About German Sidakov

German Sidakov graduated from the most famous Russian theatre university — Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (Gitis) in 1993, under master teacher Peter Fomenko, who leads Fomenko Theatre, one of the most respected and recognized theatres in Russia. He also studied under such notable directors and teachers as Sergey Genovech, Evgeny Kamenkovich, Olga Firsova, Boris Rabey,

After graduating Sidakov headed his own theatre company called Arbat Dramatic Improvisation Theatre and became the youngerst artistic director in Russia. He staged shows in France, taught in Sweden, England, and the United States. Selected directing credits include Ostrovsky’s Snow Maiden, Gogol’s Inspector General, Chekov’s Fatherhoodlessness, Striptease by Slavomir Mrozhek, An Incident by Daniel Harms, Twelve by Alexander Blok, Jonah by Hvostenko, Oblomovschina based on Goncharov’s Oblomov, Homer’s Odyssey (an opera, Music by Vitaly Galutva), Road of Flowers by Kataev, and Moliere’s Tartuffe and The Physician in Spite of Himself. Reviews on his shows have been often posted in many popular Russian newspapers such as “Vremya Novostey”, “VM”, “Kultura”, “Novye Izvestia”, “Itogi”, “Vash dosug”, “Izvestia”, “Pravda”, “Teatralnaya Moskva”, “Afisha” and also on television channels “Pervy” (“First”), “Kultura” (“Culture”), “Domashny” (“Home”), “Stoliza” (“The capital”), “Rossia” (“Russia”), “NTV”.

Sidakov is associate professor of acting and directing in Gitis, where he has cooperated with master-teachers such as Alexander Titel, Yuri Lubimov, Sergey Genovach; he taught on Advanced Film Directing Courses at the Russian State Institute of Cinematography, working with such prominent Russian directors as Alla Surikova, Vladimir Khotinenko, Peter Todorovsky, and Vladimir Naumov, Sergey Solovyev.
He is also a leading acting teacher at the Internews School of Television in Russia. He works as an image consultant for Russian movie stars and top models and also trained actor’s skill on the TV Show «The factory of stars» on First television channel. He constantly gives master-classes both in Russia and abroad.

In 2000 German Sidakov started applying his own program checking and perfecting it with students from different departments in Gitis, Advanced Film Directing Courses at the Russian State Institute of Cinematography, and later on classes in USA. His original method has taken effect everywhere and proved the universality of the technology. His students are highly recognized and successful actors, they work all across the world and have won many prestigious Russian theatrical awards such as Golden Mask (2007, 2009), Zarev’s award (2006, 2007), Golden Lira (2007), Tabakov’s fund diploma (2007), International Festival of Theatrical Schools in Warsaw (2005).

In 2008 German Sidakov finished working out his own method and opened Drama School. At the moment it is the only place offering an original acting and directing program which was developed on the basis of the most advanced methods from Vsevolod Meyerhold to Jerzy Grotowsky. This is an unparalleled quintessence of the theatre systems which regard mastering the artistic truth and acting techniques based on the art of improvisation. In a remarkably short time such an approach has let the school take acknowledgment as a trust-worthy educational organization. In 4 months time Sidakov’s students achieve the level that other schools mostly achieve by the end of the two-year training. To enter in the school, students face high competition: about 3 individuals per position. This number continues growing even though the school’s policy doesn’t practice extensive publicity and the fees are the highest in Russia. Sidakov has introduced into teaching such a notion as convergent directing.

Drama School of German Sidakov is now the only successful directing school in Russia. German Sidakov is one of the few professionals who teaches directing. The school educational process is organized in a special way. First, a group of directors is formed, who are afterwards joined by a newly set-up group of actors. The actors help the directors to train the skills practically, that is, at rehearsals. This also makes actors stay in a continuous mode of creativity and search, because they have a chance to work simultaneously with different directors and work out several different characters. The full and continuous immersing into short but very intensive process provokes students to create teams and work out a kind of relationships that makes possible to create professional shows. This curriculum, unprecedented both in Russia and abroad, was worked out by German Sidakov.