HAIL, HAIL SLOVENIA!
“The Mecca of Method.”
ED KOVENS AND JILL EDWARDS
So imagine my surprise when I get E-Mail, out of the blue, from a country whose name sounds like something from a Marx Brothers movie? (But then, the whole world is beginning to sound and act like something from a Marx Brothers movie.)
Of course I’d heard of Slovenia. One of my students, Svetlana Yovani, was from there and we shared her anguish over her family and friends during the terrible war. (Actually she was from Sarajevo in Bosnia)
But still, I don’t consider myself “geographically challenged” like most Americans, who think the world ends at the Russian border and have trouble distinguishing between Latvia and Lithuania. Still, if pressed I couldn’t tell you exactly where Slovenia was. This e-mail was from**Tomi Janezic, inquiring if I would be interested in conducting a workshop in Method Acting. I was informed that they have been conducting workshops for over 10 years, led by professionals throughout the world acting community. Amongst the names mentioned from Croatia, Italy, Russia, England, Germany and even China, was Joanna Merlin, of the Michael Chekov Studios, here in New York. I put in a call to her to check out the legitimacy of this offer (all true New Yorkers are paranoid) only to be told, “Go! You’ll love it.” After some dickering and charming e-mails we settled on:
Arrival in Venice 21st of August, picked up and driven to accommodation in Izola (at Slovenian seaside):
On 23rd - visit to Groznjan in Croatia - a workshop on Michael Chekhov technique starting on 23rd there Lenard Petit from NYC-USA (artistic director of The Michael Chekhov Acting Studio), Sarah Kane from UK, Suzana Nikolic from Croatia.
Workshop in Izola from 25th to 29th of August
Workshop in Groznjan from 2nd to 6th of September (Groznjan is in Croatia but very close to Izola: it is a beautiful restored medieval town):
Group to consist of professional actors, directors and acting teachers from Slovenia and Croatia.
Workshop in Ljubljana, from 8th to 12th of September, at Mladinsko Theatre, with same professional actors.
Driven back to Venice on the 13th for three days in Italy.
I was to be accompanied by my wife, ++Jill Anne Edwards, an Opera singer and Voice teacher in New York, who would conduct a vocal workshop, one morning in each week.
Workshops organized by Studio for the Research of Art of Acting;
(Studio za raziskavo umetnosti igre) in co-operation (co-organization) with Cultural Foundation of Republic Slovenia /workshop in Izola. (Slovenia)
Zagreb Actors studio /workshop in Groznjan. (Croatia)
Mladinsko Theatre of Ljubljana /workshop in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
The following are impressions of what we experienced:
The 11:30 Air France flight, left JFK promptly at 12:15 making us miss our connection in Paris with the Alitalia 2:45 to Venice, we will take the next one, 3:55 or so. This sends me a message that I better lighten up and let go of my American “Uber” discipline and go with the flow. This IS a working vacation (and hopefully a second honeymoon).
We got to the Paris Airport (DeGaulle) and my first thought was to paraphrase Robert Duval in “Apocalypse Now” “ I LOVE THE SMELL OF GAULOISE IN THE MORNING”. Coming from smoke free New York and being off them myself for over 20 years, it was a shock to the system. Everyone so far gracious and “in shape”, with a startling absence of obesity that I am used to in every public place in the U.S.
Spela Trost, our liaison, meets us in Venice. An energetic slim vision in red hip huggers, a mop of curly hair, and with as most people here have, a little red car, into which we pile our much too
much luggage and are off on a very interesting venture.
Spela like everyone else here, is a member of the “kamikaze” school of driving. Unbelievably good, able to transverse sharp S curves, while stick shifting, speaking on their cell phone, smoking a cigarette and holding a conversion. We find she has two children and besides doing P.R. work, is a language expert, teaches school and knows everyone who is anyone.
The trip to Izola goes through Italy into the Isterian peninsular is colorful and interesting.
All the houses are basically squares of white or sometimes beige with orange tile roofs, that
change into a more colorful mixture of modern on crumbly old as we move into Slovenia.
