Jenny Koppera

Part-Time Lecturer

301 King

734-487-0448

jkoppera@emich.edu

Degrees

• MFA - Drama & Theatre for the Young, Eastern Michigan University, 2011
• BA - Comparative Literature Studies and French, Northwestern University, 2001
• Study Abroad: La Sorbonne, Paris, France & L’Université Laval, Quebec, Canada

Professional Associations/Memberships

• Theatre for Young Audiences—USA (ASSITEJ)
• Association of Theatre Movement Educators
• American Alliance for Theatre and Education
• Actors’ Equity Association
• International Performing Arts for Youth
• write local.play global.

Representative Courses Taught

• CTAR 158 - Fundamentals of Acting
• CTAR 150 - Introduction to Theatre
• CTAR 222 - Drama and Play in the Human Experience
• CTAR 323 - Improvising and Role-Play

Advising

Biography

Jenny is active nationally and internationally in the field of children’s theatre. In 2010, she received a national Doyle Fellowship Special Recognition Award for her work in the field, and in 2011, she was one of 6 global interns selected for the ASSITEJ World Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. In 2012 Jenny was also awarded a RYE fellowship at the International Performing Arts for Youth Showcase. Jenny has worked with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, TYA USA, ASSITEJ International, Imaginate Children’s Theatre Festival, Imagining America, the Write Local. Play Global. initiative, and the Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices program. Professionally, Jenny comes from a back ground in dance, theatre and the study of the French language. She has performed at Chicago’s Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre and with the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project. She has studied dance and choreographed at Northwestern University and at La Sorbonne in Paris, France. She has taught French, dance, and theatre at North Shore Country Day School, the Devonshire Cultural Center, and the Lycee Francais in Chicago as well.
Locally, Jenny was one of the founding creators of CrossTown Theatre Troupe and EMU’s Educational Theatre Collaborative. She frequently directs, choreographs, and teaches in conjunction with The Ann Arbor Youth Actors’ Guild, Ann Arbor Civic Junior Theatre, Eastern Michigan University, Bright Futures After School Programs, and GEAR UP. She also studies and teaches yoga at Ann Arbor’s RussaYog studio.