Meyerhold Biomechanics
Biomechanics is a system of actor training introduced in the early 1920’s by legendary Russian actor, director, and teacher, Vsevolod Meyerhold. Through this training, Meyerhold sought to develop actors whose work would convey a geometric precision, an acrobatic lightness and agility, and a rhythmic, musical sensibility. The technique emphasized the development of skills from traditional, non-realistic theatrical sources such as commedia dell’arte, Russian folk theatre, circus performance, Japanese Kabuki theatre, east-Asian dance, and pantomime. Soviet ideology eventually put a tragic end to Meyerhold and his work. He was executed in 1940 for practicing “formalist” theatre (as opposed to the officially sanctioned social realism practiced by Stanislavski), which was considered “antagonistic” to the Soviet people. Although the teaching of Biomechanics was officially forbidden, the system was passed on secretly as an oral tradition until the “glasnost” period and the subsequent fall of the Soviet Union.
The training is intensive and physical. A wide range of basic individual and ensemble floor exercises, individual and partner work with physical objects, combined with exercises that develop the body’s rhythmic and expressive abilities, all lead to the ultimate goal - the performance of Biomechanic “etudes”, which allow the actor to experience the synthesis of the training exercises. Actors who undertake the training can expect to experience an increased sense of balance, awareness of the physical center and ability to move from the physical center, awareness and expressivity of gesture and physical form, heightened reflexive dexterity when working with partners and physical objects, and increased awareness and nimble agility in ensemble work.
It’s important for anyone considering undertaking the training to understand that Biomechanics is not a system of acting or a method to create a certain type of theatre. Instead, Biomechanics should be seen as a valuable part of an actor’s personal palette of technique, helping develop control of his or her body in an expressive and grounded way. As a part of his or her palette, Biomechanics is beneficial to an actor’s work regardless of the specific aesthetic of a given project. From Miller, to Beckett, to Lecoq clowning, anything and everything in an actor’s future can benefit in some way from this work. It has been said that training in Biomechanics is not unlike the honing of technique involved when a pianist practices musical scales or a ballet dancer puts in time at the ballet barre. One of Meyerhold’s favorite actors, Igor Ilyinsky, once said: “Technique arms the imagination.” This is ultimately what the training seeks to achieve- the “arming” of the actor’s imagination.
Biomechanics etudes ie 'Throwing the stone' etude
The training is intensive and physical. A wide range of basic individual and ensemble floor exercises, individual and partner work with physical objects, combined with exercises that develop the body’s rhythmic and expressive abilities, all lead to the ultimate goal - the performance of Biomechanic “etudes”, which allow the actor to experience the synthesis of the training exercises. Actors who undertake the training can expect to experience an increased sense of balance, awareness of the physical center and ability to move from the physical center, awareness and expressivity of gesture and physical form, heightened reflexive dexterity when working with partners and physical objects, and increased awareness and nimble agility in ensemble work.
It’s important for anyone considering undertaking the training to understand that Biomechanics is not a system of acting or a method to create a certain type of theatre. Instead, Biomechanics should be seen as a valuable part of an actor’s personal palette of technique, helping develop control of his or her body in an expressive and grounded way. As a part of his or her palette, Biomechanics is beneficial to an actor’s work regardless of the specific aesthetic of a given project. From Miller, to Beckett, to Lecoq clowning, anything and everything in an actor’s future can benefit in some way from this work. It has been said that training in Biomechanics is not unlike the honing of technique involved when a pianist practices musical scales or a ballet dancer puts in time at the ballet barre. One of Meyerhold’s favorite actors, Igor Ilyinsky, once said: “Technique arms the imagination.” This is ultimately what the training seeks to achieve- the “arming” of the actor’s imagination.
Biomechanics etudes ie 'Throwing the stone' etude