FutureLearn: Physical Theatre, Exploring the Slap

This FutureLearn training course is all about physical theatre and one of the seminal forces in modern theatre, Russian theatrical producer, director, and actor Vsevolod Yemilyevich Meyerhold.

Expertly created by Jonathan Pitches, Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds, it is aimed at students making the transition to university or the work place.

This is a four hour online course spread over two weeks, with a rich variety of activities including watching videos, painstaking animations, joining discussions, taking quizzes, reading articles and completing exercises.

The introduction includes a fabulous interactive timeline which explores the events of the early 20th Century and the pivotal events of the Russian Revolution. We learn that Meyerhold invented the technique of biomechanics, a very precise and physical approach to actor training, and this was the vehicle for realising the Theatre of Stylisation.

A key focus is on one of the five classical études, ‘the Slap’ and trying out biomechanics and the études for yourself by stylistically employing the three-part rhythm or acting cycle of otkaz, posil and tochka. This is where you can unleash your artistic talents by creating a video of yourself or submitting a photo or piece of prose to share with the learning community. How involved you want to be is up to you but there are lots of openings for giving and taking feedback.

The course is free but if you upgrade for £27 you can access tests that assess your understanding step by step. This gives you unlimited access and allows you to print off a Certificate of Achievement to prove what you've learned.

This inventive, practical and highly accessible course is a rich marriage of intellect and creativity that brings biomechanics alive. It is a real study of the laws of space, movement and reflexivity and illustrates how influential Meyerhold was in promoting poses and gestures and the art of moving and musicality to represent thoughts and feelings.

Professionally delivered, top-quality content and hugely enjoyable, this course celebrates the majesty of Meyerhold and the mountains he moved. This holistic, rigorous and detailed short study grabs you by the lapels, whets your appetite and is the perfect springboard for deeper engagement.

www.futurelearn.com/courses/physical-theatre-exploring-the-slap