The Art of Acting and Creating

“As Michael [Chekhov]’s pupil, I learned more then acting... Every time he spoke, the world seemed to become bigger and more exciting... Acting became an art that increased your life and mind.”

Marilyn Monroe

Download AAC Program:
AAC Program [3.288 KB]
Download Infos and application form Module IV in Groznjan/Croatia:
AAC Infos application form Croatia 2010 [37 KB] A Training for Performers and Creators

This programme addresses people in the performing arts such as actors, directors, writers, dancers, singers, clowns, drama teachers etc.

People with a professional interest in creativity and communication are invited to share their knowledge in an interdisciplinary dialogue between the arts.

This training programme offers professional and direct access to your imagination, it intensifies your practical tools as a means of pursuing your own creative path.

Participation will demand an open-minded attitude, artistic curiosity and the willingness to work with your body. Hvae the courage to set yourself off-balance!



Structure
"The Art of Acting and Creating" is designed as a part-timecourse with 5 different thematic modules and one project.

- Each module lasts a week ( 5-6 days) and will be taught in different European locations. Starting in Croatia, Germany and Denmark, other countries will follow.
- The programme starts in August 2009. It will be repeated in two years.
- Each module is respectively designed as an entrance to the whole programme.
Participants can take part at theit own pace and their own sequence. They can start
whenever and whereever convenient.
- In an extra project participants are encouraged to apply the technique to their own
professional environment.
- It is possible to apply for either the whole programme or for individual modules.
- Certification of completion will be given to participants who have taken the whole
programme.


The Programme :

Module I
Making Contact:
Body – Imagination – Emotion
August 25th to 30th 2009 - Groznjan (Istria/Croatia)

In order to make our work on stage authentic and alive, we need to get into contact with both our inner images and our emotions within seconds.
How do we create and embodyimages? How do they feed the emotional life of the character?

Imagination- Concentraion-Psycho-physical exercises- Gesture- Qualities of movement- Qualities, Sensations, Feelings- Ensemble

Module II
The Space of Creativity:
Creative Individuality – Atmosphere – Play
October 14th to 18th 2009 - Hamburg (Germany)

What happens when we dive into the world of a play and allow ourselves to be surprised by its specific dynamics, energy, language and space?
Working in the play´s atmosphere (“the soul of every piece of art”) we explore our own space of creativity and playfulness.

Focus- Space- Personal and objective Atmosphere- Playfulness- Higher Self- Sense of Ease, Form ,Beatuy and the Whole

Module III
Me is The Other:
Characterization – Transformation – Psychological Gesture
March 27- 31, 2010- Copenhagen,Denmark

“All true artists bear within themselves a deeply rooted and often unconscious desire for transformation.” (Michael Chekhov)

When children play games we can observe this desire to transform and to change – they loose themselves in play and fully commit themselves to another world.
The “Other” (i.e. the character in a play) is always larger than the personal experience of the performer. The Psychological Gesture enables the actor to express and embody the character´s objectives in anew way.

Imaginary Body- Imaginary Centre- Archetypal Gestures- Thinking, Feeling, Willing- Psychological Gesture

Module IV
Communion with the Audience:
Giving – Receiving – Sharing
August 25-30, 2010- Groznjan (Istria/Croatia)

Whatever we create on stage, we are creating not for ourselves but for others: for the audience. We want to give.
When developing a production or a piece – what are your intentions and aims? What are the questions of your audience ? What can you give them? Do you enjoy giving? Are you generous?

Radiating and Receiving- Objective- Physical articulation- The Voice of the Ensemble- Complicity- Generosity


Module V
The Architecture of Performance
Improvisation- Composition- Style
January 2011- Place to be announced

" In nature and art, there are mathematical laws and principles that structure and balance form" (Mala Powers)
A feeling for Composition and Style makes these principles visible. It gives the exppression of ideas, movements, shapes, and colours a deeper meaning.
The style of a Moliere Comedy demands a different approach than Greek tragedy or a Brecht drama.

