Talking to Anastasia Nefödova, a multiple winner of the Golden Mask, the main artist of the Electroteatra Stanislawski, the course manager of the Design School, about the path of the theatrical artist, the magic of directorial and art tandems, and educational trends. An interview is being conducted by the theatre manager and teacher Marina Andreikin.
Photo from the social media of Anastasia Nefyodova
Creative plans: «The Body of Color» exhibition at the Electrotheater
What are you really interested in right now, Nastya? A: This is a period when you want to analyze what’s already gone to figure out where to move on. It seems to me to be important both for the educational process and for my own creative process. So I started a big personal exhibition where I’m going to take stock of my path to find a new one. Is the exhibition going to be about some period of your creativity, e.g. electrotheater, or do you want to do a big retrospection? A: The idea of a big retrospect was, we even made the project and counted the budget. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to implement it, so we decided to make the exhibition a reduced version, that is, as the «Electroteatra» project. The exhibition will be called Color Body. We’re here looking at color bodies as an artistic body removed from the body. When it’s left alone, in itself, does it have any value? We want to see this in terms of color, light, and spatial physical feeling.
The costumes for «Blue Bird» of the Stanislawski Electrotheater. Photo by Olympia Orlovoy
You say «we» all the time. Who’s on your team? Is there any drama in your exhibition? Is there gonna be some kind of light story? A: I hope there’s a light story, though it’s pretty limited at the Electrotheater. But yes, I’d like us to build a light spatial movement. Lydia Chugunov and Ludmila Alabiev, both from the Design School, are working with me, so I have a very good team. I hope everything’s gonna be okay. How many jobs do you plan to present, and where will you place them? A: We want to do mass intervention in the «Electroteatra body». There’s gonna be about 20 dummies with costumes, 20 panels in the air, one big Umpire outfit from the Sverlys, and probably another 20 hundred with pictures of performances. I’d still like to show you a lot of artifacts. Knowing how many costumes you made in different performances, sometimes there were hundreds (! It’s just a tiny tip of the iceberg. How many shows will be presented? A: Yes, you’re right. As far as performances are concerned, we have now included about ten — quite a decent number. It’s gonna be a selection now, and it’s gonna be a complicated story, of course. That was my next question: how are you going to pick out ten plays of costumes that deserve to be represented? A: It’s gonna be very difficult, so I’m probably gonna give it to my colleagues. Let them do it without me, so I don’t get upset.
The costumes for the «Sverlians» act are the electrotheater of Stanislawski. Photo by Olympia Orlovoy
Professional way: How to become a costume theatrical artist?
You graduated from the production department of the MHAT Studio School. Specializing in costumes, did you start at school or did you still get a wider education? A: Education was broad, including costume discipline, costume technology. We worked with Regina Homsky. She gave us a very cool base that then allowed us to do the costume professionally. When I graduated, my classmates asked me to make a costume — they didn’t have the right artist. I said yes. Since then, I’ve been developing in two directions — both as a stagewriter and as a costume artist (but as a costume artist, I’ve done more work than as a stagewriter). So it was an accident to determine a career path? A: Yes, by accident. It’s just that there’s been a vacancy.
The students of the MHAT School of Studio in the early 1990s. Photo from the social media of Anastasia Nefyodova
The question that matters to me is, how does a painter cooperate with a costume artist? You gotta match up in some story, you gotta be on the same wave. You’ve worked with very different production artists, haven’t you? A: Yes, different. And different artists work differently. This compound happens in some kind of magical way. Logic makes it very difficult to measure. The best option is when you’re the stager yourself. I had performances when I was making a scene, designing a project, and then finding out I hadn’t made any costumes yet. It was such a surprise — costumes too! 'Cause it’s really a whole universe. When you run into someone else’s artistic consciousness, it’s very hard to put things together in one fine picture — both the director’s vision and the artist’s vision. But I try to be very careful about someone else’s scenery, respectful and careful, so that you can express yourself in some way. What are your most pleasant memories of working with artists? A: I think Stupa Lukyanov is the best drink we’ve got. He’s very respectful of the costume artist, and he’s very comfortable working with him. I’m just getting his scenery, and I’m already processing it myself as an artist. I always have the best memories from working with Stupa. It’s some incredible sensitivity and the highest level of professionalism. A: I agree entirely with you. And that’s because Stupa came to the theater from design, not from the original scenery.
