Accessing Psychophysical Identities through Russian Martial Arts in actor training

Abstract

When teaching acting and movement in the university classroom, I often encounter a tension between training students in specific skills while simultaneously encouraging them to embody their psychophysical identities in relation to gender, race, class, age, and (dis)ability. In response to this tension, I apply my training in the ROSS system of Russian Martial Arts (RMA) to the acting and movement classroom. RMA exercises offer blueprints for self-exploration rather than formally structured patterns, prompting students to develop perception of their own bodies and minds, as well as those of their partners, while encouraging improvisation and adaptation. Students can practise at a range of intensities, from gentle and exploratory (Softwork) moving towards aggressive and outcome-focused (Hardwork). Further, students enter the training from their existing physical capacity and adapt, develop, and refine skills for playing committed action and sending/receiving impulses with a partner. Informed by the work of Ben Spatz, Ellis Amdur, and Sara Hendren, I will analyse how these RMA exercises develop specific psychophysical skills relevant to the training of actors while simultaneously inviting students to engage their social and artistic identities. I will place these exercises in conversation with theatre-based trainings, including the Six Viewpoints, the Acrobatics of the Heart, and the Michael Chekhov Technique. I argue that the open-ended nature of these exercises builds greater accessibility within existing performance pedagogy, opening the acting and movement classroom to a diverse community of performers.