INTERNATIONAL
FACULTY
The Chekhov modules are normally taught by a TEAM of two or three instructors. All instructors are professional actors or directors in their own country and have a long teaching experience. They are international acknowledged master teachers of the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique.
JESSICA CERULLO -
MICHAEL CHEKHOV ASSOCIATION (MICHA), USA
Michael Chekhov Technique • Developmental movement
Jessica Cerullo is an interdisciplinary theater artist and educator. Her work is often socially or civically engaged and is grounded in a variety of somatic and contemplative practices that seek to build community connections and capacities for empathy. Recent projects include How to End Poverty in 90 Minutes (with 99 people you may or may not know) with Sojourn Theater, Hear Here Walla Walla with the Immigrant Rights Coalition and The Ships in the Night.
Jessica is the Artistic Director of MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association. She edited the book Michael Chekhov: Lessons for Teachers, expanded edition and instigated the 2021 short film series The Actor is the Theatre; the Michael Chekhov Community Performs the Archive. Jessica trained at the National Theater Institute USA and Moscow and earned her MFA in contemporary performance from Naropa University.
KIM CHEN -
TAIPEI THEATRE LAB,TAIWAN
Michael Chekhov Technique • Musical theatre
Kim Chen (Chen Yu-Ting) is the founder and director of Taipei Theatre Lab and a full-time lecturer at The School of Theatre in Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA). She also works as a freelance director, actor, playwright, and producer. Her theatre work could be seen in major theatre companies’ productions and theatre festivals in Taipei.
As a director and producer, Kim’s interest and strength is to infuse music, song, and dance into various kinds of creative works. As a theater educator, Kim is known as the pioneer who has introduced Michael Chekhov Technique to Taiwan and stretched its application into different disciplines such as theater, dance, musical, opera, film, and television.
BURCU HALOÇOGLU -
BILGI UNIVERSITY ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Michael Chekhov Technique • Site-specific theatre • Immersive theatre
Burcu Halaçoğlu is an actress working for theaters, films and series. At the same time she is teaching acting at Performing Arts Department, Istanbul Bilgi University. She obtained her BA Degree in Performing Arts from İstanbul Bilgi University, MA Degree in Cinema and Television from Anadolu University and PhD from İstanbul University, Program of Dramaturgy and Theatre Criticism. Her main research and practice areas are acting and acting techniques. She has translated Michael Chekhov’s book “To The Actor” into Turkish.
2019 she became a member of Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE) and co-founded Michael Chekhov Istanbul. 2013 she co-founded their own theatre company TiyatroPol. She writes, directs and performs at this company. Nowadays she performs at Çok Uzak Çok Yakın (TiyatroPol), Balat Monologlar Müzesi and in the digital play “Merhamet” of Koma Sahnesi.
GRZEGORZ ŁABUDA -
LIVING SPACE THEATRE, WARSAW, POLAND
Michael Chekhov Technique • Dance Theatre • Contemporary Dance
Actor, dancer, costume designer. Co-founder of Living Space Theatre, - a group of independent artists focused on dance theatre. In his work, he combines contemporary dance techniques with acting methods. As a freelancer, he makes guest appearances in Polish and foreign theatres, co-creates choreographies, and creates his own projects. His work includes original plays, immersive theatre, site-specific events, happenings, and installations.
Grzegorz has been involved with the Chekhov technique since 2017, studying at the Michael Chekhov School in Hudson with Ted Pugh, Fern Sloan, and Ragnar Freidank, completing several courses and intensive individual training under their guidance. He also trained through MICHA and MCE-Training. He graduated from the Dance Theatre Department of the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow and is currently completing his master's degree at Carnegie Mellon University in the US as a Fulbright scholar.
