ACTING COURSES ONLINE - DEMIDOV SCHOOL

This two-year Demidov Acting Certificate ONLINE course is a unique opportunity to delve into the Demidov School of Creative Freedom under the tutelage of the leading Demidov expert, worldwide, Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel.

The course includes one weekly session with Professor Malaev-Babel and two sessions with skilled course leaders currently in the Demidov Teacher Certification Program. Guest teachers, certified in Demidov’s approach, further enrich the experience. This course prepares actors for both stage and film, emphasizing Demidov’s “Culture of Truth.” It is the only online course of its kind outside Professor Malaev-Babel’s Florida graduate studio.

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The Demidov Technique is unique as it practically approaches an actor’s freedom and spontaneity, and it puts emphasis on perception (over action) as a primary element in an actor’s process. Moreover, Demidov discovered practical means to foster within the actor some crucial qualities (or cultures), such as those of freedom and intuition. Moreover, Demidov’s school trains a specific type of actor’s imagination– an actor’s ability to spontaneously create and, therefore, believe in the imaginary circumstances. Actors in the course will be practicing these skills and led directly to their creative inspiration and subconscious – from the first day of training. The entire course is based in Demidov's signature etudes (improvisational exercises), at the heart of the Demidov School of Acting.

Exercises (or etudes), introduced by Demidov, are practiced as one of the basic actor's “scales” throughout the entire course. The complexity of the texts will increase during the second semester, as actors practice the Demidov technique of inexact (creative) repetition. During the second semester, participants in the course will also begin to practice the intimate process of a character's inception, organic accumulation and facilitation.

In addition to the organic acting technique of “living onstage”, Demidov also developed the "psychotechnique of the affective actor" (tragedian). It enables the actor to navigate heightened emotional altitudes. The second semester will feature some of the prerequisites, essential to entering the highest spheres of creativity. Among them are Cultures of Calm and Passivity as well as techniques of “subconscious perception” and “psychological breath.”

The third semester is essentially dedicated to Demidov’s methods of Character Development. The semester’s opening section will feature the refreshing of fundamentals and Demidov's basic character facilitation techniques. Upon its conclusion, sophisticated character development methods will be introduced, such as character accumulation; character’s “center' and eye”; embodiment and “emotional imitation” of character.

During the third section, actors will use these techniques to approach characters, through work on texts from Contemporary Realism (Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl, Eric Bogosian, Joshua Harmon, etc.)

Demidov-based Scene Study will further develop the technique of “inexact” or “creative repetition,” enriching characters, deepening relationships and working with heightened circumstances by utilizing the organic approach. Actors will also learn how to be free in front of the camera, while attending to the numerous concerns and restrictions connected with film. They will practically approach issues such as Freedom and Framing, Technique of “Assigning” and Continuity, Reaction Footage, Culture of Truth and “Cheating” for the Camera.

During the fourth, final semester, actors will work on an Anton Chekhov play. The first part of the semester will feature Demidov’s organic approach to Creating a Role, as well as his groundbreaking methods of approaching a play as a whole. Ensemble Work will also be practiced during the final semester of training. Actors will work to achieve a true merger between their creative individuality and their character’s persona, given circumstances and relationships.

In the second part of the semester, actors will also train in Demidov’s unique approach to learning the role, known as the Emotionally Tactile Method. Based in the Demidov technique of submerging material directly into the subconscious realm, this new method will further develop actor’s basic skill of “assigning” the role’s text and stage directions, or blockings.

The final semester project will allow actors to deepen their ensemble work by rehearsing an entire act of a Chekhov play, to be shared during an open class. Practical study of film acting will continue during the final semester. Actors will learn how to marry Demidov’s Cultures of Surrender and Green-lighting with filmic requirements to “do less” or “make it smaller.” Actors will also train in channeling energy in accordance with frame size. Acting against readers, imaginary partners and environment (green screen) will be considered, as well as auditioning for film.

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The overall goal of the Demidov Acting Certificate course is to help actors open the door to their creative selves and to foster their artistic inspiration, by developing a precise and all-encompassing organic acting technique. The chief goal of the Demidov School lies in the cultivation of actors who possess one of the paramount professional qualities – that of creative freedom. When developed, the quality of creative freedom allows the actors to unquestioningly obey their own spontaneous impulses, while freely reacting to the given circumstances of the play, their partners’ behavior etc.

Demidov’s technique of freedom leads to creative life onstage within the framework of the play’s circumstances and the author’s/director’s concept. This kind of improvisation does not suffer from the strict framework of the given circumstances of the role.

Neither is it impeded by the production framework such as blockings, a particular set, lighting design and so on. At the same time, the Demidov Technique also allows an actor to live as an independent improviser, who can generate a spontaneous flow of character’s life. Demidov discovered practical means to foster some crucial qualities (or cultures) that serve as prerequisites for developing the “psycho-technique of the affective actor” (tragedian). Among those are “calm” and “passivity,” “intuition” and “sensitivity.” Cultivating “physical (physiological) imagination,” as a means of perceiving the given circumstances concretely and tangibly, is yet another important goal of the Demidov School. It is indispensable, when approaching Shakespeare and other heightened texts.

The Demidov training will put you in touch with your unique creative individuality by teaching you to recognize and follow your own artistic urges. It will guide you to engage your creative individuality by “green-lighting” hidden artistic instincts.

Demidov’s training is based solely in creating sound reflexes, defaults and habits; if it is to succeed, actors must engage in continued practice under the guidance of an expert. The expert’s job, however, is to lead actors toward independence. Only an independent actor-creator will be able to preserve their organic internal technique for as long as they are active in the profession. In the Demidov School, this is achieved by introducing actors to unique Demidov scales – pioneering exercises that ensure the sustainability of the organic technique.

Regular classroom work is required, to ensure that actors can play their scales independently, yet without approximation. This course is designed to give actors, who are passionate about the Demidov School, a rare opportunity to develop and habituate sound creative instincts via regular training with a trusted expert. Once such skills have been developed, actors in the course will be ready for independent scale practice at home.

The Demidov character facilitation approaches will serve a solid foundation for actors by preparing them to be independent, proactive and efficient collaborators to their peers and directors. Like the art of living onstage, Demidov character accumulation and facilitation methods must be initially practiced with an expert. Such a first step is essential, to be able to outsource these techniques to homework, where they belong.

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