Christiana Frank has been teaching Applied Improvisation and profession theatre techniques for nineteen years. She has designed and been leading trainings since 1999. Her goal is to show individuals and teams how to build confidence in their social and communication skills. She creates a low stakes environment that ensures client comfort in order to encourage a healthy and strong learning environment.
If you’re unsure how Applied Improv can affect your life, in a nutshell, Frank explains, “Applied Improvisation can help your life by giving you a safe, nurturing, low stakes environment to practice communication, collaborating, and creating. Like calisthenics for your communication, this methodology helps you face fears, strengthen focus and awareness, and build confidence and success in human interactions.”
Frank felt inspired to pursue this line of work after growing up shy in high school. She left Reno to try out acting in New York, and through this experience she found that the process to gaining confidence was more valuable to her than actually landing the acting gigs. From this, Frank shifted her goals to help others achieve the same realization as her.
Today, Frank has clients age 3 to 93 who are all seeking to become the best versions of themselves, whether it’s through their work life, school life, or personal life. She’s built an impressive repertoire of clients that swear by her methods.
Along with helping those who seek out this type of training, Frank has set up her own foundations to gather an even greater outreach. One of these foundations is Kidscape Productions, which focuses on children aged 3-17 to help instill these skills early on in life.
Frank creates a non-judgmental space for individuals to truly grasp these confidence-building skills. She also keeps up with the latest in neuroscience and psychology and continuously adapts her methods to fit new research. Frank mentions how she’s been developing her methods over twenty years. It’s clear her goals and intentions are truly to help others in the most effective way possible.
If any aspect of Applied Improv sounds like it can improve your life, then visit her website at www.christianafrank.com or attend her quarterly meet-up, where there are opportunities to learn more details about Applied Improv and network for no fee. – Written by Kylie Masznicz for ThisIsReno
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8 thoughts on “Christiana Frank and Applied Improv – Kylie Masznicz _ThisIsReno”
Great article, but seeing is believing. I have first hand knowledge of improv from KidScape Productions. I’ve been there and seen it work on a host of young kids. What is amazing, was to watch these kids after an event hanging out and all join in on their own improv which seemed pretty clever and funny. Kids from all walks of life without fear or prejudice. In fact my grandson went through this program for years. He was extremely shy with a very low confidence level. After the first few months, a different boy. He grew so much, we were all so very proud of him. When I took him to lunch one day, he did improv at the table with everything on the table. He had everybody in tears laughing. Today he is in college and doing very well. Thank you KidScape
Kidscape and Improv has changed my son’s life. He is the kind of kid who doesn’t easily fit in, he doesn’t like sports and he relates more to females than males. Improv is where he feels loved and inspired. He looks forward to going every week and grows more and more. It has translated into his core confidence as well as his school performance and social skills in general. He’s able to talk to any adult and I credit improv for all of this.
Pat
I have had the pleasure of knowing and having Christiana Frank and her teams have worked at my schools for over 12 years. I have had many various types of programs over the years for students, that have brought out a variety of acting skills in students for productions and presentations.. However I feel what makes Kidscape Productions so unique and definitely more beneficial for students, is that it encompasses a much larger spectrum in the developmental stages of the whole child. The skills they learn from her programs , carry over and increase from year to year as they mature continually building their confidence and self character. After being an educator for almost 47 years, I only wish they would have had programs like Kidscape. I know I speak for many when I say public speaking (or just speaking in front of people), is truly something that learned at an early age, develops a confidence and self esteem that they will carry through life. Many thanks once again for the hard work and efforts by the whole Kidscape Staff!!
What a great article and introduction to Applied Improvisation and Christiana! In order to reach our highest potential and choose a growth mindset for ourselves in any situation and at any age, we need to train our brains to deal effectively with failure, choose connection, and persevere through challenges. Applied Improvisation creates the forum by which we practice all these skills so that we can capitalize on opportunities to evolve in all arenas in our life. Ultimately Applied Improv teaches our brains to choose perspectives that are inherently positive in nature and lead to immense opportunities to grow and experience joy! Thank you Christiana and Kidscape Team for introducing so many to these ideas. Like all great ideas they are deceptive simple but not always easy!
Anjali Mathewson.
Christiana gave a demonstration of some improv exercises to my undergraduate class at UNR. They really enjoyed it and so did I
My son began with Kidscape in 2010 when he took a week-long summer session. At the time, he was ten, highly academically accelerated, and severely bullied. Despite a positive personality, he struggled to find a way to fit in with his peers and to express his feelings of isolation and frustration. That week-long improv class, honestly, changed his life. He found a passion for acting, and Christiana worked with him individually on a minor lisp. He continued to participate in summer and after-school programs for the remainder of our time in Reno, making friends, having opportunities for leadership and performance, and loving every minute of it. When we moved, he auditioned for and was accepted to a performing arts magnet in our new location. While singing and dancing were areas of growth for him, he was active in shows throughout both his middle and high school years, serving as a leader and model for other students as to how to be professional, confident, and make the most of every opportunity. These were skills Kidscape helped him to develop and hone. He remains friends with Christiana and is quick to point to her and her programs as an important factor in his becoming the amazing young man he is today.
Applied Improvisation teaches skills that everyone needs to interact on a personal level. In this impersonal technology driven world many social skills are being lost. Christiana’s programs teach the social skills and confidence to use those social skills needed to succeed. Applied Improvisation creates new pathways in the brain, creating new coping mechanisms and skills. These skills promote healthier, more positive responses to adversity and we all need more positives in our lives, don’t we?
My daughter was in the third grade when she first participated in Kidscape Productions’ Spring Break play camp. Christiana and her team were warm and welcoming and my daughter was bitten by the improvisational acting bug. She is now 19 years old and is in college and has remained connected with Christiana and Kidscape for the past 11 years. Improvisational acting added a new dimension to her personality and gave her mad presentation skills. She is standing out at college as a physics student who has the confidence to stand up in front of large groups of people presenting technical material in an engaging way. Christiana and her improv classes have had an immeasurable positive impact on my daughter.