MICHA News 2011-2012

The Michael Chekhov Association
MICHA News
2011
Page 2
News
A Message from the President, Joanna Merlin
Greetings, dear friends and colleagues,
The critic, Stanley Crouch says, “Chance visits the prepared mind.” We have talked around this idea
in our workshops and how it applies to the actor, but Crouch’s articulation of the thought excited me
and led me to ask the questions: what is “chance”? What is “the prepared mind”? How do we prepare to invite that visitor and when does he or she accept the invitation?
I think of chance as being impulse, spontaneity, authenticity, freshness, inspiration - the unplanned the UNKNOWN. If we have experienced it in other actor’s performances or in our own, we know the
exhilaration of that experience. We yearn for those moments when we can let our body, voice and
spirit take over knowing that we have the security of our preparation which allows us the freedom to
fly into the unknown. To me, it is the ultimate goal of the artist.
Recently, I watched Yo-Yo Ma play a Mendelssohn Trio with two other great musicians, Itzhak
Perlman and Emanuel Ax. It was a live concert on television. As I watched and listened, my attention
kept focusing on Yo-Yo Ma. I became more and more enthralled. He embodied a kind of ecstasy
that went beyond words; his connection to his playing was a celebration of life; his body reverberated with the music; he was in a place of utter joyfulness: he breathed his own life into the sound;
the rhythm became the rhythm of life. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE WAS IN LOVE. (And so was I!) He
was in the unknown. His lifelong preparation had opened the door to chance, the visitor. And the
visitor was gorgeous!
Since Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest cellist in the world, that level of performance may be a bit of a stretch
for most of us. However, I believe the Michael Chekhov technique gives us the tools that are door
openers to the possibility of the unknown, to our own beauty and inspiration. The use of images,
movement, gesture, radiating and receiving, atmosphere, sensation, center, et al, can awaken us
and lift us out of the ordinary, the expected, the predictable, heighten our artistic imagination, and
lead us to inspired performances.
Looking forward to seeing you
in the unknown in 2012!
Warm regards,
MICHA President Joanna Merlin welcomes participants to MICHA’s 2011 Summer Workshop and Festival at Emerson
College in Boston.
Page 3
News
MICHA News for 2011
Expanding Online
From Coast to Coast
MICHA wasted no time in 2011,
kicking off the year right at the start of
January and right in the midsection of
the United States.
MICHA announced in late 2011 a
significant upgrade to its website
michaelchekhov.org.
In 2012, the site will stream video
from the Master Classes in the Michael
Chekhov Technique DVD series, on a
pay-per-view basis, making it very convenient for those who wish to view the
classes. MICHA will also include free
videos on the improved site. Watch for
it.
January 2011 saw another web innovation. This one from longtime
MICHA conference participant David
Haugen
Dawn Arnold’s Moving Dock Theatre
Company in Chicago hosted the first
of MICHA’s January workshops.
He conceived MichaelChekhovForum.com. David, from Ohio University,
told participants at this year’s summer
conference in Boston, “It’s an open
forum for teachers, actors and directors around the world.” The site is
available to anyone who attends a
MICHA workshop or contributes annual
dues.
The California State University Fresno
Summer Arts Faculty, pictured left to right
are Jessica Cerullo, Fern Sloan, Marjolein
Baars, course coordinator Hugh O’Gorman
and Dawn Arnold.
A Summer of MICHA
MICHA colleague Hugh O’Gorman
arranged for MICHA to be in residence
at California State University’s Summer
Arts Program in Fresno.
MICHA held three two-day workshops, focusing on different aspects
of the technique. First, it was Chicago,
Jan. 2 and 3, where Dawn Arnold and
Anne Gottlieb led a session called
The Michael Chekhov Technique in
Rehearsal. “It was evident to all in
attendance how practical this technique is in bringing the text and inner
life of the actor really to life,” said
Alicia Hall-Flesch, who participated in
Chicago.
As Hugh put it, “For two gesturepacked weeks, more than 30 students
from around the country came together
to explore the work of Michael Chekhov.” They worked for 12 hours a day
focusing on “the fundamentals of the
technique for the first week,” Hugh
said. During the second week, “They
incorporated the elements into a publicly shared culminating event, wholly
devised by the students themselves
from their psychophysical explorations,” he added.
Next, it was Long Beach, California, where Joanna Merlin and Jessica
Cerullo taught psychological gesture
on Jan. 8 and 9. Finally, Ted Pugh
and Fern Sloan headed up a Boston
workshop called Investigating, Exploring and Creating a Character held
Jan. 15-16.
