Viktorovich Dementyev:
Today, many learners arrived late to the lesson. I almost started lecturing them: “And why don’t I come late…” but stopped myself immediately. I realized how foolish and self-indulgent it would be to elevate myself in front of my learners by saying, “When I was your age…”
I recall, during my time at the Moscow Art Theatre School-Studio, our dean once said: “We secretly built a theater. We couldn’t walk into reception without carrying two bricks, and we’d leave with two bags of earth. We could only dump it in our own district so no one would suspect we were digging underground.” He was talking about creating the studio theater “Man.”
Why set myself as an example? I need to find another way to motivate them, to inspire them to arrive on time. That is the essence of high-level pedagogy. There’s no need for me to say I’m punctual – as the head of the course, it’s obvious I can’t be late.
Though, I must admit, I was terribly late to the very first lesson. I was mortified, even though I didn’t blame myself – I had calculated the travel time correctly to arrive by 3:50 PM! But we didn’t arrive until 4:30 PM! Everything was blocked, and on top of that, the driver took a wrong turn due to GPS glitches.
Fortunately, I wasn’t alone; the group leader, Olya Stashkevich, was with me, and she witnessed the situation. It turned out the President’s inauguration was taking place in the city, and in the end, it was the President who made me late for my very first lesson.
Let this tardiness become part of our history as well!
May 21, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
Today, we chose a calmer and more measured mode of existence. We focused on training where the body becomes a useless tool if one doesn’t think or imagine. Not everyone grasped this concept right away, but after about forty minutes, many found the right path, and the first breakthroughs in discovery occurred!
By the end of the session, we worked on the crucial concepts of contact and understanding. The task was for two people to be connected, with all their movements coordinated and comfortable for their partner. Many showcased great creativity, others took a simpler route, but contact was established, and no one got hurt!
Fabulist / Guild Learner – Mikhail Russkikh:
Greetings to you, wanderer!
We address you formally, it’s our tradition.
A compass, a couple of notebooks,
Indoor shoes (or just socks will do).
To rise in the ranks,
Tap “Sign Up” with your finger.
Dangerous items here include:
Laziness, prejudice, falseness, pride?
Deposit them in the cloakroom,
For here, under the banner of adventure,
With aspirations reaching vertical heights,
The need for such burdens will vanish into the abyss.
The unconscious, that mysterious force,
Reveals the image of a psycho-gesture,
Radiating deep feelings,
Unleashing the form of plastic expression!
A poetic, coherent spoiler —
Has it inflamed your imagination?
This is the first month; you are at the beginning,
The path is outlined – forget the goals!
There are no pills, no secrets.
Everything you need is already with you.
Fan the flame of knowledge,
Become the light of truth!
May 22, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
By sheer coincidence, our guild arranged a meeting with Alexey Igorevich Sheynin. From the moment I received the phone call to making my decision, only a few seconds passed. The meeting followed a well-trodden path for Alexey Igorevich – he always has a few prepared stories up his sleeve, ones he repeats from meeting to meeting. But this time, there was something new, and even I was surprised: it was Boris Pasternak’s poetry, which he hadn’t recited before. I must admit – it was the highest level of emotional artistry.
The questions from the learners revealed that most of them are still caught in clichéd narratives about the profession (I dislike that word). And what’s most interesting – they perceive everything said (each time) as dogma, even when the statements completely contradict one another. Of course, this is the easiest approach to take, except for one “but”: any adopted template always clashes with individuality and one’s true self.
By adopting the template of someone else’s established persona, they seem to console themselves for their own failures and dream of shining under different circumstances. We will work step by step to change this. Each of them has an inner core, a foundation upon which they must rely to face the challenges the future holds for all of us.
…And the first hour passes,
And though I don’t sleep, I dream —
The stage seems to sparkle,
And the choir (unexpectedly, though) sings.
And once again, my soul is overturned…
About what was said, about what was sung,
And summer seems so near,
And the time seems ripe for odes…
– And though I don’t live, still I live!
I see so much, I breathe,
And even rejoice a little.
And though the lair feels empty,
And my heart beats in unison —
But only with the clock on the wall…
I will not ask forgiveness from God.
And at times, I do not want to know
What rattles in the windowpane.
I’m there, I’m here – in the flames.
…And the first hour passes,
And though I don’t sleep, I dream —
The stage seems to sparkle,
And the choir (unexpectedly, though) sings.
And once again, my soul is overturned.
Yulia Vorobyeva
Book Club:
Starting today, the guild concludes its study of Carl Gustav Jung’s On the Psychology of the Unconscious. The next book for exploration will be announced in early June.
May 26, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
There’s no need to act or perform anything – you simply evoke the Tint and become the feeling.
How sad it is that our institutions don’t provide these tools. They demand feeling, but how? Only through personal experience…
Recently, a student shared an experience from a lesson at a film school. The teacher, a distinguished artist of Russia, was asked how to play fear. Her answer? She suggested the student imagine being at Crocus City Hall