And suddenly there it is, the Adriatic, with topless bathers sunning and bobbing in the blue,
blue water. And Palm trees!!
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Jill (and Ed) Hello all,
This is Jill. Ed is teaching right now. I am in heaven here! Right now I am sitting in state-of-the-art cyber cafe on a little street in a seaside town called Izola. It is beyond beautiful to me. I am not used to being in a place that is hundreds and hundreds of years old. I can imagine the Renaissance period here, as the streets are about 8 feet wide and some only 5 feet wide. Seems like an infinite grid of little cobblestone alleys. Also, there is much going on overhead. Each building is painted a different color, with shutters that are open, lace curtains, flower boxes, etc. Everything so old. I could take endless pictures here.
We have an apartment very close to all activities. It has a terrace that is like another whole room. It has terra cotta floor, with several tables and chairs, and plants and flowers all over the place. Also, the buildings are very close together and you can see all other terraces. They all have outdoor furniture, fountains, cement sinks, etc. It has been extremely hot, with no breeze. The first night, neither of us could sleep, despite a fan. The second day we were moved to another apartment on a floor below and it was slightly cooler. (There is no A/C.) The last two nights were bearable. This morning, we had a big thunderstorm and it cooled off quite a bit, so we are all very relieved. There is a drought here. When we were being driven from Venice to Izola, about a 2-hour drive, I noticed that the land looked just like Ohio: flat, with many cornfields that were prematurely brown from lack of water.
In general, everything is spotless and toy-like. There is a little choo-choo train that people go around in in the city to shop and whatnot. All the shops are ultra-modern. Since we arrived, there has been a non-stop fish festival, complete with kiddy rides and fair food. People swim all along the seacoast. No lifeguards or anything. You just see heads bopping up and down. The people we are working with and who are the organizers are Tomi, Spela and Jure Rudolf. Since we arrived on Friday, 8-22, they have tried to
show us the best time - before the workweek began.. Saturday, Jure, (a laid back pit-bull) took us to this huge cave, which Slovenia is famous for.(Postojnska jame) It was humungous. A little train took us through it and it was awesome. Only 6 million years old! Tomi, (a wire thin, intense man with camel-eyes) then took us to a medieval castle built into a cliff or mountain/cave. (Predjamski Grad) They were setting up for a medieval fair! The story is that they waited for the owner to go to the bathroom and then shot a catapult into the room and killed him. On the way, we drove through several villages with streets so narrow and old -- I could not believe how beautiful it was! Yesterday, Spela drove us to Peran, another coastal Slovenian town, and we took a boat ride along the coast one stop past Izola, a town called Kopor. This is Spela s (I cannot find the apostrophe on this keyboard - also many letters are switched, like y and z) hometown. Could go on forever about this ancient town, with streets that are the spokes in a wheel that have a church at the center.
This afternoon I decided to just get lost in this little town and feel my way to this Internet cafe. I happened upon another ancient church so old on the outside that the stone carvings look like they are melting and crumbling. I heard organ music so I stepped inside and sat in a pew and listened to the music for about an hour. The inside is completely renovated and beautiful. I would have loved to have sung along with the organ in that church! There are hardly any people in the tiny streets - I guess siesta time! So, as I am typing here I am listening to heavy metal music with 4 young men. One young man has Rasta hair and is painting a mural on the wall. Another has spiked hair and a pin through his lip.
Ed is trying to get a feel for his class. At this workshop his class is made up of mainly amateurs or young people. There are a few adults who are trained, one coming from a famous theatre based in Ljubylana, the Mladinsko Theatre. What we understand is that the workshop participants will get
more professional or trained as the locale changes. Next week we will be in Groznan (Croatia) and the people will be a little older and will have worked more. By the time we reach Ljubljana, Ed will be working with many of the actors at the Mladinsko Theatre. Art is subsidized by the state here, making these workshops accessible to the actors. They say that 80% of actors here are working. They are open to learning new things and employ many different techniques and approaches. You do get the feeling
that they feel they are trying to achieve art. We were given some beautifully rendered books chronicling the Mladinsko Theatre roster from the last 3 years and the production values are awesome.
