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The wish. From a Russian theatre school in Uzbekistan to performing on 42nd Street, my life, onstage, onscreen and off, has been led by the WISH. As an International Performer, Russian-trained Actress (mhmm, in Uzbekistan), Published Writer, Certified Dream Awake EFT Tapping Coach (250 hrs), Reiki Practitioner, and Lifelong Creative Rebel, I am on a mission to help you step into your full-blown artistic expression (+ attract soul-aligned success) while building the ensemble. Think of this podcast as your laboratory. Consider me your scene partner. And in this space, let your impulses run free. Each week, you’ll tap into unconventional tips, tools, techniques and the sacred connection to the partner. Whether an intimate solo episode or an inspiring chat with a guest, you’ll learn to transmute doubt into desire, transform self-sabotage into self-love, skyrocket your impact on the industry (without selling your soul), and create the #actorslife you dream of (on your terms). Turn down your brain. Trust your body. Lead with the wish. Together, let’s take the leap from Actor to Artist.
Episodes
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Welcome back to Part II of Episode 5 (gooo check it out if you haven’t yet, it lays the foundation)!
“I learned Akmal the actor at the same time I learned Akmal the human, and I fell in love with both.”
Buckle up Rebel-Artists because today we are diving into an intimate Q&A. We answer all the scintillating questions folx have asked me/us for years!
- Is it hard to live together and work together?
- What happens if you have a creative disagreement?
- Is it even possible for two artists to live together?
- Can you have great love AND great art?
- Is it challenging to be in quarantine together in a tiny NY apartment?
We dive into this and so much more! Take a screenshot of this episode and tag @the_akmal_rakhimov and @serabanda in your Instagram stories to let us know what you thought of this episode!
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
tay-tee-tai-toh-too
bay-bee-bai-boh-boo
tay-bay, tee-bee, tai-bai, toh-boh, too-boo
bay-tay, bee-tee, bai-tai, boh-toh, boo-too
tay-bay-bay, tee-bee-bee, tai-bai-bai, toh-boh-boh, too-boo-boo
bay-tay-tay, bee-tee-tee, bai-tai-tai, boh-toh-toh, boo-too-too
Explore our story further on "How We Met" in The Guardian!
Write me a wish letter and let me know what you want to discuss next! impulse@actortoartist.com
Get my weekly MAGIC IF MONDAY letters delivered directly to your inbox and claim your FREE Energy Exercise as a welcome gift! Grab my motivating tips, practical tools and exclusive content to jumpstart your week and catapult your artistic development in 2021!
Psssst: You can use the Energy Exercise before any audition to Amplify your Presence Onstage and Onscreen. (ALSO, it can be used to recalibrate your energy, calm your nervous system, and ground yourself in your creative power and infinite love.)
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
The MAGIC IF has the potential to change your life (and the trajectory of your 2021): onstage, onscreen, and everywhere in between.
How are you using conscious tools as the gateway to your creative subconscious? Perhaps you’ve stumbled across one of Stanislavski’s token tools and used it in your own training, methods, and work:
If my character was in these circumstances, what would my character do?
But the Russian method takes it a step further:
If I were in these circumstances, what would I do?
The Magic IF lifts us out of the world of ‘reality’ into our imaginations. It’s a stimulus, a lever, a natural motivator that provokes an authentic response. And that’s what we’re here to do as actors: create honest life in imaginary circumstances.
Discover what western classrooms omit in their training, why it’s so important to study yourself before you play anyone else, learn the magic IF that rocked my world and explore your own magic IF’S that can transform your life and your career.
Write me and let me know how you plan to use the magic IF in your life and art! impulse@actortoartist.com
Or DM me on Instagram! @serabanda
Treat your artist to my weekly MAGIC IF MONDAY letters delivered directly to your inbox and claim your FREE Energy Exercise as a welcome gift! Grab my signature tips, practical tools and exclusive content to jumpstart your week and catapult your artistic development in 2021!
Psssst: You can use the Energy Exercise before any audition to Amplify your Presence Onstage and Onscreen
What IF you did these phrases with me… and succeeded?
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
M
F
may-mee-mai-moh-moo
fay-fee-fai-foh-foo
may-fay-fay, mee-fee-fee, mai-fai-fai, moh-foh-foh, moo-foo-foo,
fay-may-may, fee-mee-mee, fai-mai-mai, foh-moh-moh, foo-moo-moo
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
“The only thing that motivates my spirit to tumble out of bed in the morning is the work.”
On a romantic December night, we close out this armchair travel adventure: FTWL!!
Get ready for leaps and bounds of joy and deep, despondent pits of sorrow all in a quick swerve of that thing we call life. Emotions. Impulse. Join me as we close the curtain on this mini-series and head into a time of hibernation. Note: I will be taking an interlude (seeds cannot blossom all year long) and return reenergized for the start of January as more exciting things in the Actor to Artist realm unravel. Stay tuned!
