MICHAEL CHEKHOV BRASIL About us

Michael Chekhov Brasil

In 2010 a weekly initiatve was launched in Rio de Janeiro with small groups of actors exploring Michael Chekhov's artistic legacy throughout the year. In 2012, Thaís Loureiro and Hugo Moss founded Michael Chekhov Brasil, creating an ambitious programme which established for the first time in Brazil a source of practical exploration and knowledge of this artistic/philosophical universe. The 2-month Michael Chekhov Training was launched, as well as a series of other workshops and complimentary initiatives, such as the Archive, the production of translations and audiovisual material, establishing partnerships in Brazil and overseas, and gradually forming a family of artists which continues to grow to this day.
Michael Chekhov Brasil is the only studio exclusively devoted to the teaching and practice of the technique and philosophy in Latin America.
In September 2019, the studio and its friends were shattered by the sudden death of Thaís Loureiro, after a short illness. As a consequence, Michael Chekhov Brasil suspended nearly all its workshops programme, and this continued through to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
In 2020 MICHA Michael Chekhov Association dedicated its anual event of workshops and meetings of the international Michael Chekhov community to the memory of Thaís Loureiro.
Michael Chekhov Brasil currently maintains a reduced programme of online workshops.

Colaborators

Since September 2019 the weekly workshop Trilhas [Trails] has been facilitated by three actors trained by Michael Chekhov Brasil and who continued their studies working with master teachers abroad:

Amparo de Gata is an actor, performer and mathemetician who discovered the Michael Chekhov technique in 2013 and has been broadening her knowledge ever since: in January 2018 she took part in the intensive workshop at the Michael Chekhov School and in 2017 and 2020 attended MICHA's annual International Workshop and Festival. Amparo has been a Trilhas participant since 2015 and currently leads sessions as facilitator.
Dani Kupek is an actor who enjoys embodying different presences, her work being devoted to human movement in its finest detail. Since her encounter with the Michael Chekhov technique in 2015, this has formed the basis for her artistic creations in various theatrical languages, such as shadow theatre and site specific work. Encouraged by Thaís Loureiro, Dani attended the Michael Chekhov School intensive workshop in 2019 and through the work facilitating Trilhas seeks to share the legacy she left behind.
Fran Mattoso has been active as an artist since 2004, having graduated in dramatic arts and film. Trained in the Michael Chekhov technique by Michael Chekhov Brasil from 2015, she has been deepening this work ever since and has taken part in the last three editions of MICHA's annual workshop in New London, USA, studying with teachers such as Joanna Merlin, Lenard Petit and Fern Sloan. In 2019 she had the chance to be directed by Ted Pugh in a presentation at the closing night of the event.

Advisory Board

Honorary President:

Fern Sloan, an actress for over 30 years, is co-founder and co-artistic director of The Actors' Ensemble, a faculty member of MICHA - Michael Chekhov Association who has performed and taught the Michael Chekhov technique in the US, Canada and Europe. She was certified by the Michael Chekhov Studio in New York and was on its faculty for the last three years of its existence.

Advisors:
Actor Bruna Mafra graduated at CAL (Rio de Janeiro), is a ballet dancer and researcher of the human soul. Based in São Paulo, she is also a practitioner of Ayurveda and Yoga and trained in the Michael Chekhov technique with Michael Chekhov Brasil. In 2016 she took part in MICHA's anual conference in New London, USA, studying under Joanna Merlin, Lenard Petit, Fern Sloan and Ted Pugh, among others.
Playwright, actor and director, Cleiton Echeveste graduated in Theatrical Acting at UFRGS. He is founder of the company Pandorga, devoted to children's and youth theare, and is the author and/or director of numerous productions, among them “O Menino que Brincava de Ser” and “Cabeça de Vento. Cleiton was Assistant Director of the production "'Night, Mother" (Grupo Assik), is trained in the Michael Chekhov technique and in 2015 took part in MICHA 's annual workshop in New London, USA.

Jobst Langhans is a theatre director, actor and director of Michael Tschechow Studio Berlin, which he founded in 1984 and which nowadays offers a complete three-year degree in the Chekhov method. As director and actor he has an extensive curriculum spanning over three decades, including a recent production of Goethe's Faust. He is a faculty member of MICHA The Michael Chekhov Association and has taught master classes in Moscow, London, Madrid, Riga, Glasgow, Amsterdam, New York, Zagreb, Istanbul and Helsinki, among others.

Actor and producer Rô Milani graduated in theatre at Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre) and did her post-graduation (Aesthetics of Movement and Techniques in Motor Recovery and Therapy Through Dance) at Faculdade Angel Vianna, in Rio de Janeiro. She trained in the Michael Chekhov technique with Michael Chekhov Brasil and was Producer on the production of "'Night, Mother" (Grupo Assik). In 2017 Rô and her family moved to Bergamo, Italy.

Partnerships

The programme MICHAEL CHEKHOV MASTER CLASS brings well-known international teachers to Brazil for workshops. In January 2014 we received Lenard Petit from New York, USA. This program is a partnership between Michael Chekhov Brasil and MICHA, The Michael Chekhov Association.
In 2015 Hugo Moss co-edited material for the new edition of the book "Lessons for Teachers" which MICHA will publish in 2017.

In 2018 Michael Chekhov Brasil's workshops were part of the Projeto Sesc Dramaturgias programme, with trips to the Brazilian states of PARÁ (Belém and Castanhal), MATO GROSSO DO SUL (Campo Grande and Corumbá) and PERNAMBUCO (Pesqueira and Arcoverde). And in October 2018 Sesc Paraty hosted the INTERCÂMBIO DE ARTES CÊNICAS, a fortnight of workshops, conferences, Open Space, lectures etc. exploring Michael Chekhov's artistic legacy (see VÍDEO).

In 2016 Michael Chekhov Brasil was invited to take part in the Visiting Professorship program at The Federal University of Campinhas, Unicamp, and offering a series of workshops to two groups of graduate students and one comprised of faculty members and post-graduate reseachers.
This exchange produced a series of complementary activities and 2019 marks the partnership's fourth year.

Michael Chekhov Brasil also relies on the collaboration of actors trained in the technique, and partner teachers of voice training, eurythmy, Alexander and other activities. We also register our gratitude for the financial support received from Anne Beatrice Hamilton (Irish scholar and patriot, *1890 †1982) - through Mary Beatrice Moss - who is remembered in our Archive.

International Community

Michael Chekhov Brasil is part of the worldwide community of studios and institutions devoted to the teaching and practice of the Michael Chekhov technique. For more information see our INTERNATIONAL page.