Kristen Mun-Van Noy can teach you how to fight.

But it’s all in the name of art.

If you’ve ever seen a stage production at Portland’s local theaters like Portland Center Stage with lots of action or fights, you’ve probably seen her work, though you might not have realized it.

That’s because the actors performing the stunts all learned the fight choreography from her.

Mun-Van Noy teaches actors how to fight on stage — including how to throw and take a punch, and how to use weapons like knives and swords safely.

“I often describe stage combat as a sport,” she said.

She teaches everyone, from students at McDaniel High School putting on a simple production of “The Three Musketeers,” to professionally trained actors putting on a show for hundreds of people.

To date, she’s worked with companies like PCS, Profile Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre and Oregon Children’s Theatre.

“It’s just so much fun because true stage combat that actually looks good is because two people trust each other immensely to do this very dangerous thing,” she said.

According to Mun-Van Noy, fight choreography isn’t just about how well someone takes a punch on stage — it’s a coordinated dialogue between multiple people who put their trust in each other.

“If I am swinging a sword at you, I am not actually swinging it into your body so when you pull up your sword to block, you’re not actually stopping force coming into you,” she said. “And what that ends up meaning for the people who are fighting is that it’s truly a dance at that point.”

That’s why she stresses the importance of safety, trust and communication whenever she rehearses with the actors.

“A lot of times, actors will not know each other and they have to get into this big physical violent scene with each other,” she said. “But I have often found that through training over and over and over again, that trust builds.”

So how does she teach her actors to safely fight on stage? It starts from the ground up.

“I like to know what the set looks like, what are they wearing, what time period is it in? I read the whole script so I can know who is fighting. Are they a good fighter, are they a bad fighter?” she said.

Her rehearsals are usually small, with a few people. But Mun-Van Noy commands a big presence in the studio because she knows that in order to keep people safe, she needs to be the voice of authority.

“I’m not some masculine-identifying person who’s 6 feet tall and has a large martial arts background. I’m just me!” she said. “And I can teach you how to look scary.”

Once she learns about the characters in the production and their motivations, she workshops with the actors to bring them to life.

Sometimes the work is through dialogue. Other times, it’s through movement. But the point of the workshops is to bring out the most authentic characters for the production.

Then, through repetition, the actors learn the stunt choreography with Mun-Van Noy supervising.

“Fight directing is not just the moves, but what’s the story that you’re telling as well,” she said.

Mun-Van Noy changes her teaching styles depending on the actors — if they’re professional actors, she trusts them to understand and pick up on the moves quickly.

If they’re high school students, she typically goes a little slower, simplifying the moves.

During a 2024 production of “The Three Musketeers” at McDaniel, Mun-Van Noy spent a few days teaching the students how to properly move and utilize the prop swords and knives with confidence.

“At the end of the day, I step away and I’m done. So they have to embody the fight in a way that makes them feel good, and if they feel good about it, then they remember it,” she said.

Mun-Van Noy didn’t grow up thinking she would be a stunt and fight coordinator.

Born and raised in Hawaii, she took a stunt class at the University of Hawaii when she was 18 years old after her high school drama teacher advised her to take the course.

While she had a lot of fun and learned a great deal from the class, she didn’t think she would pursue stage combat as a career.

But she enjoyed the immense confidence she felt when using prop weapons and fighting on stage and continued her studies in college.

“I really enjoy receiving action, which means I’m the one reacting to fights and choreography. I’m in control of what this violence looks like on stage, and so therefore I get to tell this story,” she said.

While attending Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Mun-Van Noy further honed her skills under the tutelage of her first fight mentor, Chris DuVal.

During her senior year, she worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where she met her other fight mentor, Jonathan Toppo.

In 2009, she graduated with a BFA in stage management and started working with theater companies around the state.

“Chris and Toppo were the type of people who trusted me immediately and wanted my opinion about the work that was being done,” she said. “They taught me not just about the fundamentals, but also how to be a human in the room when you are doing the hardest part of the play.”

After years of training and earning certifications from Dueling Arts International, a nonprofit that trains people in stage combat, Mun-Van Noy made a home for herself in Portland.

Outside of Oregon, Mun-Van Noy managed theatres including Idaho Repertory Theatre, the Actors Theatre of Louisville and Denver Center of Performing Arts.

She said that fight choreography gave her the confidence to stand up for herself and feel strong, especially as a woman of color.

“As a femme identifying person, I have the control within the fight scene to say that this is scary, this is dangerous, or I am the hero. I am powerful, I am strong. And I can do that with stage combat,” she said.

Along with teaching actors, Mun-Van Noy also trains other stunt performers.

“I truly love fight choreography in the city, but I also am excited for the day that I’m not the only fight choreographer and that there’s an abundance of work that is shared between many artists,” she said.

Mun-Van Noy currently trains a small group of apprentices in stage combat. They meet regularly to work on skills and different fighting techniques like how to fall safely and how to wield large, blunted weapons safely onstage.

“I love messing around and I love doing theatrical things and playing with the fights. But when we’re learning together that we are all taking it seriously and we’re all in it,” she said.

Among them are actors and stunt performers like Maddie Tran, who became an apprentice in 2020.

“Kristen choreographed a show that I did in college … and she reached out to me in 2020 to ask if I wanted to be an apprentice. And I was literally so over the moon about that,” Tran said.

Actor Matthew Sepeda joined the group to learn more about how to control his body while moving.

“Something about fighting or those kinds of movements, I would always get very excited or just out of control. And it really helped me just help center myself into my body,” he said.

For Jacquelle Davis, working as a stunt coordinator offered her more steady work along with being an actor.

“I’m always going to be working as an actor, but when I’m not, this also allows me to do another aspect in theater,” she said.

And as for Adam Mun-Van Noy, who’s not just a student, but also Kristen’s husband, fight training has given him new skills that he gets to teach to others.

“There’s so many things that I enjoy about all the skills that we’ve learned and when we get together and we get to sandbox and try new things and overcome challenges,” he said.

For Kristen, working with her husband, doing what they both love, has been a joy.

“When he first started training with me, we were student and teacher, and now we’re a husband and wife like duo. So when we walk into a room as teachers, we’re co-choreographers, and it’s been really lovely,” she said.

In fact, fight choreography has been such an important part of their lives, that during their wedding, instead of a first dance, they had a first fight.

“Yes. The rumors are true. I wanted to turn our first dance into a fight!” Adam laughed.

For Kristen Mun-Van Noy, stunt choreography stage combat isn’t about cool stunts. It’s about gaining confidence in yourself. Confidence comes from knowing that you can be a strong person regardless of your size or how you identify yourself.

“If you are femme or nonbinary or you felt like stage combat wasn’t something that you could do but you’re interested in it, I want you to know that it’s yours as well,” she said. “It doesn’t just belong to the people who are super fit or super athletic or you know masculine , it’s for everybody.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/21/fight-choreography-kristen-mun-van-noy/