Ira Seidenstein began independent research into actor and theatre
training in the early 1970s. As a young actor Ira encountered a
variety of acting and theatre methods that were contradictory as well as
antagonistic to one another. Yet, he witnessed that no method had
consistent success nor consistent failure.
Ira felt there must be something that the successful actor/student was
doing that the unsuccessful actor/student was not doing. He
interviewed every actor he encountered not only about the formal actor
training they had but also about formative training they may have had
in areas such as dance, sport, or martial arts. He asked where they
grew up and about the circumstances of their youth. Additionally
asking about their favorite teachers during their
formal actor
training.
Various patterns began to emerge, and Ira concluded that although
every acting method is good, none of them work for most actors. In
fact, he found that there is likely some key universal principle(s)
that the successful actor/student has stumbled upon unconsciously. He
called the key principle - The Principle of Four - an integration of
Body-Voice-Performance-Creativity as the basis for good or
embodied
acting.
In 1976 he began to formulate a short 'kata' of ten anatomical
movements found inside dance, acrobatics, and martial arts. This
series is called "Core Mechanics". The sixth movement, a twisting
choreography, proved to be miraculous in terms of generating energy
and creativity. From this Ira extracted a simpler version he calls
"The Creative Twist" or the "Vitruvian Exercise". That is the exercise
that locates The Principle of Four that any excellent actor has
found
subconsciously.
Ira also was fascinated by another question -
"What works when, and
under what circumstances?"
So The Seidenstein Method starts from: Core Mechanics, The Creative
Twist, The Principle of Four, and the question "What works when, and
under what circumstances?" in relation to the training of theatre practitioners.
After decades of professional research in the field of acting, and a
related fields such as yoga, healing, metaphysics, science, and an
M.A. in Visual & Performing Arts, Ira found during his PhD (Education)
studies that anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu had a related philosophy
based on his idea of "habitus" or the early learning of an individual
that was embodied.
Similar to Bourdieu's theory of "illusio", Ira had found that when it
came to actor (theatre, performance etc) training that there were a
number of illusions that 'misdirected' the learner from empowerment.
Bourdieu found that such misdirection was affected by what he
(Bourdieu) termed "illusio", "mis-recognition", and "symbolic
violence" that tended to disempower the learner by the preaching of
orthodoxy ('authorities') in any field.
This is somewhat related, in a tangential way, to Gurdjieff's teaching
related to "work" and man's being "asleep".
Ira assists any actor (professional, veteran, or novice) to re-start a
process of awakening within their own body, intellect, consciousness
and creative play. In other words, via one's "habitus" one can begin to
"work" and thus not be "asleep". In some very practical ways The
Seidenstein Method is like the yoga of acting.
