NSU Horizons Fall 2018

28 NSU HORIZONS NSU Family Finds Lots of Uses for Improv Training The first word Alexandra Zadak, B.A., uses to describe herself is “anxious.” Yet, during the course of our interview she is smooth, the words flowing with barely a breath. Even sitting under a blazing sun, Zadak appears cool and comfortable. Her speech and mannerisms are expressive. She admits, “I cover my anxiety well with talking.” But there’s more to it than that—Zadak uses improvisation. Improvisation, or improv, is the act of creating something with little to no preparation. It’s most commonly used in theater and stage comedy. Zadak’s first exposure to it was the TV series, Whose Line Is It Anyway? While improv as entertainment has been around since the Roman Empire, today it’s being put to practical use in business, education, and therapeutic applications. Before starting their company in 2015, Zadak and her sister, Angelica, who also has a B.A., used improv to solve problems and brainstorm ideas for school projects. The sisters are both alumnae of NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Alexandra – who graduated with a major in theatre and a minor in psychology, credits her training at NSU and at Chicago’s famous improv theatre, The Second City, for developing her confidence and skills. “Professor Mark Duncan is the one that got us into Second City. He received training there and told us it was a great opportunity. Going there opened up 30 other doors.” The Zadak sisters’ business, This is Improv!, was created with the idea of bringing more arts into Davie. They envisioned a fun and entertaining space where members of the community could go to enjoy themselves. Additionally, Zadak had a desire to use improv to help people suffering from anxiety, so they added workshops and drama therapy to their list of services. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. Most people suffer from some amount of social anxiety. Zadak enjoys using drama therapy to help people feel more comfortable in situations such as interviewing for a job, public speaking, or interacting with new people. She especially loves when her clients surprise themselves by opening up. Aimee Sanchez-Zadak, Ed.D., is the behavioral specialist at This is Improv!. She also happens to be Zadak’s mother and a professor at NSU’s College of Psychology. Currently, Sanchez-Zadak sits in on all drama therapy sessions, but Zadak hopes to relieve her mother of the position someday. After graduating in June 2108, she’s chosen to take a year off to focus on growing her business, and plans on returning to NSU to obtain a master’s degree in psychology. In addition to drama therapy, This is Improv! offers corporate workshops to help employees improve their interactions with clients. Nationwide, companies like Google, PepsiCo, Cisco, and Facebook have utilized this type of training with great success. This is Improv! has worked with local organizations such as the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation and the Dan Marino Foundation. “My favorite is when we go into a corporate training, and you’ve got these suits that are just sitting there looking so bored. Once they realize what you’re doing, they’re like, ‘This is great!’ Five minutes later we’ve got one guy calling himself Captain Canada and a quiet woman telling her team, for the first time, that she has 10 kids.” It’s clear by the end of our interview that, despite her anxiety, Zadak is passionate about working with people. When asked why she describes herself as “anxious” over “creative,” she said, “To some extent, everyone is creative. I never put it past some very quiet hermit to tell me three things about his life that are surprising.” ¨ BY MERLY MESA ALUMNI PROFILE Act Like You’re Not Nervous