Steve Wei is the Next Speaker in the Mudd Lecture Series Wei, a stage combat instructor, will host a workshop on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.

By Emily Innes
January 16, 2024

Steve Wei, choreographer and stage combat instructor, will host a workshop on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. in the W&L Dance Studio located at 109 South Jefferson Street as part of W&L’s Mudd Center for Ethics’ series on the “Ethics of Design.”

Wei’s workshop, titled “Consent for Performance: Ethical Touch in Collaboration,” is open to the W&L community and registration is required.

Based in Philadelphia, Wei has been a fight director, choreographer, performer and instructor for more than a decade. They are devoted to an artistic culture that promotes the ethical production of dramatic violence and the practice of activism-based artistry.

In telling stories of violence on the stage and screen, actors are called to interact in personal, if not intimate ways. Wei’s workshop will address the challenges of choreographing these physical interactions, and how to navigate personal boundaries and consent in high-performance environments. Workshop participants can expect to break down the process of embodying ethical partnered movement through practical communication, practice and exploration.

“One aspect of design is to thoughtfully build the supports that allow complex human interactions to go well,” said Karla Murdock, director of the Mudd Center. “By guiding us through considerations and skills that shape ethically-staged interactions, Steve Wei will seed a mindset that can inform how we approach other physical and emotional contacts in our lives.”

Wei is currently an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, a non-profit dedicated to promoting safety and fostering excellence in the art of stage combat, and serves as co-coordinator for the Philadelphia Stage Combat Workshop. They have choreographed and performed in numerous productions throughout the greater Philadelphia area, and their educational work has reached students of all ages across the United States.

For more information the Ethics of Design series and a complete schedule of events, visit the series webpage.

The Mudd Center was established in 2010 through a gift to the university from award-winning journalist Roger Mudd, a 1950 graduate of W&L. By facilitating collaboration across traditional institutional boundaries, the center aims to encourage a multidisciplinary perspective on ethics informed by both theory and practice. Previous Mudd Center lecture series topics have included Global Ethics in the 21st Century, Race and Justice in America, The Ethics of Citizenship, Markets and Morals, Equality and Difference, The Ethics of Identity, The Ethics of Technology, Daily Ethics and Beneficence.