Editing Konstantin Stanislavski (section)

==Studios and the search for a system==
[[File:Sulergitski L A 1910x.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[Leopold Sulerzhitsky]] in 1910, who led the First Studio and taught the elements of the [[Stanislavski's system|system]] there.]]

Following the success of his production of ''[[A Month in the Country (play)|A Month in the Country]]'', Stanislavski made repeated requests to the board of the [[Moscow Art Theatre|MAT]] for proper facilities to pursue his [[Pedagogy|pedagogical]] work with young actors.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 206–209) and Magarshack (1950, 331).</ref> [[Maxim Gorky|Gorky]] encouraged him not to found a drama school to teach inexperienced beginners, but rather—following the example of the Theatre-Studio of 1905—to create a studio for [[Practice research|research]] and [[Experimental theatre|experiment]] that would train young professionals.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 209), Gauss (1999, 34–35), and Rudnitsky (1981, 56).</ref>

Stanislavski created the First Studio on {{OldStyleDate|14 September|1912|1 September}}.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 209–11), Leach (2004, 17), and Whymann (2008, 31).</ref> Its founding members included [[Yevgeny Vakhtangov]], [[Michael Chekhov]], [[Richard Boleslawski]], and [[Maria Ouspenskaya]], all of whom would exert a considerable influence on the subsequent [[history of theatre]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 210) and Gauss (1999, 32, 49–50).</ref> Stanislavski selected Suler (as Gorky had nicknamed [[Leopold Sulerzhitsky|Sulerzhitsky]]) to lead the studio.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 209), Gauss (1999, 32–33), and Leach (2004, 17–18).</ref> In a focused, intense atmosphere, their work emphasised experimentation, [[improvisation]], and self-discovery.<ref>Gauss (1999, 40), Leach (1994, 18), and Whyman (2008, 242).</ref> Following Gorky's suggestions about [[Devised theatre|devising]] new plays through improvisation, they searched for "the creative process common to authors, actors and directors".<ref>From Sulerzhitsky's notes on a speech given by Stanislavski in September 1912, quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 210); see also Magarshack (1950, 332–333).</ref>

Stanislavski created the Second Studio of the MAT in 1916, in response to a production of [[Zinaida Gippius]]' ''The Green Ring'' that a group of young actors had prepared independently.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 211) and Gauss (1999, 61–63).</ref> With a greater focus on pedagogical work than the First Studio, the Second Studio provided the environment in which Stanislavski developed the training techniques that would form the basis for his manual ''An Actor's Work'' (1938).<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 236), Gauss (1999, 65), and Leach (2004, 19).</ref>

A significant influence on the development of the system came from Stanislavski's experience teaching and directing at his Opera Studio, which was founded in 1918.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 211, 255–270), Magarshack (1950, 350–352), Stanislavski and Rumyantsev (1975, x), and Whyman (2008, 135). A series of thirty-two lectures that he delivered at the Opera Studio between 1919 and 1922 were recorded by [[Konkordia Antarova]] and published in 1939; they have been translated into English as ''Stanislavsky on the Art of the Stage'' (1950). Pavel Rumiantsev documented the studio's activities until 1932; his notes were published in 1969 and appear in English under the title ''Stanislavski on Opera'' (1975).</ref> He hoped that the successful application of his system to opera, with its inescapable conventionality and artifice, would demonstrate the [[Universality (philosophy)|universality]] of his approach to performance and unite the work of [[Mikhail Shchepkin]] and [[Feodor Chaliapin]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 256), Magarshack (1950, 351), and Whyman (2008, 139).</ref> From this experience Stanislavski's notion of "tempo-rhythm" emerged.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 259). Stanislavski's concept of "tempo-rhythm" is developed most substantially in part two of ''An Actor's Work''.</ref> He invited [[Serge Wolkonsky]] to teach [[diction]] and Lev Pospekhin to teach expressive movement and dance and attended both of their classes as a student.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 256) and Whyman (2008, 129). [[Serge Wolkonsky]] popularised the work of [[François Delsarte]] and [[Émile Jaques-Dalcroze]] in Russia; see Whyman (2008, 123–130). Lev Pospekhin was from the [[Bolshoi Theatre|Bolshoi Ballet]].</ref>