As defined by Paradise Valley Community College professor Andrea Robertson, “stage combat is a safe, choreographed, and realistic fight for stage or screen that tells a story.” Behind the scenes of every staged fight is a choreographer weaving safety, drama, and believability into every clash. Wanting to share their passion for the craft, three PVCC alumni have teamed up to bring stage combat to the local community.
Rachelle Dart, Courtney Kenyon, and Marshall Vosler founded Pantheon Movement Arts, a local business specializing in the performance, choreography, and education of stage and film combat. The Pantheon trio is based in Arizona and focuses on training various skill levels in stage combat and theatrical movement following industry standards for both theater and film.
Meet the Team
Marshall Vosler is a multifaceted artist and performer, who is well versed as a fight choreographer, actor, martial artist, musician, and as a theatrical mask maker/performer. Having wanted to pursue a specialization in stage combat, Vosler came to PVCC in 2021 to study under Andrea Robertson in the newly established Stage Combat CCL program, the very first of its kind in the state of Arizona. He finished the program in December of 2023 and is now a certified advanced actor combatant through the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) and is the first student to finish the CCL program from beginning to end since its creation.
During his time at PVCC, Vosler crossed paths regularly with fellow students Dart and Kenyon. He found it incredibly fun and exhilarating to train and perform as partner combatants with both of them, and the three of them realized that they each had similar goals in progressing as stage combat professionals. After much deliberation and planning, the like-minded trio, who all hold the advanced actor combatant title with SAFD, founded Pantheon Movement Arts!
Vosler’s personal goal within the business is to blend his experience as a martial artist and his intuitive skill in physical comedy with the knowledge he has gained from Robertson and the SAFD to create his own special blend of fight choreography to deliver dynamic and stylized storytelling in every fight he choreographs.
Rachelle Dart has relished the stage since a young age. In 2016, she achieved her associates of arts/fine arts in theatre with honors from PVCC, going on to graduate summa cum laude from Arizona State University with her bachelor’s degree in theatre and a concentration in acting. Dart earned stage combat certification in all eight weapons systems. Additionally, Dart spent many semesters shadowing Robertson’s fight choreography, as well as volunteering in PVCC’s technical theatre program learning everything there is to know about technical theatre and design. Dart currently works as a professional fight choreographer, actor, and teaches middle school theatre.
“Collaboration is at the center of theatre. There is the creation of the work and then it is an act of sharing,” said Dart. “I believe that attention to safety, kindness, inclusion, dignity, integrity, and excellence in the process of making theatre is as important as the product of a show.”
Courtney Kenyon, a 2023 graduate also earned her associates of arts/fine arts in theatre, with highest distinction, ten years after completing her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, at ASU in Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance and minor in Film Production. While at PVCC, she earned her advanced actor combatant title and holds certifications in all taught weapons disciplines with the SAFD. With a wealth of experience in acting and performing, stage management, fight choreography, Kenyon is now teaching theatre production and design at her alma mater, Arizona School for the Arts, and works professionally as a stage manager and fight choreographer throughout Arizona.
Kenyon shared that she feels lucky to have people in her life who support her and push her forward, which ultimately led to her decision to form Pantheon with Dart and Vosler.
“As collaborators, we share the same values for safety and silly puns,” Dart said.
Saturday Workshops
Pantheon is currently offering Slap Happy Saturdays – drop in classes offered the fourth Saturday of every month. The 90-minute, drop-in class focuses on a different weapon and various elements of stage combat each time. The trio also offers private classes for all skill levels, and will be offering multi-day seminar classes soon.
“Our goal at Pantheon is to make stage combat training more accessible for the Arizona theatre community, and through that to build a safer future for actors and techs in classrooms, rehearsals, and on stage,” said Dart.
“We all bring our own experiences, expertises, and passions to the table and truly balance each other very well,” Kenyon added. “All three of us have been in and heard of situations where safety was not a priority. We want to change that. We want to bring best practices to the work that we do and the people that we teach.
To learn more about Pantheon or to attend a workshop, visit the website or check out their Facebook page or Instagram @pantheon.movement.arts.