Art teams with Stepan Lucyanov at the Stanislawsky Electrotheater. Photo from the social media of Anastasia Nefyodova
Teaching experience: request for a broad specialist
You had a class at the Design School. What was it called? A: First it was called «The Theatre and Film Stranger» and then «Event Design». Theater, Performance.» As far as I know, it now exists as a cross-sectional specialization that can be chosen by a student of any design school curriculum in the third year . Am I correct to understand that you have given a very broad artistic education, not limited to costumes and scenery? Who did you cook? A: We’ve prepared a universal artist who can get into any genre, any media, can feel free and bring something new. That’s what makes us different from other universities. I think there’s a request right now for a large-scale artist who can do both a no-budget project and a serial and film project and a stage project and any other project. What you’re saying is very much in line with Boris Yurievich Yuhananov’s concept at the Personal Director’s Master’s Office when we recruited MIR-4 in 2011. There was a picture of Ninja director on the poster. Bori had the idea of having a full-fledged director who would work in every field, any media. A: So that’s exactly what we did with that course. I used to teach them, too, and we did a lot of joint projects. I can’t remember right now, but then I had a match with a lot of directors myself. The best one was with Klim Kozinski. He and I did the «Idiotology» show at the Electrotheater, and this play will also be presented at the exhibition. I think it’s still going to the theater? A: Yeah, it’s going, it’s going well, it’s really cool. Let’s call everyone to the theater!
The costumes for «Idiotology» of the Stanislawsky Electrotheater. Photo by Olympia Orlovoy
How can an artist find his director?
There’s a classic question: how a young specialist, a young creative professional can enter a professional field, how to find the first orders. No matter how many years have passed, the matter will always be open if the system is not in place. You’ve already said that the relationship between a stagewriter and a costume artist is building up on some kind of magical level, which means it’s something in the field of wonder that’s gonna happen. And for the show to appear, there’s got to be a meeting between an artist and a director! Is there anything we can do to help this miracle? How do you get artists to meet directors? How can young artists be included in the professional sphere? Can it be set up as a system? A: Of course, this should be included directly in the education programme. We had it on stream. We’ve been doing practical work all the time. We started with a street parade for the Voronezh theater festival. This was my first class, we brought together directors and artists. I did it in a very interesting way: I had a student director from MIRI-5 then, and I got the first class of artists. I put them together through an art auction — the director came to the artists, told them his bid, his idea, his concept, and the artists chose which director they wanted to work with. And that’s how we formed creative teams. It was very funny, and I followed this practice quite successfully in other courses as well. The guys get to know each other, they can split up, they can go to another director, but some basic structure, a structure, to find a common ground with an unknown consciousness, will be set up. It’s very important. I know a lot of guys are still working together, still working together. So you’re basically making director’s pitching! What did the directors look like in this situation? Convincing? How did they even agree to that? Is it? A: Hunting, because it was a game genre. I called it an auction, not a pitching, so it was still a more relaxing option. And the directors were interested in presenting their ideas to such an unusual audience.
First set of Anastasia Nefyodova course at the School of Design. Street parade at the Voronezh Theatre Festival
Theatrical courses at the School of Design: where graduates work, who else can learn
Do you know what your first graduates do? Are you in a relationship? A: Yes, we have a relationship. They’re mostly girls. They all work in the profession, one way or another. Somebody’s already teaching, someone’s even doing machine painting. Someone’s working at the big bureau. There are girls who make presentations in big agencies. There’s a girl who’s got her own agency making presentations for clients. I mean, everybody’s in the field. That this course ended up in your design school, from your point of view, a natural story? Was it «just like this» or was it the right frame for your class? A: I think it’s the right frame for such an unusual phenomenon. It was the first set at the Design School in the «Theater and Film» field. Everyone knew it was an experiment. And I’m very happy that this experiment has been fully successful. Although we’ve all been sneaking through this path intuitively, on the touch. But it happened. It wasn’t an accident that happened at an academic institution — I’m a special artist after all.
The students Anastasia Nefyodova, artists and directors, are preparing for a street parade at a theatre festival in Voronezh.
There’s now a theatre director’s workshop in DPO at the School of Design. Is it weird to you that the Design School is gonna teach other actors and directors? Or is that a totally natural story for you? A: I think now both actors and directors are needed in some unusual projects, unusual directions, so it’s natural for me. I’m really glad that’s gonna happen. Especially since we’ve already started this story at the DPO, it’s been led by the most beautiful Misha Makeev, it’s all been quite successful, and I hope it’ll be a great continuation of a good tradition already.
Photo on the cover of Alexander Smirnov
