“Creative work wants the unexpected, not for its own sake, but rather for those sudden emerging moments that, when they occur, seem absolutely right and inevitable.” Michael Howard (1923-2019)

Schedule
Mondays 2pm – 4:30pm
Now accepting applications.

Scenes & Material
Work with a dedicated scene-partner & material of your choice in an ensemble setting!
Each session begins with ensemble work in the group, from which work on scenes will emerge.

The Approach
This class proposes that all your feelings towards the material are important.
Entertaining some of Michael Chekhov’s suggestions, we develop skills to unfold our initial reactions.
Your response to each moment will be the path along which we are approaching your scene, allowing life & meaning to emerge in the process.

Location
Class takes place in Manhattan.

Cost
$250 / month (4 sessions per month)
By application only. Enrollment is on a month-to-month basis.
Upon acceptance, a deposit is required to hold your place.

To Apply / Questions
Please send a short message and Ragnar will contact you.

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About Ragnar
Ragnar has been creatively working with Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique for the past 30 years as actor, director and filmmaker. He is one of the featured master-teachers of the acclaimed DVD series Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique, which he co-directed with Joanna Merlin for the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). Together with Mani Wintsch, he translated  Michael Chekhov’s “Lessons for Teachers” into his beloved German. He has been part of the theater faculty at the Michael Howard Studios, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Brooklyn College, Marymount Manhattan and has taught for 15 years at The New School in NYC. He co-wrote and directed the award-winning narrative film Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn, starring Michael Chekhov’s direct student Joanna Merlin, executive producer Bob Balaban. He made the D&D Roadshow Movie for Improbable Theatre (UK) and collaborated on Improbable’s Show Tao of Glass, with Phelim McDermott and composer Philip Glass. He was the editor for Something Divine – the award winning film by Thomas Essig featuring Ray Cappo (Raghunath) of the hardcore punk band Youth of Today. 

Testimonials
Ragnar’s work, based on the brilliant explorations of Michael Chekhov, is very much his own. He is an excellent listener and willing collaborator and I cannot speak too highly of the man and the teacher.
(MICHAEL HOWARD, actor, director, acting teacher, founder of the ‘Michael Howard Studios’, NYC)
Ragnar is an artist, both as a teacher and as a director. He is on an impassioned and relentless search to discover ways of connecting the actor with his own resources.
(JOANNA MERLIN, Broadway, film, TV actress; author of ‘Auditioning, An Actor Friendly Guide’)
Being in a rehearsal hall or studio with Ragnar is a constant source of clarity and inspiration; it is a keenly observed exploration into the heart of the matter, or certainly somewhere in that vicinity.
(BRENT CARVER, actor, Tony Award for ‘Kiss of the Spiderwoman’)

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About the Class
In class we work from a performance point of view, from the reality of the room.
We work in a way not representationally, but in a kind of “shape-making” out of real-life occurrences.

What do I mean by “shape-making”?
When you give expression to a personal experience of the moment (for example: “I am filled with dread”), then this is a kind of “shape making”: out of words you shape an expression of your own experience. This experience is as true as you are towards yourself.

In this way, one field we are navigating in class is our own life: “Aargh!” or “Oh, this is kind of nice.”…, whatever you happen to experience in your personal life.

If we then move from the personal life into metaphor, into story, into poetry, into song, into text, then the medium becomes “theater”: theater that is not merely illustration of someone’s writing, but that effectively expresses our true experiences in life.

Such a theater is the creation of actors, since it is the actor’s own inner experience of the moment that connects this ancient art-form to life in the here and now.  (more @ Imaginary Classes)

Impressions from Class: Actors Ryan Feyk & Valorie Kissel are talking each other through a game, moving from the exercise into the world of “Kostya” & “Nina” in Chekhov’s “Seagull”. With: Ryan Feyk, Heather Holmes, LeeAnne Hutchison, Keizo Kaji, Valorie Kissel, Grant Neale, Michael Wilson. Sound is recorded by actor Grant Neale. The camera-work is by filmmaker Mathias Magnason.