Rehearsing and directing - Text, Movement, Masks- Improvisation- Composition- Tempo/Rhythm- Pause- Style- Applying the technique to different genres


Project:
What I have to say

“The basic necessary ingredients (of the artistic process):
1. you need something to say;
2. you need technique; and
3. you need passion.”
(Anne Bogart )
With this training program we want to experience the benefits of the Michael Chekhov Technique in your own work.
Therefore participants are asked to develope an individual project in their own working field. The project will be supervised by one of the teachers.

Crossing the threshold- My own Voice- Intention- Technique and Passion- Structure- Sense of Truth- Exchange between Arts
_________________________________________________________________________

Michael Chekhov Summer Retreat
August 2010 - Groznjan (Istria/Croatia)

In addition to the main programme we offer an inspirational week for anyone who is professionally interested in aesthetics, body and image work.
In an interdisciplinary dialogue, the Michael Chekhov Technique meets other approaches to creativity- such as psychology, architecture, painting, social and community work, religion, philosophy, human developement etc.
The retreat will take place in the scenic medeval village of Groznjan in the Istrian mountains near the Adriatic coast.


Tuition fees for all modules
Euro 380,- per week (Aug. + Oct.2009, March 2010)
Euro 420,- per week (as of Aug.2010)
Accomodation and food are not included.
We will be happy to help you find inexpensive accomodation

Information
Ulrich Meyer-Horsch
Arnoldstrasse 77
22763Hamburg, Germany
+49 40 394964
ulrich@michaelchekhoveurope.eu


Faculty

Suzana Nikolić
*1965, Actress, Professor for Voice and Speech,
Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb

A graduate of the Academy of Dramatic Art and a Fulbright scholar at NYU – Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Acting Program. She has over 15 years of additional acting and voice training abroad.
Suzana’s current position at the Academy of Dramatic Art is full time Professor and Head of Voice and Speech Department. She is a Founder and Artistic director of Performing arts Studio Etra.
Her acting credits include theatre performances, feature films, television films & serials, as well as radio. She is an award winning actress.
Suzana's organizational and producing credits includes over a dozen international workshops, most of them concerning voice and speech work and Michael Chekhov Acting Technique.
Suzana has being certificated as a teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique in 2004 by MICHA, USA. She works professionally with the Technique for over ten years.
Contact: suzana@adu.hr; Tel: (+385) 1 4635323



Ulrich Meyer-Horsch *1963, Actor and Director.
Artistic Director of Michail Cechov Schauspielstudio Hamburg

Has been working in German theatre for almost twenty years:
Theater Kiel, Theater Lübeck, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Altonaer Theater, Komödie Düsseldorf, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. His latest production, Bertolt Brecht’s “A Man’s a Man”, has appeared at Lichthof Theater Hamburg (Pegasus Award 2008).
Ulrich holds diplomas in Theology, Philosophy and Theatre Pedagogic from the Universities of Heidelberg, Hamburg, London (King’s College) and Kiel. He has been trained and worked with artists such as Simon McBurney and Complicite, Philippe Gaulier, Augusto Boal, Bread & Puppet Theatre, Lorna Marshall and Yoshi Oida.
Ulrich learned the Michael Chekhov Technique during his training at Schule für Schauspiel Hamburg as well as from Chekhov’s direct students Hurt Hatfield, Deidre Hurst du Prey, Joanna Merlin, Mala Powers and Jack Colvin. He went to study with MICHA (USA) and has been working with the Technique since 1990 all over Europe as well as in Brazil.
Contact: umeyerhorsch@gmx.de; Tel: (+49) 40 18032346 and (+49) 40 394964


Jesper Michelsen
*1975, Director and Acting Coach,
Artistic Director of Glad Teater – Copenhagen

Originally trained as an actor, over the last ten years Jesper has been working mostly as an acting coach, director, dramaturge and producer in many different projects. He has been working with the MC Technique in various workshops and programmes since 2003, teaching MC Technique alone or combined with Meisner- and other techniques. Jesper is the co-founder of Glad Teater, a professional theater and acting school for people with handicaps in Copenhagen. Beside the practical work, Jesper holds a BA in theatre studies and pedagogic from University of Copenhagen.
His special interest alongside training actors is the use of the body and the imagination in human development and creativity.
Contact: jesperjaever@gmail.com; Tel: (+45) 21829999

Guest Teachers
Guest Teachers will be invited for special topics and occasions.