Movement Workshop with Sathya Sridharan and Paton Ashbrook

PAD alum and Broadway actor, Sathya Sridharan ('09), and Juilliard alumni, actor, and teacher Paton Ashbrook will lead a movement workshop that will encourage actors to step out onto the skinny branches to make bold and brave acting choices. Using somatic exercises and techniques, we'll explore how to get out of our actor's heads into our bodies. Participants are encouraged to wear movement clothing and bring something to write with. Followed by a short Q&A. 

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SATHYA SRIDHARAN

Sathya is an actor, writer, and teacher known for his lead role in Shaun Seneviratne's feature premiere, BEN AND SUZANNE: A REUNION IN FOUR PARTS, which premiered in competition at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, Eric Schultz’s sci-fi thriller MINOR PREMISE, and co-lead role in Academy Award Nominee Milcho Manchevski's BIKINI MOON (with Condola Rashad, Sarah Goldberg). He was also featured opposite Academy Award winner Brenden Fraser in Darren Aronofsky’s film, THE WHALE, produced by A24. He is the lead of the upcoming feature, SMOKE AND STEEL, from filmmaker Javian Ashton Le. His television credits include KALEIDOSCOPE (Netflix), LITTLE AMERICA (AppleTV), BLINDSPOT (NBC), BLACKLIST (NBC), TWO SENTENCE HORROR STORIES (CW), and SUCCESSION (HBO). He appeared on Broadway in the American premiere of the Tony Award-winning production of LIFE OF PI, directed by Max Webster. He has also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions including New York Theatre Workshop's world premiere of Hammaad Chaudry's AN ORDINARY MUSLIM, directed by Obie Award Winner Jo Bonney, The Manhattan Theatre Club’s world premiere of Jaclyn Backhaus’ INDIA PALE ALE, and the Playwright’s Horizons premiere of Backhaus’ WIVES. Most recently, he premiered Naren Weiss’ TWO BROWN PORTERS at 59E59 in New York. He has taught at NYU’s Playwright’s Horizons studio, A Class Act NYC, and has coached prospective students on their graduate school auditions. He is a graduate of NYU’s MFA Acting Program, a proud WUSTL Alum, and the recipient of the 2013 Princess Grace Award for Theater.

PATON ASHBROOK

Actor, yoga instructor, and trauma-informed teaching artist Paton Ashbrook has spent a lifetime in the arts. Her Los Angelino roots lead back to generations of actors and musicians on both sides of her family, where for decades she witnessed the inevitable highs and lows of having a career in the arts. After 10+ years of intense conservatory training culminated in her graduation from the Juilliard School's Drama Division, she became certified to teach yoga (500+ hours) while working professionally and successfully as an actor and voice-over artist. While deepening her yoga practice alongside her film/TV career, Paton began developing workshops to help artists feel freer in their artistic expression and embody supportive practices that make a career in the arts sustainable. Today, Paton has completed world-renowned trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté's psychotherapeutic and somatic-based training program, Compassionate Inquiry, which has greatly informed her trauma-informed healing workshops. Healing the Artist Body has so far been taught at Juilliard, LACSHA, and AMDA, and she looks forward to launching her workshops as a series more publicly in the coming year.

As an actor, Paton has worked all over the stage and screen, most notably playing ADA Jenny Sullivan for three seasons on the STARZ NAACP Image award-winning show, POWER BOOK 2: GHOST, alongside Mary J. Blige and Method Man. Other credits include HOUSE OF CARDS (Netflix), SHAMELESS (Showtime), THE GOOD FIGHT (CBS/Paramount+), the co-lead of the sci-fi thriller, MINOR PREMISE (Hulu), and COME HOME (Audience Award, Best Feature Film at the Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest). Paton also hosts THE FREEBODY PODCAST, a trauma-informed platform where folks tell their unique life stories through the lens of their body.