JOBST LANGHANS -
MICHAEL TSCHECHOW STUDIO BERLIN, GERMANY
Michael Chekhov Technique • Directing
Jobst Langhans is the artistic director of Michael Tschechow Studio Berlin. He co-founded the theatre company Werkbühne Berlin, and has been its artistic director since 1998. He has performed and directed throughout Berlin, Germany and abroad. 2013 and 2014 he has directed Johan W. Goethe’s “Faust I” and “Faust II” at Forum Theater Stuttgart, starring Ulrich Meyer-Horsch as Faust. In 1984, he opened the Michael Tschechow Studio Berlin, where he continues to serve as its artistic director. He organized the first International Michael Chekhov Workshop in Berlin 1992 as well as another one in 1995 and served on the board of the International Michael Chekhov Association from 1992-1995.
He is a member of the international faculty of MICHA and MCE (Michael Chekhov Europe) and member of the advisory board of Michael Chekhov Brasil. Jobst Langhans studied church music and philosophy as well as private theatre studies with Else Bongers and Jürgen v.Alten. From 1983-1995 he was the director of theaterforum kreuzberg and has been a visiting teacher at various theatre schools and universities, leading master classes in Moscow, London, Madrid, Riga, Glasgow, New York, Istanbul and others.
JAKUB MARGOSIAK -
LIVING SPACE THEATRE, WARSAW, POLAND
Michael Chekhov Technique • Dance Theatre • Contemporary Dance
Actor, dancer, director. A graduate of the Acting Department of the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow and a freelance student at the Department of Dance Theater in Bytom (Poland). Ph.D. student at The Film School in Lodz (Poland). Awarded Fulbright Scholarship for conducting research about Michael Chekhov Technique in the U.S.
Co-founder of the Living Space Theatre and director of award-winning performances: “Ferdydurke”, “Jesus Christ, Refugee!”, “Kajdzias”, “Shapes”. Artist in residence at the Theatre No Theatre in Italy.
Jakub taught at: 35th International Theater Institute World Congress in Segovia (Spain), The New School (New York), Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (China), Xi’an Concert Hall (China), Busan International Performing Arts Festival (South Korea), The Machulski’s Acting School (Poland), and The Film School (Poland).
ULRICH MEYER-HORSCH -
SCHULE FÜR SCHAUSPIEL HAMBURG
Michael Chekhov Technique • Mask work (neutral, character, Bali)
Ulrich Meyer-Horsch is an award-winning actor and theatre director with three decades of working experience in German state and regional theatres: Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Theater Kiel, Theater Lübeck, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Kampnagel Hamburg, Altonaer Theater, Komödie Düsseldorf, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, among others. He has worked with Simon McBurney and Complicité, Augusto Boal and Yoshi Oida. Until 2015 he was the associate artistic director of Kreuzgangspiele Feuchtwangen, one of Germany’s biggest summer theatres.
Ulrich Meyer-Horsch holds a degree in Acting from Schule für Schauspiel Hamburg and diplomas in Theology, Philosophy and Theatre Pedagogy from the universities of Heidelberg, Hamburg, and London (King’s College). He studied with Michael Chekhov’s former students Hurt Hatfield, Deidre Hurst du Prey, Mala Powers and Joanna Merlin as well as with master teachers from Russia and East Asia.
In his approach to the Chekhov Technique he incorporates the exploration of children’s games and work with masks. Since 1994 he has been teaching throughout Europe, Russia, Armenia, the Middle East, Brazil, Uruguay, the US, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia. He is a guest lecturer at Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey, and a member of the international faculty of the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA), New York. Since 2020 he is the co-artistic director of Schule für Schauspiel Hamburg (SfSH).