Right now I am set to teach one 2-hour class on vocal production to the students in Ed s classes, but several people from other classes have come up to ask if I will do something with them, too. (There are about 60 participants at this workshop and about 5 teachers (not including me).) I told them I would teach whatever they want.
Everybody smokes here and I am not used to that. We have all our meals at a very nice outdoor restaurant. They know we are involved with the workshop and we just eat whatever we want, get up and walk out. They put it on the workshop tab. At night this is a big gathering place. They have good
food: all kinds of pizza, many fish dishes, including fried and grilled calamari, seafood salads, pasta and other local seafood. Actually, it tastes very Italian, but this whole area is half Italian anyway.
Well, I have gone on long enough. Hope I did not bore you, but am just
overwhelmed with this most delicious break in my life and I know Ed is
feeling the same way.
Ciao!
Jill (and Ed)
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ED
The Workshop in Izola is a mixed bag of semi professionals and professionals, but all very ready to try what was suggested to them. They are paying for this workshop organized by Jure Rudolf and are not about wasting time. (Unlike some of my students, who in spite of being professional and paying for classes have to often be goaded into working, and are eventually dropped and can’t figure out why).
My week is basically Mon/ initial interviews/relaxation and sensory exercises Tues/song and dance sensory exercises and assignment of scenes Wed/Vocal workshop with Jill / Hidden talents in afternoon. Thurs/ scenes Fri/final scenes. Two hours in morning, lunch, three hours in afternoon.
What I try to explain to them is that they are getting “An Introduction to Method Acting” and that this is another “tool” to use, besides all the conventional training they would receive at the Academy, which I have been informed, is “anti-method”.
The Vocal Workshop was very successful. The pro actors really loved it and one musician, (Stojan Kralj- a teacher at the music college of Maribor) who ran a music workshop, sat in and exclaimed. “There are only two singers in all of Slovenia, who could not benefit from what she teaches”. “Hidden Talents” people perform things they either would like to, or actually do. (Rock Star, hip-hop, belly dance, read poetry they have written, or songs etc. etc.) It’s amazing how much of this can be assimilated into their work. My younger students (collage age) are suspicious at first to my very aggressive approach. They are not used to being treated as peers from an older person
Izola is a combination of a modern and feudal fishing village now a middle-class resort. And it’s clean, clean, clean. We spent much time at “Isteria” a restaurant owned and run by a gentle man named “Egidio”, a rower who competed at the 1977 Olympics in Montreal. It has damask tablecloths, and you can eat the grapes hanging there. I sit here and smell the sea. There I learned that nothing compares to the inherent theater of the outdoor café. There is a lot of good-natured kibitzing. Men have their morning drink but I see no drunks and EVERYBODY smokes.
I also found out that the Slovines with their infinitesimal coastline are annoyed with the Croatians, with their enormous coastline, who continually fish in their waters, and they are both pissed-off with the Italians who fish at night in everyone’s waters.
The “National Costume’ here is a one piece fits-all light fabric housedress and thongs and for the men, a pressed shirt, shorts and shoes with no socks. It’s HOT here!!! There is very little “strolling” by natives. They all seem to have somewhere to go, with strong strides. They are friendly, easy to laugh; yet underneath I sense a depression. Is it the past war? It seems to have left a deep scar in these people. They don’t speak about it in depth. It must be similar to our Civil War and the schism in our country still being fought 150 years later. A teacher named “Mario” tells of his family being in Croatia for over 300 years and is still considered “Italian”.
My students want to “express” themselves. (In reaction to suppression? More about this later.)
ON TO CROATIA!!!
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Subject: Fw: Slovenia/Croatia Part II (Groznjan)
Hello all.
