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Classes are small and provide individual attention from experienced coaches. In fact, we believe that the BATS coaching staff is one of the best collections of improv teaching talent anywhere in the world!
For students who want to perform on the BATS stage, completion of our series classes may lead to an invitation to join a student performance program. BATS also offers classes for students who just want to explore improv, but don't want to perform. And for experienced improvisers, BATS offers specialty classes and advanced training.
Who takes our classes? Professional actors, lawyers, doctors, architects, lobbyists, greeting card writers, reporters, hermits, firemen. You name it, they all spent time in a BATS workshop.
The BATS Improv Mission Statement
• Perform, teach, develop, and promote improvisational theatre
• Be loose and have fun
• Create phenomenal improv
• Run fast to help audience, students, and clients
• Create strong and exciting improvisers
• Entertain and surprise audiences and ourselves
• And give generously to others
Core Values
Improv – We love the art and practice of improvising.
Telling Stories – We focus our work on discovering and telling stories.
Fun – We delight in the enjoyment of ourselves, our audience, our coaches, our staff, our clients, and our students.
Inspirational Environment – We foster trust, generosity, and shared vision to create a fun place to perform, teach, and learn improvisational theatre.
Risk Taking – We encourage innovation through experimentation, boldness and variety in our work, performances and formats.
Excellence – We expect each performer, coach, student and staff member to reach their own highest level of success.
Financial Stability – We enable the growth of our self-supporting organization through our theater and school.
The BATS Improv Style of Improvisatonal Theatre
BATS-style improv is theatre that tells a story collaboratively. From comedy to drama, short scenes to full length epics these stories engage and entertain audiences with rich characters and relationships.
Curriculum & Teaching Philosophy
BATS take its inspiration from the work of Keith Johnstone and from BATS' own 20-year tradition of innovation and experimentation. We use Johnstone's Theatresports format as a cornerstone of our curriculum because we believe it provides a solid foundation on which to build skills.
Improv training is a core element of the BATS organization. From our founding in 1986, we have always viewed workshops as the key way to develop new talent and expose more people to the transformative qualities of improvisational theatre. We have 20 years of experience teaching improv and believe that this history makes the quality of our program one of the best around.
BATS series classes -- Foundation 1, 2, 3 and Performance 1, 2, 3 -- all have course outlines, but there is not a "cookie cutter" approach to the curriculum. There are hundreds of theatre games that teach BATS' basic concepts of improv. Rather than limiting a coach to a set list of exercises that teach BATS' ideas, coaches are encouraged to use the exercise that serves the needs of the students in the moment.
Common understanding of key theory elements is important for BATS students. The same theories, principles and ideas will be covered in each Foundation and Performance class, regardless of the teacher.
While BATS coaches are expected to be prepared with a course outline of exercises, teachers are encouraged to work spontaneously with each class. By practicing spontaneity in teaching, each workshop models the best improv practices.
While our curriculum is performance-based training, we also believe that learning improvisational theatre skills—listening, making your partner look good, failing good-naturedly, taking risks—can have a positive impact on people’s lives beyond the stage: at home, work, and in interpersonal relationships.
Coach Evaluations
After each workshop, students are asked to fill out an evaluation of the coach and curriculum. The dean and the coach review evaluations and modifications are made based on feedback.
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