Aimee Blesing is a Senior Lecturer in the Theatre & Dance Department, specializing in acting, voice, movement and dialects. Currently Aimee teaches Introduction to the Art of Acting (THDA442), Acting 1 (THDA551), Movement and Vocal Production (THDA570), Dialects (THDA670), Period and Style (THDA759). Aimee is a professional actor, singer, director, and voice, speech and dialect coach, and her instruction is influenced by these many areas of expertise. Since arriving at UNH in 2010, Aimee has directed The Comedy of Errors, A Far Shore (Woodward International Playwriting prize reading), 7 Boxes of Books (original devised piece), Hotel Jerusalem (Woodward International Playwriting prize reading), Dancing at Lughnasa, and Meyerhold (Woodward International Playwriting prize reading). She has also directed UNH's touring theatre for young audience productions Into the Grim, Fabled and Through the Door. Productions she has worked on as dialect coach include Spoon River Anthology, The Memory of Water, Betrayal, The Crucible, Our Town, Old Times, Shrek: The Musical, Lizzie the Musical, Bright Star and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Aimee has served on multiple committees within the Theatre and Dance Department including the Curriculum, Recruitment/Alumni Relations, and ArtsReach committees, along with the Woodward International Playwriting Competition Selection Committee and the Zornio Playwriting Competition Selection Committee. She has also been a faculty member for the department's Summer Camp Programming for several years. Aimee currently serves on the Theatre & Dance Department’s Committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Outside UNH Aimee has served on multiple community committees including the Dover Chamber of Commerce's Education committee and Cochecho Arts Festival committee, the City of Dover Arts Commission, and the Fringe Seacoast committee. With her own company, theatre.unmasked, Aimee directed Romeo & Juliet (2012, 2017), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014, 2015); she has coached Oleanna by David Mamet, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and Twelfth Night; and has appeared as an actress in Romeo & Juliet (Lady Capulet), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bottom), The Tempest (Prospera), Twelfth Night (Maria) and Into the Grim (Ensemble). She has also worked with local companies Theatre Kapow and Glass Dove Productions as an actress and dialect coach for productions, and teaches workshops in dialects, acting, voice and movement in New England schools and theatre companies.
Professionally, Aimee believes in the importance of continued development and exploration, and is a Certified Trainer of Lessac Kinesensic voice, speech and movement training, and an avid student of the work of Michael Chekhov. She has completed several trainings with Master Teacher Scott Fielding at the Michael Chekhov Actors Studio Boston, and aims to continue this training to certification when time allows. She is currently President of the Lessac Training and Research Institute.
Aimee is a passionate teacher who believes in everyone's right to learn, and infuses her classes with fun, insight and energy. Her students often comment on gaining skills they never expected to attain, and enjoy the playful yet professional nature of her approach to teaching the various arts of acting and performance.