It is Jill again. Ed is teaching. Since I last talked to you, on one of our days off Spela took us to see the Lipica stud farm where they raise beautiful Lippenzaner horses. We had the tour. Then, Spela took us to a sort of wedding at a restored old residence in the hills of Slovenia (8-30). It was a fake wedding of a TV personality, Artur Stern, and Jana, his actual girlfriend and mother of his 7-week-old baby. A publicity stunt (oh, he just had a book come out, too). Anyway, the place was beautiful and we got to partake like we were family. Lots of food, partying, music, etc. (the bridegrooms father, a little high, got in a conversation with Ed about our last election ‘Is this the kind of democracy you wish to export to the rest of the world?”(They like Americans, but are not too happy with our current government.)
The next day we visited Trieste (once an Italian city) and the Miramar castle built by Maximillian. We had a seaside lunch of seafood and watched a huge storm come in across the sea. When we got back to Izola we were told that this storm was the worst windstorm some had ever seen. Two people were killed, one being pulled in to the sea from the shore.
Now, on 9-1, we are on our way to Groznjan, Croatia...
On the way, Spela takes us the scenic route through medieval ruins of a hilltop town called Oprtalj. Some of the ruins are being renovated. It was so quiet here with a sprawling view of the countryside. An absent Scottish family was renovating the “Count’s” home and the workers let us come in and take a peek at their domain. Wow! Is all I can say? Old stone crafted into flooring, old beams weaved into the ceiling, shiny new bathrooms, etc. So new on the inside, and so old and silent on the outside.
Cut and paste this web address, http://www.erlewinedesign.com/village/loggia.html, the neat thing about this virtual tour of Groznjan is that you can click on the picture and then pan around 360 degrees.
We arrive in Groznjan in the evening and I feel like I am under a spell. (You have to realize that we have been rocked to and fro on winding roads at 50 mph for about 2 hours on the scenic route up and down the hills. You know those big circles on the off ramp of the highway getting off a toll road where we go 25 mph. Those curves, by all drivers we have been with, are negotiated at 50 mph with impeccable dexterity and within the lines. I had my imaginary brake on a lot of the time.) Walking to our lodging, with the streetlights on, I felt like I was in the medieval age!
Groznjan was unbelievably serene and removed from all else. We were put up in one of the restored old buildings. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner as part of a package with our accommodations at an outdoor cafe, Bastia, run by a man named Bruno. Never thought we would have to come to a hilltop in Croatia to run into Uncle Fester meets Leather-Bar-Bald-Man who only dresses in Versacci. Bruno was one of our buddies and treated us (Ed especially) well and lovingly, "Cheap American Mafioso from George Bush." Really, he liked us a lot. Our last night, he bought, especially for us, fresh sardines and grilled them for us himself. He also gave us a parting gift of a ceramic made by one of the local artists. A sort of depressed man, an ex-fighter in the Croatia-Bosnian war, he was especially concerned with a daughter who had been addicted to Ecstasy and was recovering in a sanctuary for the past 6 months.
The group of actors was especially wonderful and talented. Each, in their own way (I sat in on some classes), was very individual. These actors are well trained with Stanislavsky’s system and much of Strasberg s method work with sense memory exercises. They handle sense memory easily, being well taught by Slovenian brothers, *Andrej and Janez Vajevec. Janez studied with Strasberg. I am gathering that what Ed is adding to their work is putting the various exercises into their scene work. Right now, they are two separate things. So, Ed will say to an actor doing a Chekov scene something like, "Aagh, get off the stage, make your entrance again, you are walking in like you are doing Chekov - too important. You’re anticipating the heart attack". They comment to me that they need what he is giving them. I observe that they are alive in their work - open and non-defensive. This creative atmosphere is washing over me and my own repressed acting juices are bubbling up.
More about our surroundings. I ate figs picked from a fig tree on one of my walks. I saw a pomegranate tree loaded with fruit. We heard a wild pig separated from its group making sounds at night. The weather was perfect all week. 70 s and blue skies. At night, a little cool. We all hang out at night. In a short time, we have become very close to a lot of people. They are very warm to us and we speak the same language - I do not mean English or Slovenian.
