The GITIS School has begun at Teatro Escola Macunaíma in São Paulo, Brazil, where Associate professor of the GITIS department of Stage speech Irina Avtushenko is leading an intensive training program for theatre educators and Macunaíma faculty members.
Teatro Escola Macunaíma, one of Brazil’s largest performing arts schools with around 2,000 students, bases its actor and director training on the Stanislavsky system. The program is designed to strengthen the professional development of the school’s teaching staff, who will continue passing these methods on to next generations of Brazilian actors.
Throughout the course, participants work on voice production, vocal range, expressive speech, breathing, relaxation, articulation, and teaching methodology. Alongside practical training, they analyse dramatic texts, including Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” and “The Darling” in Portuguese, using the Russian school’s approach to textual, logical, and action analysis. They also explore selected passages from Alexander Griboyedov’s Woe from Wit, practising them first in Russian and then in Portuguese.
The programme combines technical voice work with imagination exercises, partner interaction, and breathing practices. Participants have noted interesting parallels between elements of Russian actor training and Brazilian capoeira, particularly in exercises focused on energy, rhythm, and non-contact communication.
Before the program began, Irina Avtushenko met with Luciano Castiél, Director of Teatro Escola Macunaíma, and theatre scholar and Stanislavsky researcher Simone Shuba to discuss the long-term development of actor training and teacher education based on the Stanislavsky system.
The GITIS International School in Brazil is organised as part of the “Priority 2030” Strategic Academic Leadership Program. GITIS expresses its sincere gratitude to Teatro Escola Macunaíma for its partnership and warm hospitality, and to everyone involved in making this educational exchange possible.