MICHA faculty was honored to participate along with teacher-artists representing organizations and companies
ranging from the Steppenwolf School,
to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to
the Kronos Quartet and Pixar Animation.
See a full list of participants on
page 11.
Above is a screen capture from MichaelChekhovForum.com, a website conceived
by David Haugen of Ohio University, for
members of the MICHA community. Here,
David teaches “Using the Backspace.”
Find more pictures on the next page
and a list of participants on page 11.
P a g e
4
News
MICHA 2011
Continued...
New Opportunity for Teachers
From June 9 through 12, MICHA
faculty members Ted Pugh and Fern
Sloan led experienced student-teachers
in a four-day exploration of the art of
teaching the Michael Chekhov technique.
Held at the Alexander Technique
Center for Performance and Development on New York City, this advanced
teacher training was open by application
only. The workshop was well-received
and will be offered again in the Spring of
2012. A detailed article chronicling the
workshop can be found on page 10.
Above: Participants and faculty at the
California State University Summer
Arts Program in Fresno with To The
Actor in hand. Above left and Right:
Fresno Summer Arts students at
work in June and July 2011.
Below and Left: Participants and faculty at MICHA’s Advanced Teacher
Training workshop in New York in
June 2011.
Page 5
News
MICHA 2011 Summer in Boston
The Gathering
MICHA’s spotlight each year moves
clearly to its annual Summer Workshop
and Festival, held this year for the first
time in Boston, on the campus of Emerson College, July 31 through Aug. 5.
Frequent MICHA conference participant and Emerson College faculty member Craig Mathers was the host. It was
the best attended MICHA event ever
with more than 90 participants.
The faculty included Joanna Merlin,
Ted Pugh, Fern Sloan, Lenard Petit, L to R: David Haugen, Peggy Coffey, Joanna Merlin, Max Hafler, Nick Mangano, Suzanne
Ragnar Freidank, John McManus, Jes- Hunt-Jenner. Joanna presented each with their MICHA certificates of completion, on the final
sica Cerullo and Anne Gottlieb. Dawn day of the MICHA International Workshop in Boston.
Arnold, Lionel Walsh and Craig Mathers
also offered workshops. Bethany
Caputo, Ulrich Meyer-Horsch, Deborah
The Marketplace
Robertson and Sinead Rushe led the
warm-ups each morning.
As is custom at MICHA summer
workshops, the faculty offered each participant a “Marketplace” of classes. It
was an opportunity for students to
chose some of their own curriculum, to
work with other participants and teachers beyond the scope of their tracks,
and to craft a journey to best suit their
own needs.
This year’s host Craig Mathers welcomes
summer workshop participants to the campus
and wonderful facilities at Emerson College
in Boston.
This year’s workshop ran for five
days with a two-fold track. There was a
teacher training session that culminated
in an opportunity for each participant to
teach Michael Chekhov work to other
participants and then get feedback from
the faculty. There also were the accustomed actor sessions, divided into
groups based on each individual’s familiarity with the work. These sessions
ranged in topics from psychological gesture, to creating atmospheres, creating
characters and creating ensemble, just
to name a few.
Many varied and widely popular sessions were offered, to name just a few,
on-camera auditioning with Joanna Merlin; exploring Shakespeare text with
John McManus; a personal journey with
Michael Chekhov with Joanna Merlin,
Fern Sloan and Jessica Cerullo.
Joanna Merlin’s On-Camera auditioning
workshop, offered in the Marketplace. She
showed how Chekhov work helps at every
stage of the actor’s process.
A Special Event This year, as the workshop wrapped up, participants made a
change to the usual “Kasputnik” night tradition of comedy improvs. Instead, everyone
joined together in singing The Harmony of the Stars, celebrating Joanna’s birthday. MICHA
participant and accomplished conductor Paul Christman secretly taught the three-part harmonies throughout the week. Pictured above, Joanna is surprised as she walks in on a
huge chorus that bursts into song.
Page 6
News
MICHA 2011
Summer in Boston continued...
Evening Activities
This year’s optional evening offerings were particularly varied.
Lionel Walsh of the University of
Windsor, and last year’s host, offered a
workshop on integrating Michael Chekhov technique into a curriculum. Craig
Mathers held a workshop/open rehearsal for his show I Might Be Edgar
Allen Poe. Dawn Arnold led a class in
what she described as her favorite exercise in the technique, Floating, Falling, Balancing.
Another offering came in the form of
a screening and panel discussion.
Faculty member Ragnar Freidank
oversaw production of a film this past
year called Eugene’s Ghosts, an adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s
Journey Into Night.
