Testimonials About Demidov school

Marjo-Riikka Makela (SAG, AFTRA, AEA) is a director, acting coach, professional actor, Certified Trauma Support Specialist, and Intimacy Director & Coach for Film/TV and Stage. She specializes in the Michael Chekhov Technique and has developed the MR-Method©, combining it with somatic, trauma-informed, and consent-based practices. With 25 years of experience, Marjo-Riikka has studied under direct students of Mr. Chekhov and collaborated with artists worldwide. She teaches in MICHA’s Teacher Training Program and is a faculty member at the Finnish National Theatre Academy. Marjo-Riikka’s directing credits include works by Chekhov, Shakespeare, Williams, and devised theater. Her acting roles include Medea, Yelena in Uncle Vanya, and Pippi Longstocking, and she fondly recalls her studies and stage work with Sarah Kane and Andrei Malaev-Babel at the Stanislavsky Theatre Studio in Washington DC.

Suzanne Ocean is an award-winning actor based in Houston and London. She starred in the acclaimed UK short film “One Small Step,” earning her a Best Actress Award. Fluent in French and skilled in various accents, Suzanne’s ranch upbringing gives her unique skills with horses and firearms. Her global perspective is enriched by time in London and France. She enjoys working in Texas and the UK and European film industry. Current project highlights include Netflix series, Too Much, directed by Lena Dunham.

Mark Coleman began his career as a professional actor in London before relocating to Glasgow in the early 1990s, where he embarked on a distinguished career as a high school drama teacher. Alongside his teaching, he remained active in the theatre, performing regularly and deepening his practice through the techniques of Stanislavsky, Adler, Meisner, Chekhov, and Demidov.

A passionate advocate for accessible theatre, Mark became a highly sought-after director in the community theatre scene, known for his ability to inspire and elevate local productions. In 2010, he earned an MA in Acting (Classical & Contemporary Text) from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Since retiring from full-time teaching in 2021, Mark has returned to professional acting. He currently serves as President of the Glasgow Shakespeare Society.

Sharon Pearlman is an NYC-based actor and singer. She has performed around the world, including touring the United States and stages in Europe and Asia. Past credits include Knoxville (world premiere) at Asolo Repertory Theatre, Rudolph in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (national tour), Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Crissy in Hair. She also performed in the original cast of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Osaka, Japan. Sharon received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and MFA from The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.

A New York based actor, Mikhail Roberts is slated to star in The American Stage Theater production of “Hundred Days” in Autumn of 2025. Alum of FSU Asolo Conservatory MFA Acting Program, and the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music BFA Acting Program. Most recently starred in “Beautiful: The Carrol King Musical” at Beck Center for the Arts, Ring of Fire” at AST, “Dial M for Murder” and “Inherit the Wind” at Asolo Repertory Theater.

"I have a significant history with the Demidov approach, first encountering it as a graduate student at the FSU Asolo Conservatory, where I earned my MFA in 2019. Since then, I’ve continued to explore the technique in every gig I’ve booked, and through these experiences, I’ve remained in constant discovery of how profoundly it uplifts my work as an actor.

Nearly a decade into embracing Demidov, my intrigue has only deepened. I imagine I would have continued to grow as an actor-creator regardless, but I cannot envision feeling this authentic in my artistry under any other technique. Demidov has a way of “onion’ing” the artist—inviting us to peel back our layers as our desire for freedom and authenticity expands under the inspiration of this school of thought.

No matter what I’m working on, this approach underscores my process. While I am primarily an actor, I also sing and engage in rhythmic movement—and all three have been heightened through the influence of the Demidov school. I remain endlessly intrigued by the magic that unfolds when an artist is imbued with this work.

Its wisdom reminds us that the work of the actor-creator is never done. It teaches that the evolution of our humanity, in tandem with the evolution of our artistry, means the instrument of self is never complete—but always in a state of discovery, always reaching toward what is possible.

This is a space where the curiosity, authenticity and transformation of the artist is continually cultivated. I remain deeply grateful to be a part of a community that honors the organic unfolding of the artist."

DeAnna is an actor/artist whose roots stretch from High Springs, FL to Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance at the University of Florida and completed her Master of Fine Arts at Florida State University’s Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in 2019. Her work spans theatre, film, and rhythmic movement.

Some of her theatre credits include—Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice—alongside contemporary characters like Sophie in Flyin’ West, Peaches in Oak, and Angela in a one-woman performance of Natural Shocks. In film, she played a key role in the Tribeca Film Festival-winning immersive work The Changing Same and led in the indie-thriller feature film Alone Together. A dedicated collaborator, DeAnna also crafts original works that infuse song, poetry, dance, and improvisation into her creative process.

