Martin Gruber (born 1957) is a German director, choreographer and movement teacher for performing artists.

Education

Degree in Theatre and Music from the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. Training in Zenbodytherapy® and Triggerpoint Anatomy® with William Dub Leigh (USA), Functional Integration with Alon Talmi (Israel). Suzuki Training with

Tadashi Suzuki is a Japanese avant-garde theatre director, writer, and philosopher. He is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT), and organizer of Japan’s first international theatre festival (Toga Festival). With American director An ...

in Toga-Mura (Japan).

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

, Aikido, Iaido, Hojo in Japan and Germany, 6th Dan in Aikido ( Aikikai Hombu Dojo). Study in Butoh Dance with Kazuo Ono in Japan, Acting wit
Yoshi Oida

Life

Martin Gruber works as a director and a choreographer. He is a professor for movement at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. He has developed his own method of actor training and founded the Tami Method®, named after Alon Talmi. see https://www.talmi-methode.com/en/treatment-with-the-talmi-methode/additional-information/see http://www.impulstanz.com/en/archive/2006/workshops/id779/ Martin Gruber's impact on contemporary European actor training is important: In 1985 he introduced Aikido into actor training at the

Otto Falckenberg Otto Falckenberg (5 October 1873 in Koblenz25 December 1947 in Munich) was a German theatre director, manager and writer. In April 1901, he co-founded ''Die Elf Scharfrichter'', the first political ''kabarett'' (a form of cabaret which developed ...

School (

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

), in 1986 Suzuki-Training,see http://archiv.mimecentrum.de/videos/MCB-SV-1413 and in 1993 August Everding invited him to develop the movement training for the then newly founded

Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding The Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding (English: Bavarian Theatre Academy August Everding) at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, was founded by August Everding in 1993. Since September 2014, the Academy has been directed by Hans-Jürgen Dr ...

(Munich). Since then quite a number of his students have become teachers themselves and teach his methods both in universities in Germany and further afield.among them Vera Schlenker, Prof. Daniela Wicaz, Jutta Burger ( Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch Berlin), Prof. Carola Grahl (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart), Doris Dexel (Konservatorium Wien, Österreich), Susanne Rebholz (Orff Institut,

Universität Mozarteum Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

, Austria), Jannis Spengler (Bayerische Theaterakademie München), Prof. Isabel Hindersin, Stefan Lenz (

Universität der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

Berlin). Many of his former students work successfully on stage, in film and on TV.for example

Jens Harzer Jens Harzer (born 14 March 1972) is a German stage, film, and television actor. He began his career at the Munich Kammerspiele, and has been a member of the Thalia Theater (Hamburg), Thalia Theatre in Hamburg since 2009. He has appeared at the S ...

Joachim Meyerhoff Joachim Philipp Maria Meyerhoff (born 1967 in Homburg) is a German actor, director, and writer. Life Joachim Meyerhoff is the youngest son of Hermann Meyerhoff, who was the director of the psychiatric clinic in Hesterberg, Schleswig-Holstein ...

, Bettina Mittendorfer, Natali Seelig, ,

André Eisermann André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

Götz Otto Götz Otto (born 15 October 1967) is a German film and television actor who is perhaps best known internationally for his roles as henchman Richard Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', as Adolf Hitler's adjutant Otto Gün ...

, Birge Schade,

Ina Weisse Ina Weisse is a German actress, screenwriter and film director. She is especially well known for her roles as the distant and ambivalent blonde. She became apparent with roles in films like ''Tatort'' und ''Polizeiruf 110''. She won several award ...

Francis Fulton-Smith Francis Fulton-Smith (born 25 April 1966) is a British-German television actor. Life Fulton-Smith was born in Munich, Germany, the son of a German mother and an English father. After graduating school he trained as an actor at the Otto-Falckenbe ...

, George Lenz,

Rainer Strecker Rainer Strecker (born 25 October 1965) is a German actor. Life Strecker trained as an actor at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich. Awards Selected filmography Audio Rainer Strecker spricht die Hörbuchreihe der Tintenwelt, sowie die ...

, Oliver Wnuk and more.

