discussed Shakespeare, whose presence in the guild feels like the tide – rising and falling. Careful reading is crucial, even in translations by our great authors, where precise insights can be found.
How fortunate that alongside the guild, our reading club thrives! Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece are filling us now, and I see the tension on the learners’ faces.
Everything is a process.
June 9, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
Our second lesson on Psychological Gesture.
In the previous class, we approached PG through the lens of the Feeling of Wholeness.
I firmly believe that jumping straight to applying PG to a character or action verb robs learners of deeper understanding. First, one must grasp the essence of the gesture – recognizing that it can be drawn from any source, living or inanimate.
Today, we explored PGs of different characters. We began with PG for Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky, looking at his portrait. Each learner expressed their interpretation through gesture, based on their personal feelings. Then came a cascade of other characters.
But the most important moment happened at the end.
I asked each learner to see themselves as a character. We detached from our bodies and observed ourselves from the outside to uncover the essence of our personal character.
For many, PGs began to emerge organically. They were open and sincere in their manifestations.
To conclude, I asked them to feel the Tints they associate with their own character.
Standing in a circle with their eyes closed, I said:
“Perhaps what you felt did not bring you joy. But this character (you) is not yet at the middle of their journey. Let us hope that most of their story is still ahead. Where they go and who they become depends on every decision you make from this moment forward.”
This inspired and uplifted them – the realization that everything depends on them.
June 10, 2024: Creative Residency in Samarkand
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
To be honest, I was worried about missing a class due to my creative residency, but the learners stayed in touch, which was a wonderful surprise!
I gave them a challenging task, which turned out to be perfect timing as we near the closing of the guilds.
I am now in beautiful Samarkand. The local architecture and culture are inspiring.
It’s fascinating how theater is perceived differently in different places.
I am facing a personal challenge – working with a new team and trying to introduce a different culture to the concept of Psychological Gesture and embodying an image through body and mind.
Every person is unique, and I am certain that these new experiences will enhance my professional skills, which I will bring back to Moscow.
Book Club / Roxana Ruinskaya:
People create gods. The more they worship, the grander the gods become – their thrones gilded, their cloaks more opulent.
Myths are filled with fateful punishments.
For example, Marsyas died because of a cursed flute, and Actaeon became prey instead of a hunter.
But it seems their punishments were not really for directly offending the gods.
Some divine actions resemble children’s games – stealing cows and pretending to be asleep.
In myths, youth is the ultimate treasure.
To be beautiful is to be young.
June 10, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
Today’s session was extended by an hour due to the absence of Elizaveta Yuryevna, who traveled for a creative residency in Tashkent.
We began with a poem by a new participant, Angelina, who turned out to be a delightful surprise for our guild.
Then, our session naturally shifted from exercises to a short performance.
Many participants saw, from the outside, things they usually overlook when completely absorbed in interacting with a partner.
From the unconscious, deep and intense narratives emerged, making it a privilege to witness them.
In the interaction between Nini and Alina, I saw Salome’s dance before Herod.
But it was not a mere illustration – it was a concentrated expression of inner processes, a reminder of the premonition of loss, the kind you sense long before it happens.
June 11, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
Today’s session was tense. I had to be strict.
I cannot understand how an actor-in-training can allow himself to chat with a girl while the teacher is answering an important question – all while standing barely a meter away from me, looking right at me.
Then I caught another learner using her phone.
When I directly confronted her, she lied. I quickly exposed it.
Interestingly, both incidents occurred while I was trying to convey something crucial.
They simply weren’t ready to hear it.
This is neither good nor bad – just a fact.
By the end, several learners came to apologize for their peers’ behavior and thanked me for the lesson.
Even the girls in the hallway said:
“How wonderful that today you were so strict! We needed that.”
Well then, I will continue to educate.
I will have to introduce new measures.
They have only themselves to blame.
Book Club / Pavel Safronov:
“When religious fanaticism reaches the point of self-mutilation or even self-immolation, it would be sheer ignorance to claim that the mythological triggers at play are nothing more than mere invention.”
Trade is theft.
The speed of a nerve impulse in myelinated nerves reaches 120 meters per second or 430 kilometers per hour.
There’s something in Narcissus and Pygmalion.
“Beauty kills beautifully.” Beauty… Could it all be in a single glass? Maybe with ice? What is it that resonates within us in response to harmonious noise? Maybe that is what makes us human.
I can’t remain indifferent to Hermes. Why is he such a scoundrel? He gets away with everything and will continue to – until someone kills him.
And Ares… So little is said about him, yet he is the most intriguing – the antihero. He is the only one I believe in; he is real because he suffers.
June 11, 2024: Creative Residency in Samarkand
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
Today, there was a surprise for the learners! The topic of physical release and removing tension remains relevant, so I asked for a ballroom dance masterclass to be held.
Here’s