JESPER MICHELSEN -
GLAD THEATRE COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Michael Chekhov Technique • Inclusive theatre
Originally trained as an actor, over the last 20 years Jesper has been working mostly as an acting coach, director, dramaturge and producer in many different projects. He holds a BA in theatre studies and pedagogy from the University of Copenhagen. Jesper studied the MC Technique with MICHA (USA) and has been working with it in various workshops
and programmes since 2003, teaching MC Technique alone or combined with Meisner- and other techniques. He is the co-founder of Glad Teater, a professional theatre and acting school for people
with handicaps in Copenhagen. His special interest alongside training actors is the use of the body and the imagination in human development and creativity. A founding member of Michael Chekhov Europe e.V., he has co-created MCE’s educational curriculum which is taught in 15 countries in Europe and Asia.
SUZANA NIKOLIC -
STUDIO CHEKHOV CROATIA, ZAGREB
Michael Chekhov Technique • Voice and speech
Suzana Nikolić is a full-time professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb. She is a Founder and Artistic Director of Performing Arts StudioChekhov Croatia. Ms. Nikolic's organizational and production credits include over a dozen international workshops. Ms. Nikolić has worked with the Michael Chekhov Technique and taught it professionally for over 20 years and received the MICHA teaching certificate of completion in 2004.In 2004 and 2019 she edited the Croatian translation of Michael Chekhov's To the Actor – On the Technique of Acting. At the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was a Vice Dean for International Affairs from 2004-2006, Head of the Voice and Speech Department from 2006-2010, and Head of the Acting Department 2016-2018. Since 2016, Ms. Nikolić has been an official faculty member of MICHA, USA. She is a co-founder and member of Michael Chekhov Europe and its international Training Programme.
She graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts, and was a Fulbright scholar at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Acting Program. She is an award-winning actress with credits in theatre performances, features films, television films & series as well as radio, and has had over 25 years of additional acting and voice training abroad. Ms. Nikolić has taught the Chekhov Technique in Europe, America, Israel, and Asia. From 2019 to 2022, she has been teaching the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, China. Her book Actor of the Future will be published in China by the end of 2022.
HUGH O´GORMAN -
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH, USA
Playing Action & Active Analysis • Michael Chekhov Technique • Film
Hugh O’Gorman is an actor, director, author and teaching-artist active in professional theatre for 30 years; since 2002 he has been the Head of Acting at California State University Long Beach where he oversees the BA, BFA and MFA actor training programs.
Hugh has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and at over a dozen of the nation’s most respected Regional Theatres and Shakespeare Festivals. He is a founding member of New York City’s Mint Theatre Company (2002 Drama Desk Award).
For four years Hugh portrayed Jeff Singer on AMC’s critically acclaimed, Emmy and CableAce award-winning show Remember WENN (SAG Award nomination). Other television: HBO’s multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning John Adams, for CBS Still Standing, That’s Life, and for NBC The 10th Kingdom, Law & Order and ER. Film: Killers, Upstate, The Bend.
Hugh is the author of the books “Acting Action: A Primer for Actors” and “The Keys to Acting”; he is also a faculty member of MICHA: the Michael Chekhov Association, as well as Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE), and runs his own acting studio in Los Angeles, The Praxis Studio. Hugh is Co-Executive Director of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers; he earned a BA from Cornell University and MFA in Acting from the University of Washington.
JAN OBERNDORFF -
SCHULE FÜR SCHAUSPIEL HAMBURG
Clowning • Improvisation • Song interpretation
Jan Oberndorff initially studied theatre history in Munich and then acting at the SCHULE FÜR SCHAUSPIEL HAMBURG. After several years working as a theater and TV actor he soon became a director.
He received the Critics' Prize of the Berliner Zeitung in Berlin for his directorial debut, Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". He staged further productions in Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Rostock and Hildesheim, among others.
He soon he discovered his passion for teaching. As an acting teacher he has taught at the Otto-Falckenberg-School in Munich, at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, at the Vienna Conservatory, at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, as well as at the ZHDK Zurich, in South Korea, Romania, Turkey, Uruguay and Italy. He has been a member of the SfSH leadership team since 2011.