The last night we had a sort of party with music and food, etc. We mingled with other workshop members. It was informative listening to the music that they cued up to dance to - anywhere from the Rolling Stones and rap to Serbian and Turkish popular music. One of the girls exclaimed, "This music has such good memories for us. We listened and danced to Slovenian, Serbian, Gypsy music when we were all together.” The war was because of religion, of course. In general, what I have learned is that the Slovenians are Catholic, the Croatians are Catholic, the Serbs are Orthodox and the Bosnians are Muslim.
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Ed
Groznjan is not just medieval it’s Neolithic. The cobblestone narrow streets makes one think of directing Lady Anne in “Richard III”, with the coffin, surrounded by these low 2 and 3 storied buildings and heavily shuttered windows with everyone peeking out, stopping and proclaiming for everyone to hear, cursing the unnamed Richard. Then coming to this next open courtyard and being seduced by Richard over the coffin. Absolutely logical, in these surroundings.
The place is lousy with artisans and musicians; it’s like Woodstock, really east! As I write this, cello and piano practice is going on. Jill is conducting her workshop, while I have a “duo-cava” and wait for their inevitable cigarette break. At breakfast this morning, I enter into conversation with young woman, a piano accompanist, who is also a top chess player. She reveals to me the confusion still among the young people over the war and why it all happened, against their will.
The professional actors I’m dealing with have an unbelievable amount of talent amongst them. Most are members of the Mladinsko Theatre in Ljubljana. The others were “invited” to participate. I have 16 people; 3 dancers, ballet and modern, 2 who write and play their own songs, 3 trained clowns who could work in the “Big Apple Circus”, A classically trained pianist of unmatchable beauty, who showed us her Karate training that could get her a lead in any “James Bond” film. 3 Stage directors, one with his own theater in Zagreb. A 61-year-old actor. Who demonstrated his “Yoga Training”. Proceeding to get into positions that was out of the Karma-Sutra. Painful just to watch. He could play “Gandi” without make-up. A dark handsome Italianish film and stage actor, of such incredible charm that he could make any woman and quite a few men I know, hearts flutter. 2 acting teachers, 1 choreographer, 1 ex jock (soccer and karate) And 3 “older” actresses (by American standards, which means they are over 30) whose emotional powers are scary. A Famous Slovenian film star, complete with “friend” and small dog. And not an ego amongst them. Since I will be working basically with the same people in Ljubljana I will keep my comments till then. I followed the same format and it worked well and because I assigned scenes that I brought with me they were able to work in Slovine and/or English.
Part three- Jill
On the way to workshop in Ljubljana
Tomi, Barbara Krajnc (his partner, a model beauty of great talent) and one of the actors in Groznjan, a love of a young man, Matjaz Jankovic (a large version of Sean Penn), drove us, again, the scenic route to Ljubljana. We went to a castle ruins where we had the most spectacular view of 3 countries - Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. On the map, it is on the arc of the coast to the right of the boot of Italy. Slovenia has a very small coastline compared to Croatia. (By the way, I have heard more than once that, Croatia has the most breathtaking beaches.) Here we had brunch then drove to the home of a famous Slovenian architect. (Fabiani) (dead).
Cut and paste: http://community.webshots.com/album/73666138tGThdb to see pictures I got off the web of Ljubljana
We arrived in Ljubljana in the evening, had dinner at an outdoor cafe then walked around the Ljubljaniski River, which is located in the old part of the city. To see the large buildings built on either side of the river and the city-street wide sidewalks alive with candlelit outdoor cafes is nothing short of lovely. In the center of this old part is tro mostovje, which means 3 bridges. It is a beautiful city. I had never heard of it before.
We are staying in a studio apartment owned by one of the theatres. It is brand new on the inside and close to the Mladinsko Theatre. Today is only the 2nd day it has rained on our trip, hence, this long e-mail! Lots of good shopping here. I did not bring enough warm clothes, so I bought a sweater and a vest at a new, trendy store that has inexpensive prices (one of the actresses told me). I paid $22 for a cotton sweater and $50 for a rather chic, black down vest. I went to the mall (amazingly large), namely to look for an electricity converter because ours broke, but looked around and came away feeling that merchandise is pretty similarly priced as in our malls.
