Background Information

Knights of Iron director, L. Dale Walter, has been involved in stage combat and swordplay for over 20 years and is currently the fight director for the Silver Leaf Renaissance Fair. During his career Dale has trained actors for numerous stage performances, and he and his students have appeared in film and on television as well. Dale has also served as fencing coach for both the University of Detroit Mercy, and Michigan State University.

Dale relies on his extensive training in martial arts, with belts in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Tai Chi, coupled with the sword training received under Maestro Charles Schmitter, and Head Coach Fred Freiheit, while on the Varsity Fencing team at Michigan State University, to allow him to bring realism and the immediacy of an actual armed duel to life in his stage choreography.

Beginning his stage combat career in the 1980’s, Dale quickly saw an opportunity, and utilizing his horseback riding skills, founded the Excalibur Medieval Equestrian Team. One of the first joust teams in the country, Excalibur went on to perform over 500 armored jousting exhibitions to the delight of crowds across the Midwest.

In the 1990’s his focus returned to stage where took over the task of technical theatre director, designing the stage sets, lighting, sound, and special effects for shows such as Anything Goes, Rumors, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Damn Yankees, and State Fair.

In the late 1990’s Dale again saw an opportunity, this time for a professional stage combat team that combined the acting skills of a repertory theatre company, with the excitement of stage combat. Out of this vision, Knights of Iron were born. Given his long theatrical background, it is no surprise that Dale places heavy emphasis on acting ability, and is insistent on making sure that the emotions underlying a swordfight are as clear as the movement of the swords themselves. Since their formation in 2000, his Knights of Iron have performed over 2500 swordfights at events across the country.

Dale performs regularly with his Knights at numerous renaissance and medieval festivals. He has been in over 30 theatrical stage productions, and has performed roles as diverse as Porthos in The Three Musketeers, The Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Kenickie in Grease, and Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Dale's education background includes a BA from Michigan State University, and an MBA from the University of Miami, Florida, where he completed a triple major in Strategic Management, Marketing, and Business Law. He is currently President of Trans Tube, Inc. a corporation that designs and builds weapons systems for the Military.

Other interests include his amazing left handed guitar collection (which is reported to be the largest in the world) pinball machines, motorcycles, and his car collection featuring a mint condition 1969 Corvette Convertable, a 1954 Pontiac Chieftain, and a BMW Z4 Roadster. When not working Dale is an avid snowboarder, and hopes to top his 57 days on the slopes snowboarding in 2006-07 by at least 10% this season.