About Fool's Academy

Fool’s Academy is Christina Gelsone and WT McRae. WT trained in theatre at Adelphi University, and Christina trained at the Dell’ Arte School of Physical Theatre after receiving her degree in English from Princeton University. Both teachers and performers, Christina has performed in over a dozen countries including Afghanistan and China while WT has performed for school children all over the US (including over 40,000 kids in 200 schools in the NY area). As teachers, we have taught Drama and English, Theatre and History, Theatre as Conflict Resolution, Acrobatics, Shakespeare, Circus, Clowning, and Improvisation to children ranging in ages from pre-school to high-school and even college. Together we are acrobats, jugglers, and very funny-looking clowns with a mission to make learning fun.

Each of our shows has something to teach, and we try to do so while providing a lot of hands-on fun. After researching NY state curriculum we devise our programs to reinforce specific pieces of that curriculum. We use clowning and circus skills to make learning fun. The shows are filled with audience participation because we have found that if students participate both from the audience and on stage they get more involved. We hope that we can provide teachers and students with extra tools to reinforce their work in the classroom.

We use a combination of juggling, acting, acrobatics, mime, and clowning to bring educational material to life. One of our goals in creating a show is to make sure that students get involved in every single scene. We hope to leave them interested in circus, theatre, and of course their own educations.