Vladimir Sokolov

Vladimir Sokolov (1889 Moscow - 1962 West Hollywood, California), Russian actor. He studied at the Moscow Academy of Dramatic Art, then acted and directed the Moscow Art Theatre. He played in scores of films, in Moscow, in Berlin and finally in Hollywood.

  As she was sitting amongst as pupils [when she visited Stanislavsky's drama school in Moscow] she could not miss the fact that all we were doing [a recitation from Homer's "Iliad" accompanied by expressive gestures] was nothing but the poor inadequate efforts of a bunch of immature youngsters. Nevertheless, she never let us feel that we really could not give her any kind of revelations as far as art was con-cerned.

  She accepted our efforts quite seriously and I can still remember her saying how difficult it must be for people living in our times, not only to get absorbed in the ideas of ancient Greece, but all the more to recreate them by acting and so bring them before an audience in a way which seems true.

  And yet it was possible, she said. Not by conventionalizing our gestures in the manner of a decoration on an ancient vase. That would only lead to more superficialities and would have nothing whatsoever to do with art. The means to an artistic creation we have to find in the depths of our own soul. Only when it becomes impossible for us to be anything but purely human will we be successful in recreating people who have lived 2000 years ago.

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  This was the beginning of my friendship with this woman. And in spite of the fact that I was an actor, not a mimic, I am persuaded that all I consider as being really important in my art, I have learned from her.

  But above all there were two things she taught me: economy and harmony of gesture! Often she used to say: "A great thing you cannot express with a hundred gestures, but with ONE. Just remember how persuasive a little scarce gesture can be, born out of a great sentiment. An actor who spreads himself all over the stage confuses but never persuades us. How much can be expressed in the simple gesture of the hand in the act of giving or receiving. The act of walking, which should be as if your feet were kissing the ground. And think of the grandeur of a body in the act of rising from a lying, sitting, or crouching position.

  But actors as a rule never stop to realize these things and only tire and confuse us with a hundred things, when one alone is necessary: Harmony of feeling.

  But actors as a rule never stop to realize these things and only tire and confuse us with a hundred things, when one alone is necessary: Harmony of feeling.