Image from Vsevold Meyerhold, Biomechanics Workshop, 1920
The actors acting in his productions employed a particularly physical method developed by Meyerhold himself which is known as Biomechanics.This technique consisted in a series of exercised that helped the actor release emotional potential through movement. Gerald Raugin in his article “Bodies, Things, and Social Machines” descibes biomechanics as follows:" Contrary to the psychology of the plot and to an empathetic audience, the core components of biomechanics were the rhythm of language and the rhythm of physical movement, postures and gestures arising from these rhythms, coordinating the movement of the body and bodies with one another. The development of the plot was not to come from “within”, from the psyche or mind, but rather “from outside”, through the movement of the body in space. These components were created through an economy of means of expression, control of bodies and gestures, precision and tempo of movement, speed of reaction and improvisation. Meyerhold’s acting school was not merely a school for gymnastics and acrobatics, but rather attempted to bring the actors to calculate and coordinate their movements before that and beyond it, to organize their material, to organize the body.” →