Members of the Actors Ensemble,
of which Fern Sloan and Ted Pugh are
co-artistic directors, rehearsed and
developed the stage version in residence at MICHA’s 2009 Rutgers workshop. The film also features Seamus
Maynard and Dale March.
Ragnar explained, “There was no
director on this film. Something directed what was going on. It had an
intelligence.”
Ted added, “There was so much
Dawn Arnold offers a workshop in Floating, Falling, Balancing in Boston, August 2011.
freedom given to the actor to just pick up
a camera… we were all grabbing cameras and doing that.” But he credited
Ragnar with direction saying, “There was
55 hours of film—Ragnar put it together.”
Fern explained with a couple of months
of rehearsal “we steeped ourselves so
much in the play, we had dug and dug so
deeply.”
Michael Chekhov technique and how
it fits with other styles of working was a
final evening offering.
Faculty member Anne Gottlieb had
appeared in Terence McNally’s Frankie
and Johnny at the Clair de Lune, several weeks before the conference. She
works in the Michael Chekhov technique, while her husband and scene
partner Bob Pemberton does not. Their
director Antonio Ocampo Guzman has
done extensive Linklater work. The
three came together and rehearsed
portions of the play for all the participants to watch and hear both their
shared and different vocabulary.
Bellow L to R: Anne Gottlieb, Bob Pemberton and director Antonio
Ocampo Guzman share their open rehearsal of the play Frankie and
Johnny at the Clair de Lune, which they had performed in Boston.
Above Left: Ragnar Freidank discusses the film Eugene’s Ghosts
screened at the summer workshop, while cast members Seamus
Maynard, Fern Sloan look on. Above right: A still from the film.
Page 7
News
MICHA 2011 Discovering the Theatre of the Future
Above, students and
faculty drop those distinctions in the Open
This year’s summer workshop es- Space to explore topsentially ended on a note that looked
ics of mutual interest.
A New Innovation
forward, specifically to the theatre of the
future.
At right, after individuals call for and schedule their varied sessions, all participants
make choices based on
topics, times and locaThe process employed the Open tions.
The five-day summer session was
immediately followed by a two-day series of sessions entitled The Theatre of
the Future, made up of 75 theatre artists
from 10 countries, working from 10 a.m.
to 10 p.m. on Aug. 6 and 7.
Space Technology, which allowed individuals to share their concerns or interests and find others who wished to explore the same topics. They were then
given the resources to do so.
Phelim McDermott, MICHA faculty
member and artistic director of the U.K.based theatre Improbable, first exposed
this technology to MICHA in 2006, using
it to facilitate a conversation about
struggles with the Chekhov technique.
In 2010, Jessica Cerullo attended a
four-day training session in how to facilitate an Open Space herself. Later that
year, during the Windsor workshop, she
held a one-time, one-afternoon session
where the concept took off. Those attending immediately found topics of mutual interest and paths they wish to
explore together.
This year Jessica facilitated the full
weekend. “In our first hour together, artists stood up and announced sessions
they were passionate about,” Jessica
explained. Then, they started calling for
specific meetings. MICHA provided locations, time slots, a way to schedule it all
and an easy method to record whatever
transpired. A list of sessions is on the
next page and their notes can be found
at michaelchekhov.org
“In Open Space it isn't necessary to
be an expert in something in order to call
a session, on the contrary, only a sincere
question or statement is needed to bring
people together,” Jessica added.
“As I walked around I witnessed
groups singing, rehearsing plays, practicing fight choreography with a sense
of ease, writing a manifesto, working in
front of the camera, and learning the
Russian words for Chekhov's terminology,” Jessica said.
There is another benefit as well,
those who can’t get away for a full
week in summer, can still attend the
Theatre of the Future Weekend only.
As longtime MICHA participant Doug
Davidson put it, “Thank you. This
weekend made it possible for me to
come back.”
