Blog #2

Hey Hey,

Above are three more picture from miscellaneous spots from Russia. The top picture is from my Ballet Studio in the MXAT school. I love pictures with reflections and I like how I look in my long over-coat. :) The second one is of these huge doors that we encountered on the way up to the Kremlin--I'm sure that these doors have some sort of historical significance...but unfortunately i was to overwhelmed by the size of the doors to figure why they actually were there. The third is the same story, I'm not really sure where I am but I thought the picture was pretty and hopefully you can gleen and absorb the mood of Russia from it.

So where to begin. I feel that there is so much to say so I'll try to keep the pertinent, memory inspiring and emotional evoking stuff at the beggining, and historical acting stuff at the end. Stuff what a great word. :)

Imagine this: I finish my 25-30 minute walk to school bright and early in the morning and after I get off Tverskaya street I turn left into the plaza of which is MXAT domain. On this street I encounter McDonalds, Starbucks, Five Star, and Three Different Theatres that belong to MXAT school. Usually later in the evening I walk by several guitarists who seemingly always attempt and sometimes succeed, at playing Beetles songs (She loves you YEAH YEAH YEAH) in their heavy russian accents, the thought that russians are learning Beetles music is always an endearing thought.

But here's a new feeling for you. You know when you intellectually know something and you know you knew it but you didn't really know you it until you actually experienced it? :) For example, I knew I studied at MXAT but I dont think I fully experienced and understood the sensation of what it meant walking into MXAT. So I take a left and enter the American studio building and all of a sudden I felt enlightened, I felt as if I felt my footsteps on the floor for the first time, I saw the high ceilings for the first time, and I felt that I understood the black and white pictures on the wall for the first time. It hit me, Konstantin Stanislavsky hung his coat in this room and probably leaned against this wall. Tolstoy heavily trudged this floor contemplated the amorality the Chekhov's The Seagull--or he thought of War and Peace. He actually probably sat down right next to Stanislavky and had a serious discussion about the state of Russia, or they drank vodka at this table to my left. Anton Chekhov probably got an idea for a short story sitting in one of the seats in the Main Stage, Maxim Gorki ate a sandwhich in the lobby while thinking of how to finish The Lower Depths, and Meyerhold probably watched a production of Richard the 3rd thinking that Stanislavsky's approach to the art of acting was completely wrong. OH MY GOSH. I was walking in history. I was walking in a building where if these people hadn't existed I know I probably would not have been here now, I wouldn't have chosen to be an actor, I would never have found the passion and love that I did. These people, these tiny people aimed to do something extraordinary, and they all affected the entire world--right from this spot--the very spot I was standing in that moment.

It's amazing to feel that these were people who were doing the very thing I am doing right now. Doubting, exploring, crying, fighting, debating--any active 'ing' you can find. I walked up to the museum and I saw the very room Stanislavky prepared his make-up before he walked on stage! I SAW HIS MAKE-UP. HIS ROOM. HE touched this brush, He wore this costume, and he looked at his own reflection in this mirror thinking of god knows what. It seems so long ago, however he's right next to me in this room, he's very much alive. I could feel my tears swell up in my eyes. Thanks K. Stanislavksy. At the end of the day I walk outside of the building and I know that they all stood out in this plaza, looked up into the sky and slowly took in one breath of the freezing, nose-chilling moscow air...aaaaaaaand Exhale. They saw their own misty condesned smoke and thought-- "I would like some champagne"--and walked home.

History of Stanislavky: (if you are interested)

As you may or may not know already, that the school that we Ithacans are currently attending is the school Stanislavsky founded along with Nimorovich-Danchenko. For those who do not know who Stanislavsky is (I don't know why you wouldn't know but...) he is the father or realism in theatre. He is one of the greatest teachers in the craft of acting the world has ever known. Without him we of the acting world would never have had Meisner, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Michael Chekhov... and many more to add to this list. With his persistence and passion for the art of acting he worked until his dying day to find the best way to bring human beings to life on the stage--his goal was not so that we could act well, but so that we could live fully. One of the most interesting facts and misconceptions we Americans have come to believe is that Stanislavsky gave the world a system-- a method-- that could, in a fullproof manner, make us a better actor. In a sense that is true--but in another we couldn't be more wrong. What happened was that Stanislavky was DEVELOPING a system. This system however was never meant to be "THE WAY"--and acting bible if you will. When the american gurues of acting heard of his system, they proclaimed it as finished and offered their own spin of the Stanislavsky "system" or "method". However, Stanislavky never finished his work in developing the "method" to acting. He worked day and night, almost neurotically, until his dying day for the appropriate way to live fully on stage. We in America learned of his approach to acting only halfway through his life, and WE proclaimed and published it as the "method"--a finished product--when it really is a progressive and ever changing art form. So as the American gurues gained fame as wonderful teachers of the Stanislavsky method, Stanislavky came back to Russia and decided that his approach to acting was unfinished and even wrong. Imagine that. So he kept searching for better ways to approach this art form. What we in America know as "the method" is all based on only half of Stanislavky's life research. Stanislavky never defined his method, he was never finished learning--and such is the Russian mentality. In Russia we continue in the never ending process of defining what acting is and we work from Stanislavsky's dying material. An artists will never be satisfied with his work because there is no limit to the amount we can unconver.

Anatoly Smeliansky(the head of MXAT) said one of the saddest yet most beautiful things about the acting profession. "An artist should read the story of Sysiphus three times every morning when he gets up and three times every night before he goes to sleep. Such is the life of an artist, every day we must push the boulder to the top of the mountain and every day for the rest of our lives we will never get it to the top--but our mentality is always set on attaining our freedom."

Well Goodnight Russia. Goodnight friends. Talk to you soon I hope.

With Admiration,

Marcin