IMER ÖZGÜN BADEMCI -
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY STATE CONSERVATORY, TURKEY
Michael Chekhov Technique • Improvisation
Imer Özgün is an actress in theatre, cinema and TV. She is a graduate of the Theater Department at Istanbul University State Conservatory. She has completed her master's degree about Michael Chekhov Technique. Currently she teaches improvisation classes and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the same institution.
Since 2012, she has participated in numerous international trainings on the Michael Chekhov Technique and had the opportunity to work with instructors from Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE) and Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). In 2019, she co-founded Michael Chekhov Istanbul together with Burcu Halaçoglu, and became an active member of Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE) in 2022.
Imer Özgün continues her theatre work with the “Siyah Beyaz ve Renkli” theatre group, of which she is a co-founder. Her stage performances were awarded ‘Best Actress' and 'Promising Actress the Year'. Currently, she is preparing for the play ‘Nachtland’ for the Istanbul Theatre Festival.
LENARD PETIT -
MICHAEL CHEKHOV ACTING STUDIO NEW YORK, USA
Michael Chekhov Technique
Lenard Petit is the director of the Michael Chekhov Acting Studio in New York City, and a founding member of Michael Chekhov Association MICHA. He has been working in the theatre for forty years collaborating with other artists to create original works for the stage, cinema, and television.He has directed plays and performance pieces on and Off Broadway, and in Great Britain. As an actor, he has performed in works by Julie Taymor, Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Ping Chong, and many others.
One of a handful of teacher students trained by the original members of Michael Chekhov’s Theatre School, in 2016, Mr. Petit was invited to create a Michael Chekhov Workshop and Festival in connection with The Shanghai Theatre Academy, Theatre Arts Festival Shanghai, China. He has been invited to teach master classes in Amsterdam, Rome, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Munich, Helsinki, Oslo, Reykjavik, Brussels, Zurich, Dublin, London, Riga, Vilnius, and Irkutsk, Siberia. Mr Petit has been a member of the faculty of the National Academy of Arts in Oslo (KHIO), Norway.
For twenty-five years he taught the Chekhov Technique in the MFA and BFA Acting programs at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Mr. Petit is the author of the “Michael Chekhov Handbook for the Actor”.
PRAJITH PRASAD -
TRIVANDRUM, KERALA, INDIA
Intercultural theatre • Devising • Story telling
Prajith K Prasad is an actor, performance maker and producer. He is the artistic director of 'The Artsworkers Studio', a laboratory space for the performing arts in Trivandrum, capital of Kerala, India. Prajith did his bachelors in English literature from Kerala University and took his diploma in acting from the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore. In 2022, he had the opportunity to work with the Suzuki Company of Toga, Japan. Recently he became a guest teacher at Hyderabad Central University, one of the leading universities in India. As an actor, Prajith has performed in both India and Singapore. He was invited to theatre festivals like International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK) and Soorya Theatre Festival. In the last years, Prajith has been developing his own acting pedagogy called "Rediscovering Senses", using the fundamental principles from various forms from different cultures.
RAMITH RAMESH -
GITAM UNIVERSITY HYDERABAD, INDIA
Kudiyattam traditional theatre • Intercultural theatre
Ramith Ramesh is an actor, theater maker and traditional Kudiyattam practitioner, grown up in Kerala, South India. Currently he lives in Hyderabad, Telangana, where he teaches as a full time Assistant Professor at the recognized GITAM University.
Ramith received his training from the esteemed Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore and from Kerala Kalamandalam. He appeared on stage more than 250 times at numerous national events and across the globe.
In addition, he has taken part in many theatrical productions and served as an assistant director in various short films.
He worked with Ariane Mnouchkine and Theatre du Soleil in Paris, with Indianostrum Theatre in Pondicherry, and has taught Kudiyattam in theatre organizations in and outside India. Ramith has received several accolades for his dedication to his career. His work focuses on applying the Asian traditional forms and principles to the performing arts of the 21st century.