—Peter Tedeschi
Page 8
News
Artistic Dreams: Where to Begin—Janice Orlandi
Chekhov and Chekhov—Theresa Masse
Chekhov for Art and Life—Megan Callahan
Constructive Rest—Tim Joya
Ensemble Work Revised—Karine Sciolom
Explorations in Atmosphere—Lionel Walsh
Forming Stronger Partnerships—Paul Gabbard
The Gesture(s) of Listening—Uli Meyer-Horsch
Manifesto—Elsa Valentim
Michael Chekhov Meets Social Media—Teresa Langston
MichaelChekhovForum.com—David Haugen
Moving from Inspiration to Specificity—Megan Callahan
Nourishment—Megan Gleeson
Out of the Classroom, Into the Open—Scott Mendelsohn
Path of the Actor—Scott Mendelsohn
Setting up a Different Contract with out Audience—Liz Shipman
Student Movement—Christina Bryson
The Landscape of our Lives—Tim Joya
Training and Creating a DIY Present and Future—Nick Mangano
Using Music for Chekhov Technique—Mary McPartlin
Working with the Camera—Thomas Kingdom
Can Theatre of the Future Bring Back Theatre of the Past—Andrei Preda
Chekhov as the Writer/Playwright—Suzanne Bronson
Connections and Goodbyes—Mara Radulovic
Crave—Exploring Sarah Kane: Gestures and Images—Deb Keller
Gigging Out—Becoming a Network for Opportunity—Liz Shipman
Image Work and the Shakespeare Monologue—Max Schadler
Listen, Listen, Listen—Bernadette Wintsch-Heinen
Michael Chekhov in Turkey—Burcu Halacoglu Yesil
Old Timey Sketch Comedy: What do you know?—Bethany Caputo
Open Rehearsal: I might be Edgar Allen Poe—Craig Mathers
Our Mission Is To Vibrate Emotions—Elsa Valentim
The Work as Rehearsal Processes Get Shorter—Peter Tedeschi
Recovering the Soul in Stanislavsky’s System—Pat Carriere
The Role of Youth in Theatre—Paul Boothroyd
Thinking BIG—Theresa Langston
Trans-cultural, Trans-disciplinary Soul & Performance—Pat Carriere
Theatre and the Singularity—Gabe Rodriguez
Violence—A Bit of Unarmed SAFD—Deb Keller and Adam McLean
What’s Really Going on in Theatre?—Ragnar Freidank
* Extensive notes from many sessions are posted at michaelchekhov.org*
From Michael Chekhov’s
The Path of the Actor
“The Theater of the Future
will be created by people who
will be capable of serving
rather than being servile. Of
working rather than earning a
living, of loving the living organism of the theater rather
than a dead organization. A
people who understand that it
is possible to create everywhere and always and that a
living, creative organism cannot be shackled by the dead
forms of rational technique.”
Page 9
News
Participants and Faculty of the 2011 MICHA Summer Workshop and Festival
Emerson College, Boston, Mass.
2011 Intl. Summer Workshop and Festival Participants:
Meade Andrews, Dawn Arnold, Ozum Arzik, Naomi Bailis, Kenneth Baltin, Suzanne Bennett, Paul Boothroyd,
Anne Brady, Kate Bromley, Suzanne Bronson, Christina Bryson, Scott Burrell, Bethany Caputo, Patrick Carriere, Paul Christman, Adrienne Clark, Peggy Coffey, Roberto Colosimo, Katherine Corbridge, Brian Cowe,
Lee Dolson, Gretchen Egolf, Cecilie Enersen, Shawn Farrell, Leslie Fins, Kate Frank, Paul Gabbard, Kimberly Giardino, Megan Gleeson, Sara Goff, Caitlin Goldie, Laura Guillen, Max Hafler, Burcu Halacoglu Yesil,
Alicia Hall-Flesch, David Haugen, Ellie Heyman, Michael Hogan, Suzanne Hunt-Jenner, Llyandra Jones,
Timothy Joya, Carol Kaminsky, Deborah Keller, Kieran Lagan, Robert LaMothe, Teresa Langston, Claire Elliott Larsen, Kristen Loree, James Luse, Christa Macbeth, Nick Mangano, Theresa Masse, Craig Mathers,
Seamus Maynard, Viktor Melnikov, Ulrich Meyer-Horsch, Alexandria Moorman, Craig Newman, Theresa
Nguyen, Janice Orlandi, John Owens, Krisztina Peremartoni, Beth Phillips, Rena Polley, Andrei Preda, Mara
Radulovic, Janet Raskin, Deborah Robertson, Spencer Robson, Pablo Rodriguez Santamaria, Megan Roth,
Sinead Rushe, Max Schadler, Karine Scialom, Liz Shipman, Patricia Skarbinski, Raveena Taurani, Peter
Tedeschi, Elizabeth Terrel, Jennifer Tuttle, Elsa Valentim, Lionel Walsh, Philip Winters, Mani Wintsch, Bernadette Wintsch-Heinen, Zeynep Yardimci
Theatre of the Future Participants:
Naomi Bailis, Suzanne Bennett, Paul Boothroyd, Anne Brady, Kate Bromley, Suzanne Bronson, Christina
Bryson, Megan Callahan, Pat Carriere, Kenny Chung, Peggy Coffey, Roberto Colosimo, Brian Cowe, Douglas Davidson, Gretchen Egolf, Jennifer Emmaline, Shawn Farrell, Ragnar Freidank, Megan Gleeson, Sara
Goff, Caitlin Goldie, Anne Gottlieb, Laura Guillen, Owen Hablutzel, Burcu Yesli Halacoglu, Alicia Hall-Flesch,
Mihael Hogan, Timothy Joya, Deborah Keller, Tom Kingdon, Teresa Langston, Christa Macbeth, Adam
