Fight Director/Movement Specialist
Meron Langsner is a critically acclaimed NYC based fight director and movement specialist with over 175 productions and films in New York City and New England to his credit. He has worked at a wide range of professional and educational venues ranging from LORT theatres to national tours to conservatories to high schools. Meron has also published extensively on both stage combat and martial arts.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF COMBAT & MOVEMENT COMPOSITIONS
Professional theater companies include: A.R.T. - The American Repertory Theatre, ArtsEmerson, Merrimack Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Stoneham Theatre, Incubator Arts Project, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Opera Boston, Chamber Theatre Productions, Company One, Zeitgeist Stage, Whistler in the Dark, OperaHub, Gallery Players, and many more, with several productions winning regional awards. He has also composed violence for independent films that have appeared in festivals internationally, as well as for PBS.
Educational venues include: Boston Conservatory, Boston University Opera Institute, Boston University Theatre, Brandeis University, CUNY: College of Staten Island, Pace University, Salve Regina University, Stonehill College, Tufts University, Framingham High School, Newton High Schools, Lyric First Stage, Weston Drama Workshop, and many others. Several high school productions have been Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild festival state finalists and semi-finalists. He has also composed violence for student films made under the auspices of institutions that include NYU, ESRA, and Tufts.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF COMBAT & MOVEMENT COMPOSITIONS
Professional theater companies include: A.R.T. - The American Repertory Theatre, ArtsEmerson, Merrimack Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Stoneham Theatre, Incubator Arts Project, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Opera Boston, Chamber Theatre Productions, Company One, Zeitgeist Stage, Whistler in the Dark, OperaHub, Gallery Players, and many more, with several productions winning regional awards. He has also composed violence for independent films that have appeared in festivals internationally, as well as for PBS.
Educational venues include: Boston Conservatory, Boston University Opera Institute, Boston University Theatre, Brandeis University, CUNY: College of Staten Island, Pace University, Salve Regina University, Stonehill College, Tufts University, Framingham High School, Newton High Schools, Lyric First Stage, Weston Drama Workshop, and many others. Several high school productions have been Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild festival state finalists and semi-finalists. He has also composed violence for student films made under the auspices of institutions that include NYU, ESRA, and Tufts.
Love Hurts, Malarkey Films' entry to the 2013 Boston 48 Hour Film Project
Meron was Co-Writer, Fight Choreographer, & Casting Director
Production Photos by Casey Preston & Matthew Glidden
Selected for the Best of the Festival Screening
Awards for Best Use of Assigned Character (Melis Aker + Writing Team: Meron, Ginger, Vladimir)
Best Fight Choreography (Meron Langsner)
Best Actress (Melis Aker)
".. this truly incredible seven minute picture." - Boston Independent Film Review
Meron was Co-Writer, Fight Choreographer, & Casting Director
Production Photos by Casey Preston & Matthew Glidden
Selected for the Best of the Festival Screening
Awards for Best Use of Assigned Character (Melis Aker + Writing Team: Meron, Ginger, Vladimir)
Best Fight Choreography (Meron Langsner)
Best Actress (Melis Aker)
".. this truly incredible seven minute picture." - Boston Independent Film Review
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Meron has also taught stage combat and movement courses and workshops for numerous organizations including: Boston University Opera Institute, New York Film Academy Summer Institute at Harvard, Tufts University, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, ATHE, Region I Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, NYC Summer Sling, Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild, and many others.
Teaching a workshop on Dramaturgy to the Choreographer Track students at the 2015 Summer Sling NYC Regional Stage Combat Workshop - Photo by Theik Smith Photography
Demonstrating ways to take a punch on stage with Micheal Hood at the stage combat workshop at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska
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Kicking for the camera during a film shoot
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Though primarily known for his fight choreography and violence design, Meron has a wide range of other movement and choreography competencies. In addition to occasional dance choreography, he has composed fire performance for Home of Poi's Circles of Light, physical narrative for Brandeis University's Liquid Latex body art show, Meyerhold Biomechanics and other movement systems for various professional theatres and several METG member schools.
Meron was on the faculty of the Social Distance Showdown in May of 2020, a response by the stage combat community to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Includes "Fire Trinity," Choreographed by Meron Langsner
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As a large part of Meron's scholarly work concerns the development and dissemination of physical training systems in addition to the performance of violence, he is familiar with a broad range of movement systems and is able to assimilate the particular strengths and backgrounds of virtually any performer into a theatrical composition.
Meron was one of a dozen fight directors in the nation selected to take part in the pilot year of the NYC Summer Sling "Choreographer Track" in 2014, an intensive workshop focusing on specific aspects of fight choreography led by the leaders of the field. He was then invited back to teach a workshop on Dramaturgy for Stage Combat to the same program the following years.
He has published numerous articles and reviews on stage movement/stage combat, martial arts, and related topics in The Fight Master: The Journal of the Society of American Fight Directors, Backstage, HowlRound, The Theatre Times, Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Electronic Journals of Martial Arts & Sciences, Puppetry International, The Sondheim Review, The Cutting Edge, The LMDA Dramaturgy Sourcebook, and other publications.
Meron also teaches a workshop on stage combat workshop called "Writing the Fight" specifically geared towards playwrights and dramaturgs. This workshop has been presented around the country.