Deeply influenced by the Demidov Approach during her time at FSU Asolo’s graduate program—where she also recently collaborated and taught alongside Andrei-Malaev Babel, as a Visiting Teacher. Now an active member of the association, the Demidov Approach remains at the center of her work, no matter the medium.

"This past week has been filled with inspiration and intuition, and I feel more and more that this is truly a place where I should anchor my investigations into acting. The études are deeply engaging, and it’s incredibly stimulating to be surrounded by actors of different nationalities and generations.

It’s always a challenge for me to work with lines in English, as my native languages are Japanese and Portuguese — but I make a point of embracing this challenge each time.

Your attentive and heartfelt guidance has been a true source of artistic and pedagogical inspiration. It’s prompted me to reflect deeply on my own practices in both rehearsals and teaching settings."

Alice Kiyomi Yagyu (Alice K.) is a theatre director, performer, playwright, professor, and researcher based in São Paulo, Brazil. Her work explores intersections between Eastern and Western performance traditions, with a focus on acting. She is a professor in the Department of Performing Arts at the University of São Paulo and a translator of contemporary Japanese theatre.
Her actor training includes studies in Japan with masters of classical traditions (Noh – Hōshō style; Kyogen – Izumi style), Butoh (Anzu Furukawa), and Rakugo (master storyteller Sankyo Yanagiya), as well as Russian methodologies (notably the Vassiliev and Demidov approaches). She also practices Capoeira (regional style).
Alice has directed and/or performed in over thirty productions, some of which have received national recognition. Her recent play, Iti ka bati ka (All or Nothing, 2023), awarded by the São Paulo State Cultural Program (ProAC), centers on the relationship between a ninety-eight-year-old mother and her sixty-eight-year-old daughter, and was created during the pandemic.

"Before I joined the workshop with Professor Andrei Malaev-Babel, I had already experienced some work with the Demidov technique. But something still didn’t sit right — I felt that what I was truly searching for lay deeper. Those earlier attempts left me with unanswered questions and a lingering sense of incompleteness.

It was only here that things began to fall into place. My encounter with Andrei was more than just a workshop — it was a meeting with a teacher I can truly call an authority. Someone who deeply understands acting and leads the process with wisdom, attentiveness, and genuine respect for the actor.

Observing his work as a teacher was profoundly inspiring — also in the context of my own pedagogical practice. His way of leading the sessions — clear and focused — showed me how one can work with actors both gently and with great precision. There was also room for dialogue; questions were always welcomed and met with thoughtful, grounded responses.

Through this work, I felt a renewed sense of passion for acting — for doing, for engaging, for being in the process. I’m deeply grateful for this experience and eagerly look forward to continuing along this path."

"What unfolded across these five days was both disarming and quietly profound. Under Andrei’s guidance, we were invited not to perform, but to experience — to allow truth to arise, moment by moment, without force or pretense. The structure of the Demidov work — deceptively simple, utterly alive — offered a radical kind of permission. Not to be perfect. But to be present.

Each session moved deeper, from the foundations of freedom and awareness into the actor’s emotional and psychological rhythm. I felt physically and emotionally challenged, yet never exhausted. Strangely, I left each evening more awake, not less.

Transformative. Liberating. Necessary.

This intensive stripped away the pressure to perform and brought me back to something honest, instinctive, and human. I stopped “trying to act” — and began to experience. The Demidov work, as taught here, is not just a technique — it’s a quiet revolution.

Each session felt like an invitation to trust myself again. I laughed, cried, got lost, got found. And somehow, even over Zoom, we built a space of deep connection — with ourselves, each other, and the work.

I leave this week softer, clearer, and braver. If you’re an actor, artist, or human longing to reconnect with your instinct and emotional truth — take this course. It will change how you create, and how you live."

"During the 2020 pandemic I was accidentally introduced to the Demidov School. After months of email pestering of Andrei Malaev-Babel, I finally was in my first intensive of Demidov training. I haven’t looked back.

When I began my formal acting training in the early 1980’s the only teacher in Atlanta, GA was a lady named Sandra Dorsey. It just so happened she was a teacher of the Strasberg Method and so I became a student of the Strasberg Method. I trained in, practiced and eventually, thirty years later, began teaching Strasberg. While this method served me well, my introduction to Demidov’s pedagogy completely turned my world upside down. “If only I had had this forty years ago.”

I interviewed and was accepted into the first class of Demidov Acting Certificate training but, due to timing and finances was unable to participate. Luckily, two years later, I was accepted into the class that began in the Autumn of 2023 and will continue my training for two more years into the Teacher Certification training.