McLean, John McManus, Mary McPartlan, Nick Mangano, Theresa Masse, Craig Mathers, Viktor Melnikov,
Scott Mendelsohn, Joanna Merlin, Ulrich Meyer-Horsch, Alexandria Moorman, Therea Nguyen, Janice Orlandi, Rena Polley, Tasos Paloukos, Ted Pugh, Mara Radulovic, Gabriel Rodrigues, Megan Roth, Max
Schadler, David Schulz, Thomas Schuster, Karine Scialom, Trudy Seidman, Liz Shipman, Fern Sloan, Peter
Tedeschi, Jennifer Tuttle, Elsa Valentim, Lionel Walsh, Mani Wintsch, Bernadette Wintsch-Heinen
Page 10
News
More Effective Feedback For Students and Teachers
Halfway through his book To the
Actor, in his chapter on Character and
Characterization, Michael Chekhov
writes, “There is no need to outline any
special exercises here. Rather you can
devise them for yourself by ‘playing’
with imaginary bodies and moveable,
changeable centers, and inventing suitable characterizations for them.”
It is statements like this coupled
with Mr. Chekhov’s faith in the creative
individuality of the actors and teaching
artists he addressed that inspired
MICHA to offer a new, Advanced
Teacher Training Workshop last
spring. In an effort to support the
teacher participants who are engaged
in developing their facility with the
Chekhov work and their unique presence as a teacher, we selected 10
teaching artists to lead a 45 minute
class on a chosen element of the
Chekhov work and receive critical
feedback from MICHA faculty members Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan and
their peers.
I worked with Ted and Fern to develop the structure of this workshop so
that it would support each artist in the
most effective way. After all, the 10
teaching artists who would present
their classes were familiar to us by
now. They had been engaged with the
Chekhov work for many years, attended multiple MICHA workshops
and, in some cases, ran their own
Chekhov studios or courses. We determined that these artists had questions
that they struggled with in relation to
the work and we wanted to give them
the opportunity to voice those questions and to find a way to meet them in
their process so that we could support
their continued development. Additionally, we felt that in terms of critical
feedback, the collective knowledge of
the participants in concert with the
MICHA faculty had more to offer than
the MICHA faculty alone.
Critical feedback can be difficult to
receive and in many cases even more
difficult to give. Oftentimes, the feedback offered to an artist is given in
such a way that it is not sufficiently informed by the work that has been presented and the creative individual who
by Jessica Cerullo
has presented it. The feedback given,
in these instances, cannot be received
by the artist because it is not given effectively. It was my role during our
workshop to facilitate the feedback
process by assisting both the teaching
artist and the responders in their ability
to address the work at hand in a communicative and clear manner.
After some research into various
feedback models, I undertook the
study of choreographer Liz Lerman’s
Critical Response Process, a multistep group system for the exchange of
useful feedback on creative processes.
The power of this process, I discovered, lay in the fact that the control of
the feedback is placed in the hands of
the artist. I felt this was an excellent
match for MICHA and the spirit of the
Chekhov work and I set about adapting
Lerman’s process to meet our specific
needs with the following 45 minute
structure which we employed after
each individual class was taught.
Step 1. Student participants express
statements of meaning based on their
experience in the class.
Step 2. Teaching Artist asks questions
to focus the discussion on an aspect of
the class they taught.
Step 3. Student Participants ask neutral questions of the Teaching Artist.
Step 4. Student Participants express
“permissioned” opinions to the Teaching Artist. This takes the form of the
sentence: “I have an opinion about
_____. Would you like to hear it?”
Step 5. Teaching Artist states what is
‘next’ for them in light of the feedback
exchanged or integrates feedback in
the moment by working on their feet.
Step 6. Teaching Artist ends their
class/feedback session as they see fit
employing a gesture, sound, statement, etc.
Jessica Cerullo facilitates feedback for student/teachers at MICHA Advanced Teacher
Training Workshop in June in New York.
We are thankful for the inspired and
bold offerings of the workshop participants. Here is a list of the classes offered
and the artists who shared their work.
