Michael Chekhov and the embodied imagination: Higher self and non-self

Abstract

AbstractMichael Chekhov developed a series of exercises, influenced in part by the work of Rudolf Steiner, which explore a psychophysical approach to training and performing. This article discusses his ideas and techniques in relation to the phenomenon of the embodied imagination for the actor; ways in which imagining can create a direct and altering effect on the physiology of the body; and how this can be utilised by the actor in creating a character, which they both are-and-are-not. The embodied imagination will be examined through theories from neurophysiology and sports psychology, which offer a means of articulating the connection between body and mind, and the importance of ‘self’ and ‘self-imaging’ from a scientific perspective. An exploration of Chekhov's Imaginary Body exercises leads into a re-examination of this through notions of the Higher Self within Anthroposophy, and non-self within Buddhism, to suggest that if the actor is engaged in the process of imagining through the body, then their ...

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