After spending years in study and practice of Strasberg and his interpretation of Stanislavski’s system, having the simplicity and power of the Demidov School has been revolutionary for me. The immediate immersion into the subconscious where true inspiration and creativity resides seemed too good to be true. It was too easy. I wasn’t working hard enough. But, after enough repetitions of the etudes, it became evident beyond doubt that this was the key to true life on stage. Complete surrender to the subconscious.

Having experienced that first table read where so many wonderful emotions and characters burst into life only to be destroyed in rehearsal and almost never to be revived I had begun to worry that maybe I wasn’t cut out for acting. Why could I have that inspiration that one time and never get it back? My Demidov School training has guided me back to that “first time” experience in all of my performances.

I am honored to be a part of the revival of the Demidov School. What Stanislavski and his disciples did for the stage and camera in the 20th century is about to be eclipsed by what “should have been” from the beginning. One hundred years from now, Demidov will be the name that actors refer to when they talk about the father of modern acting.

Update (June 2025) – I have just completed my two-year Demidov Acting certificate training under the guidance of Andrei Malaev-Babel and his two student teachers Nolan Hennelly and Kimon Fioretos. I was in class Mon, Wed & Fri for 2 ½ hours almost every week from October through May for two years with an international ensemble of eight. Interestingly, during that time, I also have had my most successful run as an actor. Three TV limited series in recurring guest star roles and several films of varying budget levels and lengths. In addition, the level of roles I am being invited to audition for has risen. While all of these things are attributable to many factors (experience, age, type, relationships, etc.) I cannot help but think that no matter how I got the audition, what I brought to the audition and the performance also had a hand in what people experienced in my performance and why they reached out to me to begin with. Do I have actual data to support this? … Is it just coincidence? … possibly. All I know is, my training and my success have been concomitant. And on that five-dollar word I will say, I highly recommend investigating the training that the DA (Demidov Association) offers. The two-year and four-year programs are massive time, energy and financial commitments but, the intensives are a wonderful and affordable introduction. Five stars, highly recommend.

And now, in the third half of my life, I begin the second half of this four-year journey as I step into the role of student teacher. I am honored and thrilled for this opportunity. Come join us."

"Having taken part in 3 of Andrei Malaev-Babel’s online courses, I’m hungry for more. After nearly 50 years as an actor, director and teacher, this has been a Damascene experience for me; it’s what I’ve been waiting for. Demidov’s approach seems so uncluttered, compared with most of the better-known practitioners. The work seems rich in humanity and relies so strongly on the ensemble, on perception, on sensitivity towards one’s scene partner, on a freely instinctive non-intellectual approach, and particularly on a state of calm in the actor. Andrei’s vast knowledge of Russian theatre and his passion for Demidov’s teachings combine with a constantly supportive approach to make him as good a teacher as I have ever known. He is also a brilliant lecturer, speaking with great clarity, wit and conviction. Having spent a total of 75 hours in Andrei’s company and having seen what it did for my fellow participants, my only sorrow is that I didn’t find this work many years ago. This is such an important contribution to actor training."

"Working with Demidov School was a very insightful experience and opened new doors of freedom in an actor's process for me.

Working with etudes, you're learning to access the subconscious easily, without effort. It is a deceivingly simple approach rooted in working from relaxed and open state of mind, and I believe the genius of this work is that it trains a actors to be completely free, not getting in the way of themselves, and in touch with their creative impulses at all times. It was quite a revelation for me to work this way and I encourage actors of all levels to try it out — especially if you're looking to be even more free, spontaneous and creative in your acting."

German Segal is a film, theatre and voice actor from Russia.

He studied at the Moscow Art Theatre School for four years, and worked in numerous projects in Russia upon his graduation. In 2021, he landed his first English-speaking role starring in The Undeclared War, a Channel 4 British TV series directed by Peter Kosminsky.

The following year, in 2022, he enrolled at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London for an MA in Acting for Screen from which he graduated with distinction. His most recent work in the UK includes the second season of Wolf Hall for BBC One.

German currently lives in London and acts internationally.

"The decision to take the Demidov Summer Course was spontaneous. At one moment I just though – I must do this! I followed my impulse and sent an application. Doing theater in Germany for a long time – as an actress, director and teacher – I was missing something in the practice and understanding of the nature of living onstage. Many techniques, genres, philosophies, theater schools give a lot of space for creativity and experiment, but at the same time get you off the road; you lose the focus and the truth that was the reason for doing it all. I would describe the Demidov School as “going back to fundamentals.” In 10 days you can feel the “first sprouts” of something new and honest. The leader of the course, Andrei Malaev-Babel, is an incredibly sensitive and responsive teacher, who guides the student all through the course, finding an individual approach to everyone. I personally felt like I was in good hands. Special thanks to the organizers for the perfect timing and quick and easy communication. The Demidov School made my summer."

"I am now participating in my second Demidov Summer Course. You can say a lot about the technique, you can argue about it or defend it, but one thing is certain: the technique works. Even before meeting Andrei Malaev-Babel, I came across Demidov’s book The Art of Living Onstage and realized that this unknown man writes of what I thought about and what I wanted to accomplish during the entire time of my theater practice. Now I think that this is the only technique that is concentrated on the actors and their talent, on liberating this talent. There are a lot of great schools that are focused on the actor playing a particular role (in fact, most of them work on that), but there is only one school for the actor of any role, focused on strengthening and developing the most important thing – actor’s freedom. Thanks to all teachers! Thank you for allowing me to soar and break out of my comfort zone! Thank you for loving the actors and believing in them!"

"My journey with the Demidov Association, under the guidance of Andrei, has been nothing less than transformative. This experience is not something that ended with the certification—it continues to reshape my life and my work every single day.

Working alongside Andrei as both actor and teacher was a revelation. As an actor, I unlocked truths within myself I had long sensed but never fully reached. As a teacher, I discovered a method unlike any other: one that comes with a clear pedagogical philosophy and precise tactics. At its heart lies a simple yet profound principle—do no harm. You are taught not only to trust the actors you work with, but to fall in love with them, to protect their freedom and nurture their creativity.

Andrei is, as we say in Greek, «ο πρώτος διδάξας»—the first who shows the way. He does so not only through Demidov’s writings, but through his living presence and example.

My gratitude is beyond words. I believe Demidov’s work is one of the most important revelations for acting and actor training in the 21st century. Some days I even feel thankful that it was hidden for 70 years—as if it had been waiting for the right mentor to bring it back to life. And for me, that mentor is Andrei."

"I’ve been studying and working in the Demidov school for the past ten years and can say without qualification that this work has changed the course of my artistic life. Before encountering the Demidov school, I felt that all technique was getting in the way of something; it was something to be done to please a teacher, something I had to perform and then shake off as best I could to return to something intrinsic and profound that occurred when I encountered a text. I felt like I had been painting by numbers, reducing something true into something manageable to be played.

I longed to get back to what felt like the complete pretend of childhood play, and to expand and explore the brief moments on stage that felt like they caught fire, when circumstances lifted me up without effort or analysis and left me transported and transformed—if only momentarily. The Demidov school gave me what I was looking for, what, deep in my heart, I knew was true: that acting is not a craft, it is a high art. An art that deserves to be studied with love, dedication and courage and must be taught with compassion, encouragement and care."

"The 9th Annual Demidov Course was truly transformative. For the first time in my acting journey, I felt completely comfortable and safe in a process. Free from the constant need to be “in my head.” Through Professor Malaev-Babel's guidance, I begin to trust myself and my creative intuition more fully. The Demidov School revealed itself to me as something beyond a method: it is about true presence, about allowing space within oneself for another being to live through the circumstances.

I was deeply moved throughout the course, and even after it ended. It made me realize that acting is not something I can live without, and that Demidov’s work has only strengthened my desire to continue walking this path — and perhaps, one day, to share this knowledge with others as you so generously do.

Thank you for your teachings, your warmth, and for the inspiration you gave me. This was a milestone in my artistic life, and I will carry it with me as I move forward."

Amanda Rodovalho is a Brazilian actress, writer and producer. She trained in Theater – Humor at SP Escola de Teatro and earned a B.A. in Portuguese and English Literature from the University of São Paulo (USP), one of Latin America’s leading universities. She has performed as an improviser and has acted in productions including Ruído by Peruvian playwright Mariana de Althaus and the musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Janet Weiss. On screen, she appeared in the film É Tempo de Amoras, directed by Anahí Borges. In addition to her stage and film work, Amanda is engaged in academic research at ECA-USP (School of Communications and Arts, University of São Paulo), focusing on acting, performance, and dramaturgy under the guidance of Professor Alice Kiyomi.

Testimonials

Marjo-Riikka Makela

Suzanne Ocean

Mark Coleman

Sharon Pearlman

Mikhail Roberts

DeAnna Wright

Alice Yagyu, Summer Intensive Participant

Johannes Lange

Bartłomiej Gola

Robert Jandy, Summer Intensive Participant

John Rice, London Workshop Participant

Yuvraj Bhatia, London Workshop Participant

German Segal, London Workshop Participant

Dylan T Jackson

Edgardo Solorio, Summer Intensive Participant

Amanda Rodovalho