•
Hugo Moss, Brazil: Working with Images
•
Tom Vasiliades, New York: Enliven,
Activate and Express (Chekhov and
Alexander Technique)
•
Max Hafler, Ireland: Shakespeare and
Voice
•
Meade Andrews, New Jersey: Staccato Legato (Chekhov and Alexander
Technique)
•
David Haugen, Ohio: Atmosphere
•
Nick Mangano, New York: Character
•
Trent Blanton, New Jersey: The Quality of Movement is not Strained
•
Margaret Kemp, California: Working
with Touch as it relates to Atmosphere and Sound
•
Sheldon Deckelbaum, California: Image and the Character’s Need
•
James Luse, Connecticut: Atmosphere of Comedy
Page 11
News
January 2011 Workshop Series in Chicago, Long Beach, Calif. and Boston
Participants: Kenneth Baltin, Eric Bishop, Paul Boothroyd, Brian Feigenbaum, Megan Gleeson,
Alicia Hall-Flesch, Christine Hamel, Alison Henderson, Cindy Henkin, Deborah Keller, Won Jung
Kim, William Kux, Timoty Landfield, Christa Macbeth, Nick Mangano, Ruth Markind, Dustyn Martincich, Kathy McFarland, Bridget McKenzie, Jason Miller, Frankie Moon, Tracey Oliverio, Richard
Park, Wade Petersen, Jennifer Popple, Risher Reddick, Ben Rosenblatt, David Ruben, Rachel Salowitz, Christopher Smith, Russell Stern, Joyce Van Dyke, Claudia Weill
Faculty: Dawn Arnold, Anne Gottlieb (Chicago); Joanna Merlin, Jessica Cerullo (Long Beach, Calif.);
Fern Sloan, Ted Pugh (Boston)
Advanced Teacher Training Workshop in New York—June 2011
Participants: Meade Andrews, Trent Blanton, Sheldon Deckelbaum, Max Hafler, David Haugen,
Margaret Kemp, James Luse, Nick Mangano, Hugo Moss, Tom Vasiliades
Faculty: Fern Sloan, Ted Pugh, Jessica Cerullo; Note-taker: Mary Molluso
Participants and Faculty of2011
the 2011
MICHA
Summer Workshop and Festival
Friends
of MICHA
Emerson College, Boston, Mass.
Individuals: Cathy Albers, Kalthoom Amin, Meade Andrews, Naomi Bailis, Kenneth Baltin, Leslie
Bennett, Eric Bishop, Steven John Bosch, Anne Brady, Paul Brennan, Suzanne Bronson, Megan
Callahan, Patrick Carriere, Paul Christman, Peggy Coffey, Roberto Colosimo, Katherine Corbridge,
Moninne Dargan, Douglas Davidson, Sheldon Deckelbaum, Ofir Duan, Ilene Fins, Megan Gleeson,
Sara Goff, Max Hafler, Burcu Halacoglu Yesil, Alicia Hall-Flesch, David Haugen, Jeanine Howe,
Timothy Joya, William Kux, Teresa Langston, Peter C. Lobdell, Christa Macbeth, Nick Mangano,
Craig Mathers, Melissa McBride, Kathy McFarland, Tammie McKenzie, Viktor Melnikov, Scott Mendelsohn, Jason Miller, Janet Morrison, Hugo Moss, Cathy O’Dell, Janice Orlandi, John Owens, Mellissa Owens, Beth Phillips, Rena Polley, Janet Rafferty, Janet Raskin, Risher Reddick, Deborah
Robertson, Spencer Robson, Sinead Rushe, Jack Shea, Liz Shipman, Patricia Skarbinksi, Griet
Spanhove, Elizabeth Terrel, Jennifer Tuttle, Tom Vasiliades, Lionel Walsh, Kristian Wanzl, Claudia
Weill, Sally Williams, Glen Williamson, Phillip Winters, Mani Wintsch, Bernadette Wintsch-Heinen
Institutions: Chekhov Studio International (Marjo Riikka Makela), Northwestern State University
(Scott Burrell), University of Windsor School of Dramatic Art, Michael Chekhov Studio London
(Graham Dixon), Teatro de la Abadia (Jose Luis Gomez)
California State University Summer Arts, Fresno, Calif.—July 2011
Participants: Brook Aiello, Sue Berkompas, Patricia Bowen, Liam Callister, Mia Carrick, Magnus
Chhan, Rachel Cohen, Jeannette Deutch, Nathalie Devine, Jonathan Farrow, Jorge Flores, Kristine
Gilreath, Kimberly Hoffman, Sofia Hurtado, Travis James, Justin Jung, Julie Le, Haley Leitman, Julia
Mack, Jesus Moreno, Sean Nill, David O’Connell, Cecily Overman, Vanessa Richardson, Claudia
Schmidt, Dvin Shacket, Christina Stockton, Sierra Terrebonne, Shane turner, Cullen Vance, David
Zika
MICHA Faculty: Dawn Arnold, Marjolein Baars, Jessica Cerullo, Nick Gabriel, Hugh O’Gorman, Fern
Sloan
Page 12
News
Vakhtangov now in English
MICHA faculty member Andrei MalaevBabel has translated and edited The Vakhtangov Sourcebook. It is a compilation of
key writings on the art of theatre by Russian
theatre great and Chekhov-contemporary
Yevgeny Vakhtangov. That makes this book
the English-speaking world’s primary
source of first hand material by this master
of theatre. To celebrate the book launch,
Jessica Cerullo moderated a Q&A session
at the Drama Bookshop in midtown Manhattan on June 23 (pictured at right). The book
is available now from Routledge.