If you want to see something about the Mladinsko Theatre, cut and paste: http://www.mladinsko-gl.si/predstave/indexe.htm
Hope you do not mind my long e-mail. I may write you again before we leave for Venice on Saturday, 9-13. In using this Internet cafe I had to buy a membership (good for 1 year) or only use it for 15 minutes for free. Those were my choices. The membership cost $10.
Tomi suggested we all go to the movie theatre on the evening of 9-11 and view a movie about NYC and 9-11. We think we want to do that.
By the way, the actors here were much impressed with seeing "Bowling for Columbine." They expressed that they had no idea that there were some Americans who felt that way about America. They are, in general, afraid of George Bush, one person saying, "You elected George Bush and now we have him, too." Sorry for the politics, but it comes up in conversation. I find it interesting. I am just passing on what they say.
The weekly 2-hour class I taught the actors was more relevant than I had anticipated. As there is no tradition of Slovenian musical theatre such as there is in America, not many of the actors are singing, except for their own creative enjoyment. The few people I taught one-on-one voice lessons told me that there were two choices of singing: opera or jazz, generally taught by either an opera teacher or a jazz teacher, not one teacher building one voice capable of executing either style. Mindful of the population I was teaching and keeping with the theory that singers benefit from speaking exercises and actors benefit from singing exercises, Joan Lader, my teacher, helped me to formulate a little seminar exploring breathing postures/alignment and employing singing exercises to connect the body with sound (resonating system).
There were generally 12-18 eager participants who, in general, housed bodies that were free from excess physical tension. Sometimes it was hard to discern and attend to an entire group as they tried various exercises, so aside from shooting out comments to correct obvious problems, I tried to work a little with a single individual who might be, for instance, feeling the singing exercise in their throat. Communication with them was easy and adjustments were simply made. At the end of each seminar, I would teach them to belt or yell safely. I told them that the purpose of my seminar, if anything, was to give them a smattering of what can and should be talked about, addressed, vocally, to substantiate, support their own natural instincts that singing/speaking should be easy, attainable, and that they deserve to be taught with clarity and real things and actions to do. This is called technique.
I guess my message to them was: if, after taking singing lessons for 3 months, you feel you really don’t have a handle on what you’re doing or the path you’re onto, find another teacher. It’s not you, it’s them.
Ed
My first impression of Ljubljana is the word lovely. Lovely, lovely Ljubljana.. A city of beauty and charm with a river transecting the city, an esplanade of cafes on both sides a wonderful triple bridge and of course a castle.
My Workshop has many from last week and they are all professionals in the stage and film scene here. There have been a few delightful additions, a gymnast, a crazy Italian, a couple of musicians, (males) and 4 more beautiful actresses. All are unbelievable physical fit and the best method trained actors I have ever had the pleasure to work with, including my own classes. I credit this to the training they received from *Tomi Janezic, and Andrej and Janez Vajevec.
The level of talent and their desire to improve their craft, reminded me of the Actors Studio, when I first started in 1968 till Strasbergs death in 1982, without the egos. (A musician friend of mine, said that may be due to the lack of competition,)
Their choices of what to use sensorially are very inventive (The touch of dead skin to create a feeling of dread) Yet I found that they were slightly held back emotionally till given permission. (Andrej explained to me. “ For years we had the Church, telling us not to feel, then the Communist Party, telling us not to think”) But for me it was dealing with a master-class filled with virtuosos. The main problems I encountered, were no different than those of American Actors of Method. When and how to use the exercises, and Interpretation, (scene and character logic).
Would I do it again? Maybe. After a while, I did get travel and language fatigue. Teaching a scene in Slovene or Croatian is easy when you know the scene, but with new stuff you lose details. It is like watching a foreign movie or an Opera, I can see the actress is angry, the story tells me why, but you do lose the style of the author.
