J. Alex Cordaro- Fight Director and Stage Combat Teacher

Alex has been studying, practicing, teaching, and directing stage violence for over 30 years. He has directed fights for The Wilma Theatre, The Arden Theatre Company, The McCarter Theatre Center, The Actors Theater of Louisville, The Philadelphia Theater Company, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, The Opera Company of Philadelphia, Lantern Theater Company, Theater Exile, Inis Nua Theater Company, Philadelphia Artists Collective, Quintessence Theater Group, Forensic Files on TRU TV, and others. Alex’s choreography has been sailing across Europe for the past ten years with twenty different casts in Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s productions of Saturday Night Fever! and Columbus…The Musical!! Alex has also directed numerous fights for Philadelphia area dance companies and colleges.

Currently, Alex runs the Stage Combat Progression at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He has also served as Stage Combat Instructor at Arcadia University, Rowan University, Temple University, and The University of Delaware. Alex is a core instructor for the annual Philadelphia Stage Combat Workshop which recently celebrated its 20th year!

Alex is a Fight Director, Certified Teacher, and Theatrical Firearms Instructor with the Society of American Fight Directors. He is a three-time Barrymore Award Nominee for Outstanding Movement/ Choreography and was featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Project Discovery” series: Careers in the Arts; Fight Director.