ABSTRACT
The following discussion outlines the incorporation of the Michael Chekhov (MC) acting technique into the first and second year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in the Acting Program at the School of Dramatic Art, University of Windsor, Canada, which was established in 1968 by Daniel Patrick Kelly.1 Currently, twenty-four students are accepted into the program annually, after passing a rigorous entrance audition. The main thrust of the program involves studio training in acting, voice, and movement, supplemented by an education in the liberal arts. The studio curriculum was originally designed by Kelly after a model created by Michel Saint-Denis for the National Theatre School of Canada/École nationale de théâtre du Canada, Montreal. Saint-Denis outlines a four-year program, defining the years as follows: the Discovery Year, the Transformation Year, the Interpretation Year, and the Performing Year (Saint-Denis 1982: 86-87). In 1998, I began integrating the MC technique into three beginning acting courses,
devising a comprehensive MC curriculum to complement or replace long-standing curriculum, and making the MC technique a unique, integral feature of actor training at the University of Windsor. The sequence of courses is: Improvisation and Introduction to Acting I; Improvisation and Introduction to Acting II (Discovery Year); and Psychophysical Acting Technique (Transformation Year). The sequencing allows me to lay a solid foundation in the MC technique in first year and teach more advanced exercises in the first semester of second year.
