women Dance Collective.
2016 The Moon at Midnight. Choreographed by Amber Borotsik. Presented by Prairie Dance Circuit. Canadian Tour.
2012-2015 They Shoot Buffalo, Don’t They?. Choreographed by Troy Emery Twigg for Alberta Aboriginal Arts. Presented by Dancing on the Edge, The Banff Centre, The Expanse Festival, and The Prismatic Festival. Canadian Tour.
Selected Productions as an Actor
2020 Robbie. Everybody Loves Robbie. Directed by Trevor Schmidt. Northern Light Theatre.
2018 Ty. Consent. Directed by Mieko Ouchi. Concrete Theatre.
2017 Rory. Shocker’s Delight. Directed by Ron Pederson. Teatro La Quindicina.
2017 Prentiss. Peter and the Starcatcher. Directed by James MacDonald. Citadel Theatre.
2016 Unicorn/Alice Double. Alice Through the Looking Glass. Directed by Jillian Keiley and Christine Brubaker. Citadel Theatre
2014 Mickey. Games. Directed by Amiel Gladstone. Alberta Theatre Projects.
Memberships
Canadian Actors Equity Association. Equity Stage Name: Richard Lee Hsi
Awards and Nominations
2018 Nomination. Sterling Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre for Young Audiences, Acting, Consent
2015 Won. Sterling Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre for Young Audiences, Playwriting, The Antyssey with Joel Crichton
2014 Nomination. Calgary Theatre Critics Award- Featured Actor in a Play, Games
2013 Won. Enbridge Emerging Artist Award. Nextfest Arts Festival
Biography
Richard (he/him) is a Canadian movement director, educator, creator, and performer who works in theatre and contemporary dance. In addition to a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Alberta, he has independently trained in contemporary dance across North America and Europe with a particular focus on contact improvisation and the Axis Syllabus. He has taught movement for public, pre-professional, and professional theatre programs, including MacEwan University Theatre Arts, the University of Alberta’s B.F.A. Acting program, the Citadel-Robbins Young Company, and Theatre Alberta’s Artstrek program.
His work as a performer has taken him across Canada from Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge to Halifax’s Mocean Dance CLEAR Forum, dancing in works for companies such as Mayday Danse, Cloudsway Dance Theatre, Mile Zero Dance, Troy Emery Twigg, Amber Borotsik, and The Good Women Dance Collective. Selected acting credits include productions for the Citadel Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Teatro La Quindicina, Concrete Theatre, Chromatic Theatre, and Wild Side Productions.
His own creations (dance, theatre, stuff-in-between) have been presented by CanAsian Dance, Mile Zero Dance, New Dance Horizons, Concrete Theatre, and Springboard Performance, among others.
Skills
Advanced: contact improvisation, contemporary dance, taekwondo, writing, devising,
Intermediate : Singing
Basic: Guitar
Languages
English, Basic French
