As a tutor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and director of WA improvisation training provider Just Improvise, Hall teaches his students how to live more in the moment, have fun and be better conversationalists for their acting, business careers or everyday lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cImprovisation is the way we think about ourselves and make decisions in-the-moment,\u201d Hall explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, my students \u2013 no matter where they\u2019re from \u2013 are worried about getting things wrong. But isn\u2019t that the journey to getting things right? As good old Will Shakespeare wrote: \u2018There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo really, I\u2019m just reverting these ingrained misconceptions and removing the mental blocks that stop us from actively noticing and responding to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Hive](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/JIM008_hive_posterTM_print-2.jpg\")
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Hall\u2019s teaching is underpinned by the principles of Just Improvise\u2019s Hive of Nine Be\u2019s: be yourself, be positive, be present, be kind, be bold, be playful, be flexible, be imperfect and be changed.<\/em><\/p>\n As an acclaimed artist, Hall has represented Just Improvise in a number of improvisation festivals overseas, both solo and as part of a duo with Swedish improviser Victoria Bang.<\/p>\n This year, he had the chance to tour Europe for five weeks, attending Improfest in Sweden, Comedy Caf\u00e9 Berlin in Germany and, for the first time, the Fifth International Improv Festival Tilt in Estonia. He was also selected as a trainer for Impro-Hotel in Majorca, where he played a part in treating German tourists to a unique holiday of improvisation workshops, parties, siestas and food tastings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tour was incredible! Because I\u2019m based in Perth \u2013 the \u2018Madagascar of improvisation\u2019, as I like to call it \u2013 a lot of people assume that I\u2019m not good. So I just like to remind people that they shouldn\u2019t assume everything they believe is true,\u201d Hall says.<\/p>\n \u201cTravelling internationally also means my teaching is guided by best practice, which I then bring back to Perth.\u201d<\/p>\n Since he began teaching at WAAPA and Just Improvise in the early 2000s, Hall has mentored hundreds of talented students from around Australia and the world.<\/p>\n Some have even gone to careers in Hollywood, including up-and-coming actor Dacre Montgomery, who plays the unredeemable Billy Hargrove in Netflix\u2019s Stranger Things <\/em>and the Red Ranger in the new Power Rangers <\/em>film (directed by Curtin alumnus Dean Israelite<\/a>), and Jai Courtney from Suicide Squad<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s interesting: talented people are so many and varied. Dacre was asked to audition for the Power Rangers <\/em>movie in his last year. And now he\u2019s a freaking superstar,\u201d says Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cTeaching is so rewarding because you\u2019re giving people the tools to help themselves and discover their own answers.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn Hall leading a training session (photo credit: Paul McGovern).<\/p>\n Hall prides himself on being one of the few improvisation teachers to hold a teaching qualification \u2013 having graduated with a Bachelor of Education (Secondary Education)<\/a> from Curtin in 2006.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I\u2019d been working as an actor, Curtin gave me credit for recognised learning<\/a> [as an applicant with work and life experience<\/a>], which was great. I actually ended up getting a hundred per cent in my final teaching practice and was put on the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s List for finishing in the top one per cent of my year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cMy degree has given me the knowledge to think about my own thinking, and to bring all of that educational psychology, classroom management and behaviour profiles into my teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall says that he has no regrets about pursuing a non-traditional teaching career, and believes that his unique combination of improvisation and teaching isn\u2019t as unusual as it might seem, as all teachers need to be improvisers.<\/p>\n \u201cI was always interested in teaching in a high school, but I love where I am now because all I do is teach. I get to stand up in front of a class, change lives and have an impact there and then. I\u2019m not filing paperwork or dealing with potential political shenanigans of working in a school,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cTeachers improvise all the time, and the joy of improvisation comes from living in the moment. When I walk into my class at WAAPA I leave whatever\u2019s waiting on my mind outside because it\u2019s still going to be there when I walk out. Why bring it in with me? I\u2019d rather just be present in the moment, with the people that I\u2019m with.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in taking a class in improvisation to improve your acting, business, communication or life skills, check out Just Improvise<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Improvisation specialist Glenn Hall discusses his teaching style, how improv can improve people\u2019s confidence and mentoring Stranger Things\u2019s new breakout actor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":6270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":1,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"Graduate snapshot","content":" Name: Glenn Hall<\/p>\nTouring the international stage<\/h2>\n
Mentoring Hollywood stars<\/h2>\n
Imparting teaching knowledge<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Theatresports-Workshops1-2.jpg\")
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