Basics of Actor's Training

Martin Gruber developed a new foundational method for comprehensive, interdisciplinary actor training inspired by Asian and western dance, martial arts as well as many of the concepts from structural integration and functional bodywork. His method is based on three main aspects: Individual work on the student's posture, dialogical movement work with a partner and formal dynamic work with the collective. The training combines amongst other things neurophysiological understandings and techniques (held within the Talmi Method®), a modified approach to

's training as well as Aikido and creates a comprehensive system. In this way, his method can answer to the demands of an ever-changing theatrical landscape that is constantly searching for new modes of expression, whilst lending the skills necessary for the traditional theatre. The actor gains competence to access the whole plethora of theatre styles ranging from classical theatre to performance art.

Theater Laboratory

In 1986 Martin Gruber opened a training place for professional theatre groups and performing artists in a converted farm in Birach, Bavaria. Th
ZeltEnsembleTheatre
directed by Otto Kukla and Crescentia Duensser was the resident company until 1992. Premiering ''Armut, Reichtum, Mensch und Tier'' ( Hans Henny Jahnn); ''Figaro and Co''; ''Ulenspiegel''. Since 1995 there have been premiers in the Bavarian dialect for example ''Wir sind Gefangene'' (Oskar Maria Graf), ''Lena Christ'', ''Die heilige Nacht'' by Joern van Dyck and Bettina Mittendorfer. Teachers at Birach include Rena Mirecka (

Jerzy Grotowski Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He was born in Rzesz ...

's Theaterlaboratory, Polen), Paco Gonzales (

Familie Flöz Familie Flöz is a German-based theatre company that uses humour, masks, improvisation, mime and physical comedy to create family-friendly shows. The company was begun in 1994 by Hajo Schüler and Markus Michalkowski, acting and mime students at th ...

); Marita Günher (

Roy Hart Roy Hart (born Rubin Hartstein; 30 October 1926 – 18 May 1975) was a South African actor and vocalist noted for his highly flexible voice and extensive vocal range that resulted from training in the extended vocal technique developed and tau ...

Theatre, London), Prof. Alon Talmi (Israel), William Dub Leigh (USA), Nobuyuki Watanabe (Japan).

Teaching

* 1993–1985: Movement Tutor, Otto Falckenberg Schule,

Munich Kammerspiele The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of ...

. * 2005–1993: Movement and Acting lecturer,

, Munich. * Since 2010: Professor for Movement, Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, Berlin. Martin Gruber has given trainings at many international institutions e.g. Ecole Supérieure d’Art Dramatique du Théatre Nationale de Strasbourg (Frankreich),

Central Academy of Drama The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...

, Beijing, and Shanghai Theatre Academy (People's Republic of China), workshops for example at

Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology was established in July 2014 as a result of the merger of the three colleges Westerdals School of Communication, NISS ( Nordic Institute of Stage and Studio) and NITH (The Norwegian Sc ...

, Oslo (Norway),

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

, Delhi (India), Mozarteum, Salzburg (Austria),

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is t ...

, Mime Centrum Berlin,

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival is a major contemporary dance festival held in Vienna, Austria each year. It gathers thousands of professional dancers, choreographers and teachers for a five-week program of performance, research proj ...

(Austria)

Directing

* 1993: ''Autistenhochzeit'' (Alexander Wagner). Premiere:

Gasteig Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the Fi ...

Munich * 1994: ''Sklavnaja Markta''. Project with students at the

, Prinzregententheater Munich * 1997: ''Beijing lan – Peking ist blau''. International and interdisciplinary theater project with actors, dancers, musicians and singers from Germany und China. Premier Yan Huang Art Gallery, Beijing (PRC). * 1998: ''Fest für Liebende in unglücklicher Konstellation'' (Susanne Goesse). Project with the Bayerische Theaterakademie. Premiere:

Akademietheater The Akademietheater in Vienna, Austria, is the smaller of two performance halls of the Burgtheater organization. It was constructed in the years 1911 to 1913 by architects Fellner & Helmer Fellner & Helmer was an architecture studio founded in 18 ...

