Nikolai Demidov—Russian Theater's Best-kept Secret

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the creative heritage and biography of the outstanding Russian theater pedagogue—a student and closest colleague of Konstantin stanislavski—director Nikolai Vasilievich Demidov (1884-1953). For the first time, in the English-speaking world, the article provides an introduction to the fundamental ideas behind Demidov's teachings, and to his educational methods of actor cultivation, known as “The Demidov School.” Demidov is credited with developing an internal organic technique that demystifies inspiration and puts an actor in touch with his own creative process. Demidov's discoveries in the realm of creativity attracted the attention of the leading Russian psychologists, physiologists and biologists, as they open a new chapter in the science of the creative process. In addition to the technique of authentic “living onstage,” Demidov also developed “the psycho-technique of the affective actor [tragedian],” which teaches the actor the art of navigating heightened emotional attitudes.