Intensive participants will study techniques intrinsic to the Art of Living Onstage, such as:

• "assigning” text and stage directions

• technique of the beginning – “non-restructuring”

• the art of inexact (creative) repetition

• the technique of “green-lighting”

• techniques of Creative Passivity (surrender) and Perception (truly seeing and hearing onstage)

• training conducted in English

• for actors, directors and acting teachers

• intensive will be conducted online via Zoom

• Spaces are limited

• Taught by the Head of the Demidov Association, Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel

CHARACTER FACILITATION INTERMEDIATE 5-day ONLINE DEMIDOV INTENSIVE

JUNE 24 - 28, 2024

$500

1pm to 4pm (New York)

10am to 1pm (Los Angeles)

6pm to 9pm (London)

During this intensive with Professor Malaev-Babel, training will concentrate on Demidov's unique approach to Character and Characterization, known as character facilitation. Through the use of Demidov’s signature etudes (improvisational exercises with given text), participants will work on divorcing their habitual personas and facilitating individualized characters . Demidov etudes, among other skills, train actors to preserve and develop the inimitable character "embryo," thus cultivating the reflex of "transformability." Where other approaches teach an actor how to create a particular role, the Demidov training forms the very skill of instantaneous transformation into any role. This skill is indispensable in today's industry where rehearsal periods shrink, and actors are often asked to step into a role without much notice.

Intensive participants will study techniques intrinsic to the Art of Living Onstage, such as:

• intimate process of character inception and facilitation

• preservation and facilitation of the unique "character embryo"

• character accumulation

• character eye and character center

• training conducted in English

• for actors, directors and acting teachers

• intensive will be conducted online via Zoom

• Spaces are limited

• Taught by the Head of the Demidov Association, Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel

THE DEMIDOV SCHOOL AND THE POWER OF CIRCUMSTANCES

THE SEVENTHS ANNUAL 2-week DEMIDOV SUMMER COURSE

JULY 8 - 12 & 15 - 19, 2024

$950

1pm to 4pm (New York)

10am to 1pm (Los Angeles)

6pm to 9pm (London)

Working with “Given Circumstances” is one of the most enigmatic aspects of the actor's process. Every director and actor understands the importance of circumstances, but they often have to admit that circumstances do not produce the desired result in rehearsal or performance. Actors pen detailed character biographies, elaborating on their role' past circumstances; directors go out of their way explaining the given circumstances to the actors. And yet, for some reason, "imaginary" or "given circumstances" leave actors cold. In rehearsals, actors fail to personalize imaginary circumstances. As a result, they keep happening to “someone else,” incapable of evoking creative emotions in actors. Intellectually, they “know” their characters’ circumstances, but they can’t unleash the kind of power circumstances have upon us in our real life.

The Demidov Summer Course 2024 is designed to demystify the power of circumstances, and to offer participants effective means of evoking circumstances, as part of their actor’s and director’s process. The energy of circumstances, if unleashed, can move an actor to creative transformation by creating a tangible reality of the play. The Demidov School of Acting offers practical means of materializing circumstances onstage and in front of the camera.

During the Summer Course, participants will train in the following concepts and practices:

• Given Circumstances can’t be "taken" or "conveyed;" like in life, they can only happen

• The technique of “Assigning” Circumstances

• The Culture of Freedom and Involuntarily as a prerequisite to the formation of circumstances

• The technique of surrender to circumstances

• Character as an inimitable “complex of circumstances”

• Reading a Play: circumstances of the past and their role in creation of the character's present

• How to “charge” circumstances if they “fizzle”

• The complete spectrum of circumstances: known and unknown

• training conducted in English

• for actors, directors and acting teachers

• Summer Course will be conducted online via Zoom

• Spaces are limited

• Taught by the Head of the Demidov Association, Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel

 ANNUAL DEMIDOV SUMMER COURSE AND INTENSIVES HISTORY

The Demidov Annual Summer Course is taught by the Head of Demidov Association and leading specialist in the Demidov Technique, Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel. It originated in 2017 outside of Moscow, in the scientific community of Puschino, as part of the International Demidov Summer School. In 2019, it moved to the Stanislavsky House-Museum in Moscow, where Professor Malaev-Babel was joined by his long-time collaborator Sarah Kane (UK), who, during the first session, introduced course participants to Rudolf Steiner’s Creative Speech. Professor Malaev-Babel's trusted assistant, Julia Volokitina, co-taught second session. Since 2020, the summer course has been taking place in virtual space. Participants in summer courses included actors, directors and teachers from the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Greece, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

Similar to Summer Course, Demidov Acting Intensives started offline at the Stanislavsky House-Museum in Moscow. Two inaugural intensives took place at the Stanislavsky House-Museum in Moscow in October and December of 2019. In the post-pandemic environment, intensives have been moved online. During the summer of 2020, Professor Malaev-Babel offered six such intensives ranging from 5 to 10 days for English and Russian-speaking participants, dedicated to Foundational and Intermediate phases of the Demidov School. Four online intensives have been taught by Professor Malaev-Babel during the summer of 2021 and 2022. Participants in intensives included actors, directors and teachers from the US, UK, Greece, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.