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FIRST YEAR MEISNER ACTING PROGRAM
BEGINS JANUARY 7TH, 2025
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(917) 794-3878
MIDORI NAKAMURA
Voice 1, 2, 4
Education
Midori has studied with many, many teachers, including: Jerzy Grotowski, Joe Chaikin, Kristin Linklater, Bill Esper, Bobby Lewis, Earle Gister, Nikos Psacharopoulos, Jay Goldenberg, Merry Conway, Andrea Haring, and Kim Gillingham. She continues to study, a journey that she hopes will be lifelong.
Experience
As an actor, Midori has worked in film, TV, on Broadway, Off-Broadway, for Shakespeare in the Park, at the Kennedy Center, at the RSC, and in regional theater—with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Angela Bassett, Bill Irwin, Keanu Reeves, Michael C. Hall, Liev Schrieber, Karen Allen, Del Close, Kim Cattrall, and Jennifer Anniston. Directors she has worked with include Morgan Freeman, George C. Wolfe, Lena Dunham, Barry Levenson, Peter Sellars, Nicholas Hytner, Austin Pendleton, James Lapine, Jerzy Grotowski, Joe Chaikin. Midori was made a Designated Linklater Teacher in 2019. In addition to the Maggie Flanigan Studio, she teaches voice for the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, The Linklater Center in New York, and NYU Tisch at The Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute. She has also taught for Columbia University’s Social Impact Fellowship, Columbia University’s Obama Foundation Scholars, LAByrinth Theater’s Intensive Ensemble, Molloy/CAP21, New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, and the New York Film Academy, as well as coaching private clients in both acting and voice. Midori co-directed, co-produced, and co-edited T’an Bakhtale, a documentary about the Russian Roma, which received awards from the American Association of Anthropology and the Royal Anthropological Institute. She assisted Karen Allen in her directorial debut, A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud.
Philosophy
Your voice is you. There is no separation. What changes you, changes your voice, and vice versa. When we address the “you,” we address your voice. The Linklater voice work is a psychophysical work. We start with the body and always return to the body but are very interested in the psychological implications, the “why” behind your habits, patterns, and behavior. Seen from another perspective, the movement from inside to outside is permeable and flows in both directions. We examine habits and ask if there are behaviors that are no longer helpful to your growth, seeking to shift into new habits that might be more conducive to greater expansion and possibilities. Ultimately, we are searching for freedom, greater range for choices in working, and more fully knowing and inhabiting the infinite possibility that is you.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
“I was placed in the intense reigns of Charlie Sandlan. I became a better artist, actor, friend, sibling and daughter because of the studio. Even now, I crave the studio every day. What I learned is present in my work every day. I truly believe in everything they stand for.”
Jes Macallan
“Maggie taught me that I could control my work, my acting, and to throw all of the bullshit out that I had in my head about ‘what I should be doing’ and to just listen and respond honestly, in the moment. She gave me a craft. She is, quite simply put, THE BEST.”
Leslie Bibb
“Maggie Flanigan taught me the true meaning of artistry, passion, and professionalism. I am certain that I continue to work as an actress because of my training with Maggie. At every audition and every performance, her guiding voice is with me. It is a gift beyond measure.”
