Our Vision
These turbulent times present an all-encompassing creative challenge. We, as humans, are globally confronted with fundamental issues. Think of how we interact with each other, learning, information dissemination, privacy, pollution, the extinction of plant and animal species, and the finite nature of our resources. Even the current individualism has reached its limits.
All of this calls for a fundamentally new perspective and new skills. We need to find an approach that acknowledges and embraces all layers of reality. In doing so, we must transcend self-interest, opinions, hierarchy, race, and sentiments.
We are all faced with the same challenge. How do we create a sustainable future? How do you find your way as an individual, group, collective, or organization?
The Michael Chekhov acting technique operates from creative individuality: that part of us that transcends the limitations of personal vision and accesses our unique creativity. Creativity, in this vision, is a universal, non-personal phenomenon. The individual with their unique creativity is simultaneously part of a creative universe and thus inseparably connected.
The Michael Chekhov acting technique provides the tools to explore, experience, and consciously utilize creativity. Chekhov outlined and described the steps in this process for the actor, drama teacher, and director. The aim of the technique is to liberate the player’s unique talent and address obstacles in thinking, feeling, perceiving, and intuition.
Michael Chekhov spoke about the theater/actor of the future. We believe that his approach and vision have never been more relevant. The Michael Chekhov acting technique provides tools for the artist in every person and the ensemble (the group, organization) in all fields.
The technique offers a systematic and clear approach. You practice opening up creativity, expanding imagination, understanding underlying motivations. But you also explore genuine engagement and learn to stick to the facts.
Those who train in this technique also learn to see through the personal limitations of every individual. This naturally fosters understanding and love for other perspectives. Different (experiential) worlds open up to each other. Thus, learning can happen organically; with and from each other. Everyone’s talent can thus make a unique contribution in service of the whole.
Our Mission
The Michael Chekhov Collective aims to provide artists (in every person) and ensembles (in every field) with tools to collaborate from creative individuality and work towards transformation at a fundamental level through training, performances, and projects. We achieve this by:
- Training actors and other performers in the Michael Chekhov acting method.
- Operating from creative individuality through training, projects, and performances.
- Creating projects where the Michael Chekhov method forms the basis of the creative process.
- Exploring fundamental societal issues through the creative process of the Michael Chekhov acting technique, uncovering causes and gaining insight into and a process towards solving the issue.
- Supporting individuals in accessing their own creative capacity (both artists and individuals in education, healthcare, etc.).
- Contributing to bridging the visible and invisible, the audible and inaudible in our reality.