AWARD-WINNING THEATRE MAKERS, STORYTELLERS
& CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
BIOMECHANICS
Theatrical Biomechanics is a unique approach to movement training, developed by Russian theatre visionary Vsevold Meyerhold.
His ideas were fundamental to modern theatre and have influenced major directors such as Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski and Bertolt Brecht. Biomechanics is a means of refining the actor's balance and physical control, rhythmic awareness and responsiveness to other performers, audience and external stimuli.
Theatrical Biomechanics is a technique that has been written about endlessly but rarely ever used for performance after the 1930s. Proper Job’s work with Gennadi Bogdanov aims to present this technique as a living dynamic expression of the actor on stage.
Bogdanov is the last living link to this theatre tradition, being a former student of Nikolai Kustov, an actor and teacher in Meyerhold's company. Amongst others, Bogdanov has worked with Grotowski and Odin Theatre. He has also led sell-out workshops for the International Workshop Festival. Direct heir of Meyerhold pedagogy, Bogdanov is the only person in the world who is able to teach the Classic Etudes of Theatrical Biomechanics.
Proper Job Director, Dr. Chloë Whitehead has written an article on tormos : a guiding principle of Meyerhold's theatrical biomechanics...
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WORKSHOPS
James Beale and Chloe Whitehead, Directors of Proper Job Theatre, are former protégés of Master Gennadi Bogdanov.
Their years of dedicated biomechanics training put them at the country’s forefront of training in the method. James and Chloe can run both beginner and advanced workshops in the biomechanical technique as part of performing arts, community arts and drama degree courses at Huddersfield, Middlesex, Liverpool and Hull Universities. Proper Job also organises its own training for actors in Manchester, Huddersfield and London.