(Munich). * 1998: ''Anstatt Rashomon'' (Susanne Goesse). Premiere: Theatre Ulm, 1998. * 2003: ''Monteverdi-Duelle''. Interdisciplinary music theatre project,

Munich Opera Festival The Munich Opera Festival (german: Münchner Opernfestspiele) takes place yearly in the Bavarian capital from late June to late July. Preceding on the calendar the two nearby festivals of Bayreuth and Salzburg, which both start in late July, the ...

. * 2004: ''Dialoge über die Liebe. Eine Straßenoper''. International Hue Festival (Vietnam) June 2004, Temple of Literature, Ha Noi (Vietnam) Octobre 2004,

June 2004. Interdisciplinery music theatre project with opera singers, musicians and dancers from Germany und Vietnam. * 2006: Assistant Director: ''Die Bakchen'' (Euripides). Director: Dieter Dorn,

Residenztheater The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration whic ...

Munich. * 2008: ''Sakkorausch'' (Elisabeth Reichart). Premiere,

Schauspielhaus Salzburg Schauspielhaus Salzburg is a theatre in Salzburg, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine sta ...

, Austria. * 2014: ''Lavapolis/Friday in Venice'' (Michael Schindhelm). Transmedia Storytelling Project for the

Venice Biennale of Architecture Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...

, Video: Robert Schuster, ''Lavapolis/Friday in Venice'', edited by Michael Schindhelm, ZHDK Zurich University of the Arts Center for Cultural Publishing Studies: Zürich/Schweiz, 2015.

Movement Directing

* 1987: ''Mann ist Mann'' (Bertolt Brecht). Director: Günther Gerstner, Munich Kammerspiele. * 1993: ''Der Sturm'' (

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

). Director: Dieter Dorn, Munich Kammerspiele. Part of the staging was working with especially manufactured life-sized puppets ('ghosts'). * 1994: ''Elektra'' (

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

). Director: Dieter Dorn, musical director:

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

Staatsoper Berlin The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

. * 1996: ''Ithaka'' (

Botho Strauß Botho Strauß (; born 2 December 1944) is a German playwright, novelist and essayist. Biography Botho Strauß's father was a chemist. After finishing his secondary education, Strauß studied German, History of the Theatre and Sociology in Col ...

). Director: Dieter Dorn, Premiere: Munich Kammerspiele * 2000: ''Memory. Eine Videooper''. Director: Otto Kukla, Premiere:

Theater am Neumarkt The Theater am Neumarkt ( en, Theater at Neumarkt) or by its present official name Theater Neumarkt is a theatre in the German-speaking Switzerland situated at Neumarkt, Zürich. It is part of the building complex '' Bilgeriturm''–Neumarkt and al ...

Zurich (Switzerland). Other performances: Munich (Germany), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Teheran (Iran) * 2005: ''Wann wird es endlich wieder so, wie es nie war?'' Director:

. Premiere: Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin. * 2015: ''La Traviata'' (Giuseppe Verdi). Director: Dieter Dorn, musical director:

, Staatsoper Berlin. * 2016: ''Transit Europa. An international cultural project''. Director:

Robert Schuster Robert Schuster (born February 3, 1970 in Meißen) is a German stage director and drama school teacher. Schuster studied cultural sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin and stage direction at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berli ...

. Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (DNT), Kunstfest Weimar,

Theater Freiburg Theater Freiburg is a theatre in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Freiburg Theatre, sometimes also referred to as Stadttheater Freiburg (Freiburg municipal theatre), formerly Städtische Bühnen (Municipal Stages) Freiburg, is the oldest and bigg ...

Schauspielhaus Bochum The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. Eric de Vroedt Eric de Vroedt (Rotterdam, 1972) is a Dutch theater director, writer and actor. Caree ...

(all in Germany), La Filature Scène Nationale, Mulhouse (France), Kurtheater Baden, Theater Chur (both Switzerland). * 2018: ''Parsifal'' (

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

). Director: Dieter Dorn, musical director: Daniel Barenboim. Premiere:

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden is Germany’s largest opera and concert house, with a 2,500 seat capacity. The building was originally built in 1904 as Baden-Baden central railway station. This building replaced the original railway station whi ...

