SERGEI OSTRENKO
Director, choreographer and teacher.
International theatre projects under the guidance of Sergei Ostrenko took place in different countries: Austria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
His creative work is the synthesis of the Russian Theatre School and the newest experiments in performing arts. Ostrenko has vast directing experience in different genres.
He has dedicated many years to the exploration of world theatre traditions working with performers from different countries and cultures.
His approach in the international scene is known as the effective method of growing cohesion and the creation of live performances within limited rehearsal time. Students of Ostrenko, theatre workers from Russia, Europe, America, Asia and Australia, have been using his creative method in their own performance and teaching practice.
Since the end of 1990s, Sergei has been travelling and researching traditional and contemporary performing arts techniques - Contact Improvisation, Kinetic Environment, Structural Improvisation, techniques of Alexander, Laban, Butoh, Suzuki, Pilates, Viewpoints, Eugenio Barba's approach, Chinese Opera and Mak Yong.
And, of course, the fundamental education Sergei Ostrenko has in the methods of K.Stanislavsky, Vs. Meyerhold and M. Chekhov.
Besides being a professional theatre director, Sergei has vast teaching experience. He has hold numerous educational courses, master-classes, workshops and labs with international groups of directors, choreographers, dancers, actors and circus performers. In these educational programs, Ostrenko shares his knowledge on “How to stage a performance”, "How to make performance alive", "How to be a professional", "How to teach"
and other “secret” tips and tools that can help directors and performers make their shows unforgettable.
OSTRENKO METHOD
Ostrenko's approach is a systematic approach to performance, which generates innovative productions utilizing concepts, ideas, and existing play-texts. It introduces some of the effective techniques and approaches towards contemporary performance practice in the context of the short rehearsal time and multicultural aspect of the creative team.
It can be also described as a valid combination of practice and theory. It’s a very practical approach to the performance making process from the performers' perspective, as well as from directors'. The Ostrenkos' approach generates innovative productions, utilizing concepts, ideas, and discoveries of K.Stanislavski, Vs.Meyerhold and M.Chekhov.
Ostrenko's method of work relies on the performer’s physicality and the physical action. The key to unfolding the actor’s creative nature underlies in the body. Through the body and physical actions, actors discover form, emotional colors, and feelings. Actor’s relationship with artistic space, his freedom in improvisation and spontaneity play an important role in the creative process. As a result, intangible becomes tangible. Atmosphere and style are born inseparably from this creative process.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR?
Ostrenko has directed over 40 major theatre productions, has been an artistic director in international joint art projects, has been a jury member at dance competitions for around 10 years, has been teaching at different universities, has held hundreds of international educational workshops focusing on performance making, physical theatre, choreography, and acting.
In many countries Sergei Ostrenko is being awaited: Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Portugal, Singapore, etc...
PERFOMANCES
Sergei Ostrenko's first education is in Fine Arts, he has started his career in theatre as a stage designer. When he began his career as a theatre director, the first profession had a huge impact on the directing of Sergey Ostrenko. His performances are very picturesque, and permeated with grace.
He made his deput as a theatre director in 1986 with Gogol's "The Government Inspector" at the professional repertory theatre in Russia. Since then, he has been directing from 1 to three performances each year at professional theatre companies in different countries.
TRAINING
Sergei Ostrenko started to teach students since 1988 at different institutes of higher education - Latvian State Conservatoire (Riga, Latvia), Latvian Academy of Culture (Riga, Latvia), the Latvian branch of Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS), Rosebud School for the Arts (Rosebud, Canada), the University of Calgary (Calgary, Canada) and others.
There are only a few highly-professional people in Europe who specialize in Physical Theatre through a prism of Russian Theatre school tradition. We consider that Sergei is one of them.
MISSION
Since 2000, under the vision and inspiration of Sergei Ostrenko, the group of enthusiasts established an non-profit organization IUGTE that aims to explore and promote the world's performance traditions and contribute to the exchange of artistic ideas in the modern world!
