The role of the person-centered approach in the vocal art of a dramatic actor
Background. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in studying the processes of the development of the creative personality of the drama actor, amongst other things, the modern methods of vocal training, focused on his future activity in nowadays-scenic conditions. Therefore, there is a need to renew the traditional system of the vocal training of drama actors in accordance with the trends of contemporary theatrical art, namely, the introduction of the principles of person-centered pedagogy. Objectives, methodology. The research is an attempt to provide an overview of the principles of person-centered pedagogy in the making of the creative personality of the singing actor. The purpose of the article is to characterize the system of vocal training of the dramatic theater actor and new “technologies” of education aimed at developing the personality of a singing actor, which are based on the principle of person-centered pedagogy. On based of interdisciplinary approach the following methods are used in this paper: empirical (observation, discussion, retrospective analysis of vocal-performing and pedagogical experience of the author) and theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization of theoretical and research data). The results of the study. The history of the development of vocal performing, acting and pedagogy shows that for many years the attempts carried out to determine the principles of vocal education of the actor of the drama theater, implement their testing, introduce into the system of training of acting skills for improvement the process of onstage singing. The contemporary study of this problem requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, extensive contacts of art historians, musicologists, theater critics, vocalists, actors, and teachers. The constant development of theatrical art dictates new methods of educating the actor’s creative personality, including approaches to his vocal training, focused on his future activities on the modern stage. In the making of scenic image, an actor-singer needs to be constantly improved in a personal and professional way. The basis of continuous work on a vocal creative product is a worked out system of reflection regarding a person himself with all psycho-physiological features, and the image, which an actor creates onstage. The basis of the author’s developed program of the complex and personal development of the singing actor is the factor of individual diagnostics. The author of the article offers a method of individual diagnosis of the creative state of the singing actor in the educational process, by which this state can be divided into three psychological and pedagogical zones: the area of the mainstream development; the area of the highest potential development; the area of the nearest self-development. For these parameters and criteria, the author has developed a scheme of a diagnostic characteristic map for each actor’s student, which contains: ● analysis of the peculiarities of the actor’s psyche; ● descriptions of his voice and external data; ● information about language and vocal defects of sound; ● information on the shortcomings of the voice of the actor and ways to overcome them; ● repertoire list of works; ● analysis of the technical part of the actor’s vocal training at the beginning of training and at the end of it; ● analysis of performances on the drama scene. Thus, the introduction of a person-centered approach makes it possible to outline the optimal trajectory of the formation of the creative personality of a singing student-actor. On an optimal path to forming a creative personality of a singing actor student, the main task of the vocal teacher is to ensure his development, taking into account his psychological and physiological abilities, as well as updating of incentives for self-development and self-realization. To solve this problem, first, it is necessary to organize a psychologically rich “counter activity” of a student, taking care of updating and forming his internal personal motivation to developing. This kind of education focuses not so much on the amount of knowledge that is acquired, but on the feelings and experiences that are associated with them, the personal interests and features of the subject of the educational process. In contemporary theatrical and vocal pedagogy, there is a vicious regularity: on the one hand, all (both teachers and students-actors) know about the existence of the above-mentioned issue, discuss it, declare it, and on the other – because of imperfection elaboration of these issues, lack of research and others difficulties, it is simply not taken into account. The author has analyzed the apparatus necessary for the study of the category of the worldview and psychological aspects of education: the structure of the personality of the actor, his socio-biological patterns, needs, motivation, etc. Conclusions. The most important mean of the vocal up-bringing of an drama theater actor as a component of his professional development is a person-centered approach to a student. This approach involves two complementary moments: the true understanding by a teacher of the individuality of a singing actor, his personality traits and features; the presence of a student’s desire for self-development within his abilities to vocal stage activity. In the process of development of the creative person of a singing drama actor, the new technologies of education arise aimed at the vocal-scenic activity in a today theatre, which are based on the principle of person-centered pedagogy. In part, the study of the processes of reflection allowed us to develop the program for complex individual development of a student-actor. Within its framework, the author proposed a diagnostic characteristic map, revealing the features of the singing student-actor’s abilities.