„In a materialistically minded epoch like ours, people are ashamed of their feelings, they are afraid of you. Nothing can stand in the way of your talent more than a language in which only your vocal cords participate. „
Michael Chekhov * 3
1.1 About me and how I got to the Chekhov Method
In my work as an actor, I was very lucky to come across this wonderful method by Michael Chekhov via Tankstelle Berlin. (I will write „Michael Chekhov“ in the future, I am aware that there are other spellings such as Mikhail, Michael, Cechov, Chechov, Čhechov, Chekhov, etc.)
In my work as an actor using the Chekhov method, I had the experience that I could go deeper into a role. The exercises stimulated my imagination regarding posture and situation and strengthened my mental abilities to concentrate. I was also able to dissolve and relativize destructive thoughts of the „everyday life’s self“ such as: „can you still do the text?“ or „what do you think the audience thinking?“
“Čhechov repeatedly emphasizes that body and mind are mutually dependent and interact with each other, since people experience most of their experiences not only mentally but also physically and vice versa. It is therefore important that the body and psyche receive equal attention in the acting work, because the body is just as indispensable in its physical role as its inner life since it expresses the creative ideas and acts as an instrument for the artist. ”( P. 53.) link quote
2.2 Why in jazz and my hypothesis
“Our time no longer has a proper relationship with intuitions and their realities.” * 13
When I listen to jazz singers and musicians, I often remain untouched and miss the individuality of the artist in music. It is often very well-behaved and emotionless, or the emotions don’t come across. Why do these artists want to go on stage then I ask myself, what do they want to tell? What is their story? But there are other musicians I’m staring at and wondering what’s different with them, why am I so focused and gripped by their emotion. It is right to be technically proficient in your voice/instrument, but that’s not all. At symposiums, whether in America or Germany, that topic is exactly what comes up again. The young artists are technically brilliant, but they the don’t have that certain personal something, the spirit. But how can we get this?
“Singers tend to radiate only with the voice as it is released from the larynx; but, by honoring the resonances that occur in the whole body, sound can be radiated from head to toe. “*1.
In regular training, this spirit should being taught in music colleges. But is that even possible? In most schools as known, the focus is mainly on things that are tangible, such as technical knowledge and theory, things that you can query, the “right and wrong method”. But is that also possible with “spirit”? How can you measure that? Who says what’s right in art, what’s wrong? How can you go unusual ways, if you are always get told what mistakes you make. Many artists have just come to their authentic language and themselves through abstract ideas, where mistakes and detours were important. Singing techniques such as Estill are an important basic foundation of singing which create an awareness of physical and tonal processes, but the technique doesn’t promote awareness of an authentic artistic approach, of an artistic soul that also needs to be trained.
“Life, fire, charm, the attractiveness of a performance are only determined by its emotional atmosphere … without a soulwithout an atmosphere it stays cold. The audience looks indifferent on the stage, and finds comfort in criticizing, judging and judging. “Michael Chekhov * 3 p.241.
Sebastian Stert 