Chekhov’s “Lessons” in Russian for First Time
A name and face well-known to long
time MICHA friends is Maxim Krivosheyev. In the fall of 2011, he translated and
published a Russian-language version of
Michael Chekhov’s Lessons for the Professional Actor (which of course was
never written or published in Russian).
From Moscow, Max spoke with MICHA
News about the process that brought
these writings “home” to Russia.
What gave you the idea to translate
this book?
MK: I was an interpreter for Slava Kokorin
at the MICHA workshop in Amherst,
Mass. in 2007. He, Joanna Merlin and
Lenard Petit were talking. Lenard mentioned this book, calling it his favorite book
by Michael Chekhov. Slava was surprised
that he had never heard of it and asked
me if I could translate it.
How long has it taken?
MK: One year to translate, two years to
get published.
How is the early reaction in Russia?
MK: The book has just been released
therefore it is hard to say, though I gave
the book to Marina Ivanova, a Russian
theatre historian and leading Michael
Chekhov expert. She really liked it and
told me she found some ideas in the book
that she had never heard before. I would
say so far that is very positive. GITIS Publishing (a top theatre institute based in
Moscow) was very excited about adding
the book to its collection and to be able to
distribute it across the country's libraries
and theatre institutes.
Do you see this fostering closer ties
between MICHA and our Russian collegues?
MK: As someone who is friends with the
MICHA community, I wish MICHA’s work
were better known here. Russia and the
United States possess different parts of
Chekhov's legacy and I think it is the time
to bring those parts together. This book
with Joanna Merlin's introduction to the
Russian reader will be a step toward this
reunion.
What’s next?
MK: I hope to translate Lenard Petit's
book The Michael Chekhov Handbook
and promote his work and the work of
MICHA's faculty in Russia. I’m happy to
say the Russian publisher is interested.
Above: Book cover of the Russian
Translation of Lessons for the Professional Actor. Below: The inside
page reading “English Translation
M. I. Krivosheyev”
Page 13
News
Marjolein Baars is organizing a conference on art-based approaches, including
Chekhov technique to working with people
with dementia. It is the culmination of a
two-year project called Quality of Life.
More information is at www.qoflife.eu.
Phelim McDermott directed The Enchanted Island at
the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The production
opened Dec. 31, 2011 to rave reviews. It was the opera
tradition of a “pasticcio “— a mix of arias by different
composers with new texts. It featured Placido Domingo
and Joyce DiDonato among other opera greats.
Sarah Kane is co-authoring a new book called
Clothing the Play: The Art and Craft of Stage
Design. It takes a psychophysical, or a Michael
Chekhov, approach to stage design, looking at
color, texture and form in lighting, sets and costumes. It is due out in mid-2012.
Mel Shrawder is developing a new tool to add
to Chekhov technique, aimed using intangible
means to achieve tangible results. He outlines
the tool in an article called The Imaginary Connection, essentially explaining how two scene
partners can create a chord of energy between
them. Contact Mel to read the article.
Teacher Training Workshop
January 3-6, 2012—New York
Faculty: Lenard Petit, Marjolein Baars
and Joanna Merlin
Fee $650/Friends of MICHA $625
Advanced Teacher Training
By application only
Fern Sloan and Jessica Cerullo will travel to
Daytona Beach, Fla. in 2012 for the Kennedy
Center American College Theatre Festival regional conference. There, they will adjudicate the
Irene Ryan Scholarship award process. They
will also teach Michael Chekhov workshops.
Lionel Walsh of the University of Windsor reports
that the university has begun the process of digitizing the Michael Chekhov archive, making it much
more accessible to everyone. The university is home
to thousands of pages of the written records of Michael Chekhov’s lectures and lessons. The archive
was meticulously and lovingly created by the late
Deirdre Hurst du Prey and was featured in last
year’s MICHA News.