OLIVIA RÜDINGER -
SCHULE FÜR SCHAUSPIEL HAMBURG
Organic Breathing and Movement (W.Reich, J.Grotowski)
Olivia Rüdinger, US-Citizen, has been a highly recognized acting coach in Germany and Europe for more than thirty years.
She received her bachelors degree in speech and dramatics from the University of Minnesota. Later, she studied modern dance and dance pedagogy at the Lola Rogge School in Hamburg and became a member of the faculty, teaching modern dance and improvisation. For the next 8 years she studied Reichian breathing technique and body work. During this time she directed and performed in the dance theatre company ”Winter auf Mallorca“.
1987 she founded with her partner Michaela Uhlig the “Studio O33 / Schule für Schauspiel Hamburg (SfSH)”, which has become one of the most renowned drama schools in Germany. She was the artistic director of the school for 32 years. After passing on this responsibility to Ulrich Meyer-Horsch, she is now continuing teaching breath, improvisation and organic movement at the school.
FREDDY SABIMBONA -
COMPAGNIE BUJA SANS TABOU, BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI
Directing • Community engaged theatre in East Africa
Freddy Sabimbona is an actor, director and the artistic director of the festival Buja Sans Tabou in Bujumbura, Burundi. He is has performed in several comedies by Patrice Faye: Les Fusillés, Les Hutsis, L'Etrangleur de Kiriri, and Le jeune homme responsable s'abstient.
In 2009, he offered his troupe two short plays: "Quitte ou double" on the blocked future of his young contemporaries in a frozen society and "Chérie, ce n'est pas ce que tu crois" on the throes of jealousy. He performed in "Déchirement" by Antoine Kaburahe, one of the famous plays of the Lampyre Company, which has been distributed in many East African countries, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda, and has allowed him to integrate Récréâtrales Elan in Burkina Faso. There he had the opportunity to stage "Les Sans..." by Ali Kiswensida Ouedraogo in 2016. Among his experiences in Cinema, he played in "Journal d'un coopérant" Robert Morin, and in "Nawewe" by Ivan Goldschmidt. He also appeared in "The sixth commandment" by Francine Niyonsaba and in "Welcome Home" by Joseph Ndayisenga for which he received the award for best male performance at the international festival and audiovisual Burundi (Festicab).
Recently, Freddy directed two plays by Claudia Munyengabe: "Point Zero" and "The King has died, long live the Queen", both presented during the festival Buja Sans Tabou in Bujumbura (2020 and 2022). Freddy holds a European diploma in cultural management with the Marcel Hicter Foundation through Africalia since 2021.
LETICIA SCOTTINI -
ESCUELA DEL ACTOR, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
Michael Chekhov Technique • Playwriting
Leticia Scottini is an actress, director, and playwright based in Uruguay and Latvia. She is the artistic director of Escuela del Actor and Teatro Telón Rojo, Montevideo, Uruguay. Director-teacher of the international acting group at Rigas Tehniska University, Latvia.
She graduated as an actress from Escuela del Actor in 2004 and continued deepening her artistic investigation in the US and Europe. Studying fine arts, design, dance, music and martial arts, she specialized in the technique of Uta Hagen at the HB Studio in New York and Michael Chekhov technique at Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE).
Leticia Scottini played lead roles in Miss Julie, Hedda Gabler, Cherry Orchard, Constellations, Duet for One, and others. She won the Florencio Award for Best Actress and “Woman of the year” award. Her first three plays were published by the Uruguayan Ministry of Culture, and premiered at Telón Rojo, directed by herself. She teaches, directs and performs internationally.
