The Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (), formerly known as St Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, formerly Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinema (LGITMiK), is a

theatre school A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that specializes in the p ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. It is the oldest Russian state theatre school, being founded in 1779, and has incorporated several mergers of other institutions during its history, including the Ostrovsky Leningrad Theatre Institute and the Leningrad Institute of Art History. It is located at 34

Mokhovaya Street Mokhovaya Street () is a one-way street in central Moscow, Russia, a part of Moscow's innermost ring road - Central Squares of Moscow. Between 1961 and 1990 it formed part of Karl Marx Avenue (Проспект Маркса). The street runs fro ...

History

The college was originally founded in 1779 at the Emperor's Theatre in St Petersburg, and is the oldest theatre school in Russia. Over the course of its history, the institute has been reorganised and renamed several times. A growing theatre school assimilated the St Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, along with several independent theatre classes and schools in the city. One of the most notable was the School of Acting (or Acting Skills School, or School of Theatrical Skills) which had been founded in 1918. Leonid Sergeevich Vivian was appointed professor at the school in 1940 and from 1957 was head of the acting department. He was later awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

and a number of other medals and awards. After World War II, the institute (then named Leningrad Ostrovsky Institute of the Theatre or variant translation) was headed by

Yuri Slonimsky Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(1902-1978), followed in 1951 by Vera Krasovskaya (who had studied there since 1946), then Galina Dobrovolskaya. In 1958 the State Research Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography was created. The School of Acting was absorbed in 1961, and in 1962 the Leningrad (State) Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography (LGITMiK) was created, after the merging of the Ostrovsky Leningrad Theatre Institute (named after A. N. Ostrovsky and also known as the A. N. Ostrovsky Leningrad State Theatre Institute) and the Leningrad Institute of Art History. The former

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

was deprived of its autonomy and became a department of the new institute, with the vlue of its music collection apparently overlooked. In 1993 it was renamed to St Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy. English translations of past names have varied, and include St Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, St Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, St Petersburg Academy of Theatre Arts, St Petersburg Theatre College, and Leningrad Theatre Institute. Its style of instruction has also changed: from the

classical theatre Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

in the "Emperor's Theatre School" to workshops under renowned stage director

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

in the 1910s and 1920s, through to its current approach. Well-known actor

Georgiy Zhzhonov Georgiy Stepanovich Zhzhonov (, ; 22 March 1915 – 8 December 2005), was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and writer. He is known for playing the spy Mikhail Tulyev in the "Resident" quartet of films, '' Beware of the Car'' (1966), '' ...

trained as an actor at the school (variously referred to as "Leningrad Theatrical School" and "Leningrad State Theatre College" in the sources) under director Sergei Gerasimov in the 1930s, graduating in 1935.

Location

The institute occupies historic buildings built in the early 20th century. Its main building, a three-storey building at 34

, is an example of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

. The building was constructed between 1902 and 1904 by and , and became the home of N. V. Bezobrazova, wife of Russian general . In 1922, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the building was given to the

Bryantsev Youth Theatre The A. Bryantsev Youth Theatre (also spelled ''State Theater For Young Audience Named After A. A. Bryantsev'' or ''Bryantsev Young Viewers Theater''; ) is one of the first professional children's theatres in Russia, opened in 1922. In Soviet tim ...

, and in 1962 to LGITMiK.

Instruction

It is the largest professional theatre school in Europe, with faculty numbering more than 330, around 230 support staff, and over 1550 students. The institute teaches along similar lines as the

Russian Academy of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) () is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the School of Mu ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Along with instruction in traditional classical theatre, the school employs the

Stanislavsky Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( rus, Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj, links=yes; ; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian and Sovie ...

method in its teaching, along with

Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

's principles of "biomechanics", and elements of the teachings of

Nikolai Demidov Nikolai Nikitich Demidov (9 October / November 1773 Chirkovitsi village near Saint Petersburg – 22 April 1828) was a Russian industrialist, Privy Councillor (Russia), privy councillor, diplomat, lieutenant colonel, collector, and arts patron ...

Mikhail Butkevich Mikhail Mikhailovich Butkevich (; 10 December 1926 – 7 October 1995) was a Soviet theatre director and professor of drama at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS). Born in Derbent, Butkevich spent the first decade of his life in Prokhla ...

, and

Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (; 16 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was a Russian-American actor, Theatre director, director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov an ...

. It offers BA, MA, and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

level as well as non-degree courses, and provides instruction in directing, acting,

set design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

, тесhnology, theatre studies,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

and theatre management. It covers a range of

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

: drama,

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

s, and television. The institute also hosts various international festivals, conferences and competitions, as well as student and teacher exchange programs.

Former staff and alumni

* Alexander Meiselman (1900–1938), taught theatre history until being arrested in 1937 * Professor Anatoly Altschuller (1922–1996) was a theatre historian. He attended the Ostrovsky Theatre Institute after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and graduated in 1948, returning as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

in 1954. * Edward Rozinsky,

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, playwright, and

physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre", the genre's characteristic aspe ...

specialist, taught

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

and acting at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography before moving to the United States. *Arkady Katsman, taught in the 1970s *Lev Dolin

References

External links