Publications

* 2015 ''Tongguo chuangzao xingxingwei chaoyue chengshi dadao gexinghua bioada (Ten days with Zhou Xinfang in Shanghai. Afterthoughts)'', in: ''Jihua jingju dashi Zhou Xinfang danchen 120 zhounian. Waiguo zhuanjia yanjiu wence (In Memory of the 120th Birthday of the Jingju Maestro Zhou Xinfang. A Collection of Research Papers by Foreign Experts)'', edited by Zhou Xinfang Arts Research Center: Shanghai 2015, pp. 10–15, with Susanne Goesse. * 2014 ''Der Körper in der Darstellenden Kunst - der Neutralkörper'', in: ''Psychologische Medizin. Österreichische Fachzeitschrift für Medizinische Psychologie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik'', Wien 3/2014, pp. 23–28 * 2010 ''Formen bilden, Formen vernichten''. In: Bernd Stegemann (editor): ''Lektionen 4: Schauspielen Ausbildung''. Theater der Zeit, Berlin 2010, pp. 169–188. * 2002 ''Form und Wandlung. Schauspiel als Weg am Beispiel des Aikido und anderen Arten der Körperarbeit''. In: Peter Schettgen (editor): ''Heilen statt Hauen. Aikido-Erweiterungen in Therapie und beruflicher Bildungsarbeit''. Augsburg 2002, S. 117–134. * 2001 ''Formen bilden, Formen vernichten. Bemerkungen zu neuen Wegen in der Schauspielausbildung''. In: ''Rollenunterricht, Sprecherziehung, Stimmbildung und Körperarbeit in der Ausbildung zum Schauspieler. Dokumentation der Arbeitstagung der Bayerischen Theaterakademie August Everding 27.–30. April 2000''. München 2001, pp. 201–215. * 1999 ''Grammatik der Füsse und Stimme''. In: ''Integration von Sprecherziehung, Liedgestaltung und Körpertraining in der Ausbildung zum Schauspieler. Dokumentation der Arbeitstagung der Bayerischen Theaterakademie 26.–29. März 1998''. München 1999, S. 96–100; with Uwe Hollmach.

Symposium contributions and articles as PDF files

* Demigod or Servant – On the Vulnerability of the Actor. 2012 (symposium lecture
PDF
121 kB). * Abmessen der Handlungsräume. Erste Eindrücke nach dem Besuch der Bauhaus-Bühne. Mapping the Action Spaces. First Impressions After the Visit to the Bauhaus Stage. In: Theater der Zeit. 6/2011. Supplement to

Prague Quadrennial Held in Prague once every four years since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space or Prague Quadrennial is the world's largest event in the field of scenography, consisting of a competitive presentation of contemporary work in ...

2011: Die Bühne als Raumapparat / The Stage as Space Apparatus, S. 2–3
online
. * Formen bilden, Formen vernichten. In: Bernd Stegemann (editor): Lektionen 4: Schauspielen Ausbildung. Theater der Zeit, Berlin 2010, S. 169–188.
PDF
. * Form and Change: Acting as Path – based on the Example of Aikido and Other Types of Body Work. 2010
PDF
. * Go and wash your plate or how to teach Aikido to human resources. 2003
PDF
.

Literature

* Susanne Goesse: ''Von China nach Japan in zwei Theaterstücken''. In: ''Minima sinica''. 1/2006, pp. 48–74. * Wolfgang Lanzinger: ''Martin Gruber. Ein Großmeister des Theaters mit einem Hang zum Extravaganten''. In: ''Dorfener Heimatbuch. Von der Stadterhebung bis ins 3. Jahrtausend''. Band 1. Dorfen 2006, pp. 460–462.

Notes

References

External links

Martin Gruber
at Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts Berlin
Martin Gruber
at Theater der Zeit

� Bad Gleichenberg Leib oder Leben
Fulton-Smith
about Martin Gruber * Martin Grube
Video of Aikido training in Stavropol
2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruber, Martin 1957 births Living people Academic staff of the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts German choreographers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni