Chair of the department,
Honoured Art Worker of RF,
Professor ANDREY DROZNIN
Art is always about giving of one's inner world to the viewer. In the theatre it means delivering the inner world of a character. For this an actor has two means of expression: body and voice. The Stage Movement Department deals with expressive abilities of the body and expanding the physical possibilities of an actor.
The program starts by building psycho-physical basis for all movement disciplines. Such qualities as flexibility, strength, endurance, increased speed and faster reaction, coordination of movements, a greater sense of balance and the ability to control the inertia of the body and so on. At the same time in our classes on rhythm we develop the fundamental qualities: the ability to perceive, reproduce and create a rhythm. Keeping in mind the specificity of the profession of an actor, we put a special emphasis on how our muscles perceive and reproduce a rhythm. In dance classes we develop musicality, fluidity, lightness, elegance and harmony of movements, correct alignment and explore the fundamentals of dance. Taking into consideration the tragic decline of the corporal qualities of modern people that has been brought low by the destructive influence of modern technological civilization, this first stage of the program becomes more and more laborious.
During the second stage of the program the students master all possible special scenic skills: for example, movement classes give the ability to fall down safely, to surmount obstacles. They also have lessons of stage combat without weapon, of fencing, trick techniques with acrobatics in the basis, techniques of slow motion etc. Dance classes may offer historical and folk dances.
During the third stage we start mastering different elements of movement in order to:
- form the external technique of an actor (under the term external technique we understand the ability to express our internal conditions with the help of body);
- increase the level of sensations, intensity of the character in one's body, to create intensity of the joint-and-muscle memory, the feeling of form;
- communicate with a partner or a group to develop sensory and muscle coordination;
- interact with the space - increase the sense of direction in the three-dimensional space of the stage;
- interact with an object and with the world of objects - the ability to use an object as an additional means of expression;
- develop imagination and stimulate creative impulses.
During the closing stage the students obtain practical experience through applying the skills to scenic situations. This is the experience of remelting the obtained elements of external technique (together with the internal technique) into mastership of acting. This work has the form of etudes and directed scenes for acting classes with the usage of movement.
Another achievement of the department is aimed at the same - the traditional practice of creating performances consisting of dance, rhythm and work-with-object numbers which are developed in a close collaboration between students and teachers of the department. These performances are directed by Professor Andrey Shchukin. These shows are in great requisition with the public, they were performed in many theatre festivals in Russia and abroad.
The majority of the teachers at the department have developed their own methodology and many of these programs are recommended by the Ministry of Culture and Education Committee as a reference program for theatre schools in Russia. Many teachers have experience of teaching and doing shows in Russia and abroad.
The teachers of the department consistently contribute scientific and methodological findings through published works. Two of them were recommended by the Russian Ministry of education as manuals for theatre schools all around Russia. Teachers of the department participated in formulating State Educational Standards.
The postgraduate course was established at the department in the early eighties. Nowadays we enroll both Russian and foreign students for post-graduate studies.
Our department has developed and implemented numerous all-russian conferences and seminars on theoretical and practical questions of stage movement.
