Acting Summer Course

During the intensive, participants will practically approach:

Reconciling Freedom and Truth
Finding ease in performance
Balancing authenticity with artistic demands
Merging personal truth with character authenticity
The courage to trust and act on your first impulses
Why truth is the key to stage presence

What is the paramount quality an actor must develop and possess? Difficult to pinpoint, isn't it? For a circus acrobat, the answer is simpler—certainly, it is balance. But what about the actor?

Truth is to the actor what balance is to the acrobat, enabling them to walk the wire under the circus dome. The wire is made of imaginary facts; beneath it looms brute reality.

The brute reality of acting is so overwhelming that it often overshadows the character and imaginary circumstances. When the balance of imaginary truth collapses, the actor tumbles into the abyss—into falsehood.

How can actors maintain this fragile balance amid the brutal realities of stage and screen? Join us in this transformative Demidov School intensive, “The Actor’s Truth: Demidov’s Organic Technique,” taught by master teacher Andrei Malaev-Babel.

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Summer Intensive Part one

INSTINCT AND EMOTION: DEMIDOV IN PRACTICE

Demidov Summer Intensive, Part Two

JULY 14 - 18, 2025

$500

1pm to 4pm (New York)

10am to 1pm (Los Angeles)

6pm to 9pm (London)

In Part Two, we reinforce organic foundation, as we continue to demystify the creative subconscious and the nature of inspiration. You’ll explore more expansive etudes and further refine your ability to respond instinctively and emotionally—without forcing, controlling or anticipating.

During the intensive, participants will practically explore:

Using instinct to achieve emotional depth
Embracing vulnerability as a strength
Channeling the culture of passivity in emotional expression
Techniques to evoke, strengthen, and sustain emotions connected to character
Clarifying the true role of emotions in acting

Emotion is the most contradictory and controversial aspect of an actor’s art. Historical acting methods vary widely—Stanislavsky once forbade actors from even mentioning emotion, while Meisner advocated for emotional preparation without providing specifics. This has led to debates on whether genuine emotion onstage is off-putting and whether it should be the actor’s task to provoke audience emotion while remaining emotionally detached themselves.

Much controversy exists regarding actors’ use of personal emotions. Some acting gurus, like Michael Chekhov, consider such use potentially harmful to an actor’s psyche, and it is difficult to disagree.

In the meantime, the Demidov School of Acting successfully resolved all these contradictions, answered the controversial questions, and, most importantly, provided practical solutions. Demidov proves that while genuine emotions lie at the heart of acting, they are only effective when veiled by character. Moreover, the art of fully inhabiting a character—true transformation—is the wellspring of all creative emotions onstage and on camera.

How do we achieve the healthy balance between authentic emotional use of self and creative transformation? Let’s demystify and master creative emotions together through the Nikolai Demidov School of Acting, with master teacher Andrei Malaev-Babel

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Summer Intensive Part two

This course dispels myths about film acting, showing how actors can stay spontaneous, creative, and free within filmic constraints. Participants will engage in practices including:

Balancing creative freedom with camera framing
Mastering continuity techniques for film
Merging the Culture of Truth with on-camera "cheating"
Adapting performance to diverse filmic demands
Film audition techniques

In film acting, the Demidov “Culture of Truth” is essential—where even the slightest falsehood is exposed by the camera. But how can the Demidovian “Culture of Freedom” coexist with strict framing and continuity demands? And how can an actor develop a character organically while filming out of sequence?

Is there truly a difference between theatre and film acting? Experts disagree, offering polar opposite opinions. If a difference exists, what adjustments are needed to transition from stage to screen?

Join us to explore how the Demidov School of Acting reconciles these contradictions, allowing actors to follow their creative process on camera with minimal adjustments!
Taught by Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel, head of the Demidov Association and a leading expert in the Demidov Technique. Originally held in Moscow, the course has since transitioned online, welcoming participants from around the world.

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From Stage to Screen

The Demidov Annual Summer Course is taught by the Head of Demidov Association and leading specialist in the Demidov Organic 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, Europe, Brazil, Australia, China, 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. Professor Malaev-Babel continued teaching online summer intensives from 2021 to 2024. Participants in intensives included actors, directors and teachers from the US, UK, Europe, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine.