WHAT IS THE MICHAEL CHEKHOV TECHNIQUE?
The Michael Chekhov Technique is an immediately accessible method for conjuring inspiration. It is a holistic, psychophysical approach to performance, meaning it synthesizes the artist’s body and psychology. You discover how the magic of your movement, in tandem with your imagination, has the ability to enliven the spaces within yourself and the spaces around you. Chekhov has given us an experiential language for observing and understanding everyday human processes, and amplifying them for artistic purposes. Explorations in movement, imagination, concentration, atmosphere, and gesture increase your feeling of truth, freedom, joy, ease, empathy, and intuition. You learn to free your body as a conduit for the soul of your character and your work at hand. You become more present in your art and life. Your Creative Individuality is supported and nourished, and your artistic work becomes more inspired.

WHAT IS MICHAEL CHEKHOV CENTER?
Michael Chekhov Center is a commitment to the art of the actor through explorations of the psychophysical processes illuminated by Michael Chekhov. It is the space through which I coach and teach. My goal is simple: to help you grow as an artist, not a product. I use Chekhov Technique as our entry point in online classes, workshops, and private coaching. It is the embodied language through which I understand the artist and the creative process, and guiding you through it to deepen your artistry is a privilege. As of 2025, I’ve had well over 300 hours of practical classroom learning experience in Chekhov.

I use Chekhov technique in all aspects of my art and daily life. I credit Chekhov and the teachers who have given it to me with deepening my trust and ability to follow my body and imagination where it wants to go. Chekhov taught me what full-bodied, non-judgmental listening is. It’s helped me become more empathetic toward myself, others, those I work with, and the characters I create and play. It has expanded my artistic capacities and supported me as I experiment with new forms.

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I’ve coached actors, performance artists, dancers, improvisers, playwrights, directors, media personalities, painters, non-profit groups, and even a professional wrestler. Throughout my 15 years of teaching, I’ve worked with people at all stages of their artistic journey, from ages pre-K through their 90s. I’m interested in working with artists dedicated to and curious about their growth and process. I’m interested in working on your needs to help you develop truth and trust in the infinite possibilities of your instrument and imagination. Together, we reach toward greater synthesis between your body and imagination. The work we do together is an investment in your artistry and trust in your own process.

Performance is an exercise in spirit and a means of service to illuminate the human condition and challenge societal norms. My process guides and celebrates the individualities of the artists involved, meeting the artist where they are and encouraging their growth. I believe in respecting the artists’ health, lives, contributions, and time. I believe an actor must be capable of complete transformation and surrender to the will of the character they are portraying. I work experientially and deeply through movement, while encouraging a sense of ease, curiosity, fearlessness, risk-taking, and play in the studio, rehearsal room, performance space, and in one-on-one coaching sessions.

MY HISTORY WITH THE MICHAEL CHEKHOV TECHNIQUE
Michael Chekhov Center began in 2018 as Michael Chekhov Center Cleveland. The impulse to begin my own studio arose while studying at The Michael Chekhov School in Hudson, NY with master teachers Fern Sloan, Ted Pugh, and Ragnar Freidank. I desired to share my understanding of the Chekhov Technique with Northeast Ohio artists, where I lived at the time. I’ve been exploring Chekhov since 2008 when I was introduced to The Qualities of Movement in an acting class. It immediately connected me to my body and transformed my understanding of acting. I have since trained in-person and virtually with over 20 Chekhov teachers from around the world through The Michael Chekhov School, Chekhov Studios International and Chicago, and MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association, where I was fortunate to be taught by the late Joanna Merlin who, at the time, was the last living student who studied directly with Michael Chekhov. I began Teacher Training with MICHA in 2017, and completed the program in 2025.


Before moving to Chicago in 2025, I taught for Baldwin Wallace University’s Music Theatre Program, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Playhouse Square, Disney Musicals-in-Schools, Cleveland Play House Theatre Academy, MetroHealth Arts in Medicine, Planned Parenthood, and the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. I taught Chekhov Technique each summer in Dobama Theatre’s Emerging Artist Program, DEAP.

CHEKHOV STUDY TIMELINE
2024-2025 • Completed MICHA Teacher Training (Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä, Suzana Nikolić, John McManus, Dawn Arnold, Ulrich Meyer-Horsch, Roanna Mitchell, Connie Rotunda, mentored for class preparation by Jessica Cerullo)
2024-2025 • Private coaching with Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä to prepare for THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T (or THE NIJINSKY INCANTATION)
2022 • Observer at GLMCC Annual Conference
2021 • Thinking, Feeling, and Willing Your Words online class with Dawn Arnold, Chekhov Studio Chicago
2021 • MICHA Five Guiding Principles virtual workshop (Lenard Petit, Dawn Arnold, Marjolein Baars); Virtual International Workshop
2021 • Michael Chekhov School Psychological Gesture online course with Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan
2020 • Summer Online Immersion with Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä, Chekhov Studio International
2020 • MICHA Virtual International Workshop
2018 • Began Michael Chekhov Center Cleveland: in-person and online classes and workshops
2018 • 150 hour Immersion at The Michael Chekhov School, Hudson, NY (Fern Sloan, Ted Pugh, Ragnar Freidank, Séamus Maynard, Craig Mathers, Phelim McDermott)
2017 • Began MICHA Teacher Training in January (Joanna Merlin, Ted Pugh, Jobst Langhans); International Workshop in June
2016 • MICHA International Workshop
2008 • Introduced to Chekhov in an acting class, began study through On the Technique of Acting and other texts, and exploring principles through my acting and devising work