ARTHUR YORINKS(APT Artistic Director) has written and directed foropera, theater, dance, film, and radio. He has collaborated with Philip Glass, Richard Forman, Andre Serban, Jim Simpson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Powell and such actors as Sigourney Weaver, Adam Driver, Francis McDormand, Lois Smith, Brandon Dirden, David Hyde Pierce, Tony Shalhoub, F. Murray Abraham, Dana Ivey, Peter Gerety, Jay O. Sanders, Maryann Plunkett, Danny Burstein, the dance companies Pilobolus, the Hartford Ballet and many others. His work has been produced at The Kennedy Center, The Flea Theater, The Greene Space, The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, and other theaters around the country. Yorinks founded APT after working for over two years with a group of gifted physical actors to explore and define this uniquely American artform: APT / American Physical Theater.
HASSIEM MUHAMMAD (APT Associate Artistic Director and Performing Company Member) is a graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, is an award-winning actor, movement specialist, and podcast host. He can be seen on episodes of CBS’s Blue Bloods, FBI, and Madam Secretary. His most recent accolade came from performing in The Tempest at Round House Theatre, for which he received a Helen Hayes Award for Best Supporting Performer. His podcast, The Actor’s Instrument: Tools for the Long Game, has been recognized by Feedspot as one of the top podcasts for actors. Hassiem is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and the SAFD.
YO-EL CASSELL (APT Performing Company Member) is the head of Movement for Boston University’s College of Fine Arts School of Theatre. Mr. Cassell is a prolific hearing-impaired artist with accomplished experiences as a dancer performer, choreographer, movement Director, director, movement coach, and educator for Theatre (Drama, Physical and Musical Theatre), Dance, Opera and Film. His actions align with his collaborative and spirited mission of breaking through the boundaries of access via physical expression. Mr. Cassell’s unconventional teaching and creative approach encourages and champions the importance of how each individual’s physical instrument—their body–is the solution to expressing their inner landscape, balancing the essentiality of owning in equal measure: the expressive and informative self within the movement of creativity, performance, and life. Mr. Cassell developed The J.O.Y. approach in movement which practices the importance of embracing and embodying JOY– not so much in relationship to a feeling but rather to a mindset—a “J”ourney “O”f “Y”outh . . . allowing one to embrace the thought pattern of a child, particularly the curious, explorative, creative and imaginative.