Nationwide One-Day Workshops
New York, January 21—Chekhov Technique and Alexander
Technique, Faculty: Ted Pugh, Fern Sloan, Meade Andrews
New York, January 22—Chekhov Technique and Alexander
Technique, Faculty: Ted Pugh, Fern Sloan, Tom Vasiliades
Chicago, January 28—Chekhov Technique and the Audition,
Faculty: Dawn Arnold, Anne Gottlieb
Boston, January 29—Psychological Gesture and Speech
Faculty: John McManus, Scott Fielding
May 30-June 2, 2012—Hudson, NY Fort Lauderdale, January 29—Fundamentals of Chekhov
Faculty: Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan
Fee $700/Friends of MICHA $675
Technique, Faculty: Fern Sloan, Jessica Cerullo
Fee and registration information at
michaelchekhov.org/workshop2/htm
Page 14
News
MICHA’s Exciting Summer 2012 in the Works
•
•
•
Amazing Location: Southampton Arts will host the MICHA workshop at Stony Brook Southampton,
the beautiful Long Island campus of the State University of New York, near the shore.
Perfect Atmosphere: A few days after MICHA arrives, Southampton Arts also will host programs for
theater and film directors and writers. We will have an opportunity to interact with those artists as well
as Southampton Arts’ roster of teachers.
International Faculty: Joanna Merlin, John McManus, Ulrich Meyer-Horsch (Germany), Fern Sloan,
Ted Pugh, Joerg Andrees (Germany)*
Summer Workshop and
Theatre of the Future Weekend
Arrive: July 8, Depart: July 16
Fees:
Workshop: $1175/Friends $1150
Theatre of the Future weekend: $160
(You may attend both or either)
Housing Fees:
$555 Single/$475 Double—July 8-16
$420 Single/$360 Double—July 8-14
Above: A photo from Summer Arts in Southampton that gives a sense of
where the 2012 MICHA Summer Workshop and Festival will be.
Fees include all meals
and workshop materials
Theatre of the Future Open Space Is Back
After such positive feedback from Boston, there will be another Open Space this year, allowing participants to continue their conversations or start new ones. It also allows those who cannot attend the workshop for the entire week to connect with the MICHA community, by attending for just those two days.
*This will be Joerg’s first official MICHA
workshop. He is a noted Berlin-based director and teacher. He is a co-leader of Berlin’s
Michael Chekhov Studio. He also cofounded the first ever Michael Chekhov
conference, held in Berlin in 1992. Joerg
has taught all over the world, at times with
some of our faculty. We are very excited to
welcome him.
For more information
and to register,
go to
Michaelchekhov.org/summer.htm
Page 15
News
Join
Friends of
MICHA
Join the Friends of MICHA and help MICHA in our mission to share Michael Chekhov’s artistic vision with the work of actors, directors, and teachers around the world, Friends of
MICHA receive:
•
First right of attendance at workshops
•
Discounts on all US workshops and performances
•
Discounts on books and merchandise
•
All MICHA mailings
•
The opportunity to post information about your Chekhov classes and events on
MICHA’s website under Links.
Mail this form with a check (in U.S. dollars) to:
MICHA, P.O. Box 20168 New York, New York 10014
Or join online at michaelchekhov.org/htm
Individual $75.00
Organizations $125.00
Additional donation $_______
Total Enclosed $________
All donations are tax deductible. Friends of MICHA dues are valid for a one year term,
from January to December.
Board of Directors
P.O. Box 20168
New York, NY
10014 USA
President: Joanna Merlin
Vice Presidents: Lenard Petit, Ted Pugh
Secretary: Deborah Robertson, Treasurer: Jessica Cerullo
Marjolein Baars, Zelda Fichandler, Sarah Kane, Andrei Malaev-Babel,
Michael Mayer, Fern Sloan
202.841.5141
Advisory Board
www.michaelchekhov.org Anne Bogart, Martha Clarke, William Elmhirst, Phelim McDermott,
Tom Schumacher, Marian Seldes, Jimmy Smits, Julie Taymor
Managing Director:
Jessica Cerullo
Office Manager:
Tamara MacGregor
MICHA News Designer:
Peter Tedeschi
MICHA News Editors:
Peter Tedeschi
Jessica Cerullo
Photographers:
Scott Burrell
David Schulz
Claire Patterson
MICHA News
A Publication of
The Michael Chekhov Association
Copyright 2011
Front and back covers: Participants at work at the 2011 MICHA
Summer Workshop in Boston.