Testimonials
Mariya khomutova
actor and dora recipient ‘The First Métis Man of Odesa’
“Jonelle‘s class is extremely practical. All the tasks she provides are rooted in her experience as a dramatic actor and physical performer. It was so cool to observe how through the simple settings a different kind of energy aligns and flows. These were enormously helpful tools in warm up, observations on the body, preparation to act, research the character. A very encouraging and pretty rare workshop for those who search for the right physical mode to go on stage and perform fearlessly.”
Folly fowawe
community engagement coordinator, royal ontario museum
“Jonelle was an absolute joy to work with! She was easy to communicate with and showed great expertise, tailoring the workshop beautifully to complement our Wild Cats exhibition. Her knowledge and passion for movement really shone through, creating a unique, engaging experience for all involved.”
YOSHIE BANCROFT
actor - Superman & Lois, FORGIVENESS (ARTS CLUB & STRATFORD FESTIVAL)
“I loved working with Jonelle. I was nervous about an upcoming day on set and her mix of text and body work left me feeling playful and prepared for my scenes. Her energy was so grounded as she gently guided me to discoveries in our session–and it was fun to bring those discoveries into work the next day. She’s an excellent coach and I’m excited to work with her again!”
Zara Jestadt
Actor - stratford festival, the boys, hudson & Rex
“Jonelle has an instantly grounding presence. Her generosity, presence, curiosity, and joy while coaching is infectious. She guides with intention, yet listens and sees with a wholeness that honors your instrument and craft to adjust your performance to your strengths. Her presence is just so present, and attuned to what your artist body wants to do.
While her experience with text analysis, character study, and acting fundamentals is vast, it is her deep knowledge of our instrument, our bodies, that really take her coaching to the next level, allowing you to trust your instincts, your intuition, your gut, while working with tension, ease, and specificity in the body. Her movement work also easily aids in accessing various characters by simple adjustments and awareness, both externally and internally. Jonelle reminds me to bring my whole self to my work, my whole body, that it’s not just my face that’s acting. And she makes the process fun, approachable, and deeply rewarding.
She is a completely unique coach, and person, someone I hope all artists get a chance to work with.”
Jack Leslie Hunter
Actor
“I came into Jonelle’s movement workshop expecting quirky characters, but in two hours, I was able to transform how I felt and who I was portraying using body language. Jonelle is a pleasure to work with and wastes no time getting into useful tools for observing and using body posture. A single class with Jonelle left me dissecting body postures for weeks.
In a private session, Jonelle was instrumental in helping me develop a character for a extensive role by helping me ground my character in body postures — which allowed me to go in and out of a difficult character over four intense 12-hour filming days. Jonelle is one of those professionals you want working in your corner as an actor.”
Ashlyn Kusch
Actor
“Jonelle’s workshops have taught me how to work with my tension, not against it, and to see my body (especially my spine) as a moving thing, as opposed to striving to hold the “correct” posture all the time. This made a huge difference on camera! I felt so much more grounded after her sessions, her teaching style is very supportive and she encourages a dialogue.
I also found that using tension to access emotion continues to be the most useful way to drop in on camera, especially if I need to be in a heightened emotional state off the top.
I’d recommend her workshops to anyone!”
Monique cote
Actor
“Working with Jonelle in her movement class really opened up my eyes to a part of acting I never paid attention to nor did I know had such significance on performance. From learning the basic alignment of our spines and bodies, body warm ups, different techniques to feel and be more open, etc., I feel so much better about my body and being grounded when acting. She is also an excellent teacher who is kind, considerate, intellectual, and coached each of us one on one in a very helpful and connective way. I highly recommend this class and Jonelle to anyone wanting to explore this part of acting more!”