SANDHYA SURESH -
CHOWK DANCE COMPANY, SINGAPORE
Odissi dance and Chhau theatre • Contemporary choreography
Prior to attaining her BA (Hons) in Dance, Sandhya was trained in classical Ballet under the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus and has also completed her Arangetram, a debut Bharathanatyam graduation solo in the year 2012, from Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), Singapore. She completed her degree in Lasalle college of the Arts Singapore where she attained a BA (Hons) in Dance from Goldsmiths, University of London. Sandhya worked with many local and international choreographers, and also performed in festivals such as Kalaa Utsavam, dan:s festival and Continuum- T.H.E. dance company, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
She has been working with Chowk, Singapore for the past 8 years, and is currently their Associate Artistic Director. Recently, she has performed “From another Land” at Queensland poetry festival, and “The Second Sunrise” at The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
Sandhya choreographed her own works such as ‘Man.Untold’ (2018) and ‘Sole Searching’ (2021) both commissioned by The Esplanade, Singapore, co-choreographed and performed ‘Closing Moments’, a duet with Rianto (Indonesia, Japan) in 2016, and has been focusing on expanding her body of work through choreographing and performing “Body Language” I, II and III (2020), an exploration of the classical form of Odissi on a contemporary Body, to name a few.
ELSA VALENTIM -
TEATRO DOS ALOÉS, LISBON, PORTUGAL
Michael Chekhov Technique • Clowning
Elsa Valentim is a Portuguese actress, theatre director, and acting teacher. She is a graduate of the Escola Superior Teatro e Cinema in Lisbon.
Valentim is a co-founder of ACT- Escola de Actores, as well as Teatro dos Aloés, a theatre company established in 2001 by a collective of actors, where she develops her work as an actress and director.
Over the past 35 years, Valentim has performed in approx. 50 plays by playwrights including Shakespeare, Chekhov, Friel, Lorca, and Goldoni. She has worked with renowned French directors Bernard Sobel and Mario Gonzalez, and is recognized for her contributions to Portuguese cinema and television.
With a teaching career spanning 30 years, Valentim has taught in Portugal, France, Turkey, and Croatia. She has studied the Michael Chekhov Technique with Lenard Petit (USA) and Slava Kokorin (Russia) and participated in numerous workshops by MICHA and Michael Chekhov Europe (MCE). Drawing upon the principles of the Chekhov Technique, Valentim has developed her own teaching methodology.
In 2018, she was honoured with the François Florent Award for Pedagogy in Paris.
SLAGANA VUJOSEVIK -
VETRA ART, SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA
Michael Chekhov Technique • Film Acting
Slagana Vujosevik is an actress who works in theatre, cinema, animation and television. She graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje (2011) and holds a MA in theatre arts (2015) and a PhD in film arts (2019), both from Istanbul University. She is a certified teacher for the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique and board member of Michael Chekhov Europe.
Slagana has been teaching Voice and Speech at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje (2019-2023) and she was the programme director of the student Festival SKOMRAHI (2023). She has played in more than 20 theater performances in Macedonian, Turkish, English and French language, as well as in many TV series in Turkey and North Macedonia.
Slagana Vujosevik was awarded the Best Young Actress 2015 and Woman of The Year 2022. Currently, she is employed at the Turkish Theatre Skopje. She is a teacher for Film Acting and president of VETRA ART Skopje, an organization for art and education.
DAVID ZINDER -
TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY, ISRAEL
Michael Chekhov Technique • Directing
David Zinder is a freelance international director and master teacher with over three decades of experience in actor training and directing.
A founding member of Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA), Prof. Zinder has taught and directed extensively in the US, Europe, India and the Far East. The many years he spent training actors culminated in the development of his ImageWork Training for actors, which has been published in book form as: Body - Voice - Imagination: A Training for the Actor. A second edition was published in 2010 with additional material and a new subtitle: ImageWork Training and the Chekhov Technique.
Since 2002 he has been directing regularly in Romania where he produced highly acclaimed productions of The Dybbuk, The Bacchae, a Stoppard double-bill: After Magritte & The Real Inspector Hound, Macbeth, Peer Gynt and Six Characters in Search of an Author.