TOCAR O INTANGÍVEL

TOUCHING THE INTANGIBLE - MIKHAIL TCHEKHOV'S WORLDVIEW FROM HIS ACTION TECHNIQUE

Abstract

In the twentieth century, reflections on the problem of acting training have mostly prioritized the comprehension of concrete aspects of technical work. Still reverberating the conceptions of method as postulated by modern and scientific-materialist epistemologies, some of these interpretations tend to neglect the existence of objective structures that can constitute the immaterial and intangible phenomena of action. Thus, the present text underlines the way in which the legacy of the Russian theatrical actor, director and pedagogue Michael Chekhov (1891-1955) proposes a direct approach to these subtle elements, based on his emphasis on imagination. The communication text makes reference to the audios that record a series of classes given by the artist, in New York, in 1955. He defines what would be the five guiding-principles of his methodology, where the second one is precisely the recognition of intangible means of expression to achieve tangible results on the scene. Unfolding Stanislavsky's investigations, Chekhov finds his own way to explore the psychophysical nature of the exercises, deeply exploring the relationship with events that extrapolate the limits of the actor's or actress's material corporeality, such as atmosphere, radiation and psychological gesture. By adopting foundations from R. Steiner's Anthroposophy and J. W. Goethe's phenomenology, the Chekhovian technique reflects a worldview based on the full correspondence between human and extra-human attributes, material and spiritual natures. One of the consequences of this is the approach to the body as a physical, energetic and imaginary structure. Thus, his methodology thinks of acting as an experience of wholeness, image and metamorphosis. KEY WORDS Imagination. Technique. Pedagogogy of Acting. Poetic of Intangible.