In addition to his extensive background in stage combat and other performance movement systems, Meron has had training in numerous martial arts traditions and is a former competitive fencer (Junior Olympic qualifier in sabre & epee) and wrestler. He holds a black belt in Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate, and has also spent several years as a self-defense instructor for IMPACT Boston (a non-profit violence prevention organization).
Demonstrating a principle as a guest instructor for the 2015 Summer Sling Choreographers' Track - Photo by Theik Smith
Full list of credits and press quotes available upon request.
Member of the SAFD - The Society of American Fight Directors, since 2001.
Member of IDI - Intimacy Directors International since 2018
Member of the SAFD - The Society of American Fight Directors, since 2001.
Member of IDI - Intimacy Directors International since 2018
At the 2014 Summer Sling NYC Regional SAFD Workshop
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NYU/Tisch Performance Studies Alumni Lecture Series
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Rehearsal for THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD with Lyric First Stage
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Links to some of Meron's writings on stage combat:
"Six Ways Fight Training Will Make You a Better Actor" - Backstage
"Why Everyone Should Study Stage Combat" - HowlRound
"Fightaturgy: Towards a Dramaturgy of Staged Violence" - HowlRound
"Despite All of his Contributions to Modern Stage Combat, Ridolfo Capo Ferro was NOT a Fight Director" - HowlRound
"Nine Pieces of Advice for Martial Artists Beginning Stage Combat Training" - The Theatre Times
"Dramaturgy of the Duels in Lin Manual Miranda's Hamilton" - The Theatre Times
"Please Think Twice Before Putting 'Stage Combat' on your Resume" - The Theatre Times
"Blood, Revenge, and Safety On Stage: An Explication of a Stage Duel in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette" an article in Theatrical Combatatives - The Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences
"The Cinematographer Exercise" a pedagogy article in The Cutting Edge: The Newsletter of the Society of American Fight Directors
"Teaching 'Writing the Fight' at Region I KC/ACTF" - Scan of an article from The Cutting Edge: Newsletter of the Society of American Fight Directors
"Towards a Dramaturgy of Stage Combat" - This article appeared in both The Fight Master: The Journal of the Society of American Fight Directors and Volume 4 of the LMDA Dramaturgy Sourcebook
Dissertation: Impossible Bodies in Motion: The Representation of Martial Arts on the American Stage - Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Tufts University - ProQuest UMI #3475077
Google Books excerpt: "Theatre Hoplology: Simulations and Representations of Violence on Stage" - a chapter of Text & Presentation 2006 (McFarland: 2007)
"Six Ways Fight Training Will Make You a Better Actor" - Backstage
"Why Everyone Should Study Stage Combat" - HowlRound
"Fightaturgy: Towards a Dramaturgy of Staged Violence" - HowlRound
"Despite All of his Contributions to Modern Stage Combat, Ridolfo Capo Ferro was NOT a Fight Director" - HowlRound
"Nine Pieces of Advice for Martial Artists Beginning Stage Combat Training" - The Theatre Times
"Dramaturgy of the Duels in Lin Manual Miranda's Hamilton" - The Theatre Times
"Please Think Twice Before Putting 'Stage Combat' on your Resume" - The Theatre Times
"Blood, Revenge, and Safety On Stage: An Explication of a Stage Duel in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette" an article in Theatrical Combatatives - The Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences
"The Cinematographer Exercise" a pedagogy article in The Cutting Edge: The Newsletter of the Society of American Fight Directors
"Teaching 'Writing the Fight' at Region I KC/ACTF" - Scan of an article from The Cutting Edge: Newsletter of the Society of American Fight Directors
"Towards a Dramaturgy of Stage Combat" - This article appeared in both The Fight Master: The Journal of the Society of American Fight Directors and Volume 4 of the LMDA Dramaturgy Sourcebook
Dissertation: Impossible Bodies in Motion: The Representation of Martial Arts on the American Stage - Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Tufts University - ProQuest UMI #3475077
Google Books excerpt: "Theatre Hoplology: Simulations and Representations of Violence on Stage" - a chapter of Text & Presentation 2006 (McFarland: 2007)
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Recording a segment/podcast of Art Chat about dueling traditions in the work of Shakespeare for Pawling Public Radio and Hillside House Productions with Shakespeare Scholar and fellow fight director Danielle Rosvally. |
Ninja Vs Pirate Fight for ZoomTilt's TV Reset Project
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At the 2014 Summer Sling NYC Regional SAFD Workshop
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Links to some articles about Meron in his professional capacity as a fight director:
"Interviews with People Who Have Interesting or Unusual Jobs: MERON LANGSNER, CHOREOGRAPHING FIGHTS" - McSweeney's Internet Tendency
"Siblings in Arms" - from Tufts Alma Matters
"What is... Violence Design?" - StageSource "Live from the Library" Podcast
"PhD Candidate Langsner Details Fight Choreography, the Techniques and Effects" - The Tufts Daily
"Encountering Combat" - from Unknowing the Known: Whistler in the Dark Theatre's blog
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Video of a movement sequence created by Meron taken during the photo call for Vagabond Theatre Group's production of Supergravity and the Eleventh Dimension
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In rehearsal for FAMILY STORIES with Whistler in the Dark Theatre Company
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Honored to have been among the faculty of the 2018 Fights4 NYC Summer Sling.