ACTOR’S KINESTHETICS: AN APPLIED ASPECT OF BODIL Y AWARENESS IN CREATING AN ARTISTIC IMAGE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to scientifically substantiate and develop an applied model of actor kinesthetic training as a tool for forming bodily awareness, creative sensitivity, and professional expressiveness. The study aims to integrate somatic, cognitive, and theatrical-pedagogical approaches into a single methodological system that ensures the actor’s holistic development. The methodology of the research includes methods of systemic, comparative, and structuralanalytical analysis, as well as an interdisciplinary approach combining findings from cognitive neuroscience, somatics, and theatre pedagogy. Based on the synthesis of body-oriented training practices, Laban Efforts, Viewpoints, and somatic education methods, a four-stage structural model was proposed: awareness, action, improvisation, and reflection.
The results reveal the main challenges in modern acting education, including the fragmentation of body training, lack of an integrated system for developing kinesthetic sensitivity, and inconsistency of methodological approaches in training processes. The proposed applied model structures the actor’s bodily learning process as a sequence of interconnected stages – from awakening bodily sensations to their creative interpretation in a stage image. It is aimed at developing self-regulation skills, bodily memory, improvisational freedom, and reflective capacity.
The novelty of the research lies in creating a holistic concept of applied kinesthetic training that combines somatic, cognitive, and artistic-pedagogical dimensions. The proposed model represents the first attempt to operationalize the actor’s bodily learning process through the definition of stages, goals, and pedagogical performance indicators. It perceives the body not merely as a tool of execution but as a thinking substance capable of generating creative meaning.
The developed model can be implemented in training programs for actors, directors, and theatre educators, as
well as in professional development courses for performing artists. It provides a structured approach to bodywork that
can be adapted to educational processes, rehearsal laboratories, and stage experiments, enhancing bodily presence,
emotional authenticity, and creative interaction within theatre ensembles. Further research should focus on developing
diagnostic tools for assessing the level of actors’ bodily awareness, studying psychophysiological mechanisms of bodily
memory, and creating practical protocols for adapting kinesthetic training to Ukrainian theatre education. A promising
area for exploration is the ethical and trauma-informed aspects of embodied pedagogy in post-war society.