Matthew Sexton has been studying and performing Improvisational Acting since 2002, taking advanced instruction from Seattle’s ‘Unexpected Productions’ and San Francisco’s ‘BATS Improv’, and has work-shopped with various improvisation luminaries including Keith Johnstone, Matt Smith, Rebecca Stockley, and Garry Schwartz. Since 2009 Matthew has been teaching Engaged Presencetm practice, an on-your-feet social mindfulness practice that grows participants ability to interact in helpful, authentic, prompt and expressive ways and to gracefully respond to social cognitive overload. Matthew has taught workshops in Washington State and currently in and around Albuquerque New Mexico, including the New Mexico Child Youth and Family Department, UNM CARS office, Cornucopia Adult Day Care, and various other customers.
Carolyn Fresquez has a M.Sc. in Dance Movement Psychotherapy and a B.A. in Creative Studies, Literature. She is a long-time fan of improvisational theater and is currently taking classes with The Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has been practicing Engaged Presence facilitation since January 2013. Carolyn has worked with kids and youth in dance studios, theaters, special schools, and incarceration facilities, teaching dance and choreography as well as leading movement and therapy sessions. She has also worked with adults in a variety of settings in both creative and therapeutic capacities.
Fernando Fresquez: After receiving a crash course in improvisation in 2004, Fernando Fresquez has performed in hundreds of improvised comedy shows, most recently as an ensemble member of The Show at The Box Performance Space. He co-founded The One Night Stanleys, voted Albuquerque’s “Best Comedy Troupe”, and To Be Continued, with whom he performed in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 and 2011. In the summer of 2013 he sailed the seas with Second City Theatricals aboard the Norwegian Gem. He is currently an associate member of Tricklock Company, Albuquerque’s devised theater specialists. He really really enjoys good beer, camping with his beautiful wife, and games of all kinds.
LAUREN ALBONICO received her M.A. In Theatre Education and Outreach from UNM. She has served as the Director of UNM Theatre Department’s community youth outreach program since 2010. She has a BA in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was one of the founding members of the Improv group K.A.R.L. She has also studied at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London with Jane Lapotaire. She is a two-time winner of the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Contest, a recipient of the Leota Diesel Ashton Playwriting Prize and the John G. Jutkowitz Award. She recently was recognized by the American Alliance of Theatre Education as a national Doyle Fellowship recipient for her work with Theatre for Young Audiences. She directs and acts locally in Albuquerque in both stage and film. Each summer she directs the annual Shakespeare on the Rail Project (a collaboration between the UNM Department of Theatre and the NM Rail Runner). She and her husband Nicolas are the proud parents of two little boys.