The people were nicer than I could expect, and when September 11th came around, I found it very moving that they would be concerned with our catastrophe. It’s definitely a love/hate relationship.
Probably next summer we’ll be wondering “who do you think went to Groznjan this year?” and recalling those that said, “If you think Ljubljana is beautiful, wait till you see Dubrovnik!”
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By the way, we are spending 3 days in Venice, returning to U.S. on 9-16.
Still having fun in Slovenia...
Love, Jill and Ed
+Ed Kovens is director of The Professional Workshop in New York City. He studied acting with Lee Strasberg for twenty-five years and was a founding staff member of the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. He has been a member of The Actors Studio since 1968, and is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Mr. Kovens is also a professional actor who has appeared on Broadway, on TV, and in feature films. www.edkovens.com or ekovens@earthlink.net
+Jill Edwards has starred in over two-dozen operas, numerous concerts and cabaret acts, singing in French, Italian, German and English. A thoroughly-trained actress, Ms. Edwards studied with noted voice teacher Joan Lader for over 20 years and was invited, over 15 years ago, to become a lifetime member of the Actors Studio by Frank Corsaro, noted opera director and artistic director of the Actors Studio at the time. She has also appeared in numerous straight acting productions. www.jillaedwards.com or jill@jillaedwards.com
* Janez Vajevec (the older of the brothers) is a Slovenian actor who was interested in the Actors studio approach to acting. He wrote to Elia Kazan and met him in 1970 in NY. Kazan proposed him to join the Lee Strasberg Institute.
Janez studied at the Institute from 1970 to 1979 with Domenic De Fazio, Geraldine Barron Ed Mitchel, Ben Piazza, Al Morgenson and with Lee Strasberg in his master class. He studied also with Domenic De Fazio when he came to Paris. Later (1981 ?) D. De Fazio came also to Gorizia (Italy) and in Ljubljana to see the work and lead workshops.
Andrej studied with Domenic De Fazio, Geraldine Barron Marc Marlo, Hedy Sontag and others in 1979.
In 1980 (1981) Janez and Andrej started an Actors studio in Ljubljana and a few years later (1986?) in Zagreb (Croatia).
The every-year Groznjan's method-acting workshop has been organized for more then fifteen years. (It was held also during the years when there was the war in Croatia!)
**Tomi first met the method at the Academy from a famous Slovenian actor (at that time professor there) Boris Cavazza (father of Sebastijan!) in 1995 (Boris studied the method with Janez and later went to NY to see the Actors studio work as an observer etc.) and he started to work in Janez and Andrej's studio the same year.
“We started our own Studio (Studio for the Reasearch of Art of Acting)
in 1996. (To continue with a few actors some actor's training which we started before that as students.)
I first went to Groznjan's workshop in 1997 and studied intensively since then in both studios.
I directed in Mladinsko theatre for the first time in 1997/98. In 1998I gathered a group of actors from this theatre with a few others (who I worked with before and were method trained) to start a creative process, which was based in the method.
Actors who work in Mladinsko theatre studied mainly with me, but also with Janez and Andrej (I brought the whole group to both studios sessions during our rehearsals to work with them, the whole group went to Groznjan's workshops etc.). We studied with different teachers and worked on different acting approaches and techniques but we all learned the method mostly from Janez.”
He has been leading actor's training, research work and workshops on acting in Studio for Research of Art of Acting since 1996. He taught at Ljubljana's Academy and from 1999 to 2002 creative workshop at School for contemporary dance. He lead some dozens different workshops and seminars on theatre and acting in Slovenia and abroad. He taugh also at Theatre and puppet school in Ljubljana, in frame of Slovenian Fund for Cultural Activities and elsewhere. He led workshops for professional actors in Croatia and was invited to teach in Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro). He will also start to teach acting at Osjek's Academy for actors in Croatia from autumn 2003.
Janez's e-mail address: jvajevec@yahoo.com
Tomi Janezic, E-mail Address: tomijanezic@yahoo.com
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