#speechforthestage (today was quite a surprise + fun challenge!)
F T W L
L W T F
a e i o u
fay-tay-way-lay, fee-tee-wee-lee, fai-tai-wai-lai, foh-toh-woh-loh, foo-too-woo-loo
lay-way-tay-fay, lee-wee-tee-fee, lai-wai-tai-fai, loh-woh-toh-foh, loo-woo-too-foo
Let me know how this episode and series resonated with you! Reach out to me on IG: @serabanda
Or, write me a wish letter: impulse@actortoartist.com
Are you a Rebel-Actor? Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Your imagination is so much more rich than you can ever imagine!
In this full moon + eclipse anointed episode, let’s dive into part II of this armchair travel miniseries!
Mold your plastical limbs, carve an invisible pumpkin and become the Point & the Universe alongside me. Are you inspired to return to your old journals/emails/photos? As always, reach out, I am SO curious to hear how the episode resonated with you.
#speechforthestage
M → N
N → M
a e i o u
may-mee-mai-moh-moo
nay-nee-nai-noh-noo
may-nay, mee-nee, mai-nai, moh-noh, moo-noo
nay-may, nee-mee, nai-mai, noh-moh, noo-moo
Then, double time!!
Reach out to me on IG! @serabanda.
Or, write me a wish letter impulse@actortoartist.com
Are you a Rebel-Actor? Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Welcome to this mini-series!
We’ve made it to a new point in our relationship: nighttime episodes! How romantic.
Because improvisation is intrinsic to our craft, we can pivot quickly. Today we are taking a trip, some armchair travel to… Tashkent, Uzbekistan circa 2009.
Let’s dive into our experiences of where we’ve been, how it moved us and what we dream of experiencing in the future. Flip on your imagination creative rebels!
Cozy up, grab a warm drink, maybe even close your eyes as I transport you across the globe into vivid moments of wonder-lust and wander-lust.
“Everyone asks me why I’m here. I am curious as to why as well. My response...I dunno?...my heart, my potent punching gut feeling. Because I want to try?”
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
T → D
D → T
tay - tee - tai - toh - too
day - dee - dai - doh - doo
tay-day tee-dee tai-dai toh-doh too-doo
day-tay dee-tee dai-tai doh-toh doo-too
Then double time!!
Let me know how this armchair travel resonated with you and reach out to me on IG! @serabanda.
Or, write me a wish letter impulse@actortoartist.com
Are you a Rebel-Actor? Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
The wish is wiggly today.
We dive into two controversial topics:
- You give your best performances when you’re tired. (Do you agree?)
I learned this over my three years at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, UZ. Our teachers would spend all day with us in school and then perform at night. Marathon days were standard. Somehow, in exhaustion, all the frills and falsities fall away and we hone in razor-like focus for the task at hand. Exhaustion offers us extreme presence.
- You do not have the right to be sick. (Hmmm… do you agree?)
Russian theatre school is hardcore. My classmates and I were told from the beginning: as part of the ensemble, you do not as an individual have the right to be sick. Be here, heal here.
I digested this notion because I was a good student (even with tortuous amounts of travel tummy). But these mantras aren’t stagnant - we can evolve with these ideas and shape them to our benefit. In the lens of 2020, we can use ALL that we’re feeling to create. Every shade of emotion is fuel. Actors are agents of change. Creativity heals.
I have a suggestion: we can still give the best performances of our lives in the last weeks of 2020. I am here with you. Are you with me?
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
S → Sh
Sh → S
say-see-sai-soh-soo
shay-shee-shai-shoh-shoo
say-shay see-shee sai-shai soh-shoh soo-shoo
shay-say shee-see shai-sai shoh-soh shoo-soo
This is a dialogue and I need your input! What do you want to discuss next? Write me a wish letter impulse@actortoartist.com
Reach out on Instagram! @serabanda
Are you a Rebel-Actor? Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
It’s our job as artists to create from possibility.
I have 3 questions for you. Grab your pen and paper and let’s get doodling (voice recording, dancing, writing, painting, however you let the wish move through you…)
- What type of actor do you want to be? (Are you like me and do the things that scare you?)
- What are you giving back to the craft? So much of our focus surrounds getting: an agent, a role, a certain something… but what we put out comes back to us.
- How do you show up for the work? Yes, yes #theactorskitchen isn’t just a goofy thing to do some of the time, it’s what precipitates the performance. It’s the foundation.
I’m super super curious about what comes up for you - please reach out on IG @serabanda or send me a wish letter at impulse@actortoartist.com.
If you’re like me, and the process of work seems to be the only thing that satiates you, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s love the daily devotion:
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
T
tay - tee - tai - toh - too
tay-tay, tee-tee, tai-tai, toh-toh, too-too
tay-tay-tay, tee-tee-tee, tai-tai-tai, toh-toh-toh, too-too-too
Are you an Artistic Rebel? Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Normally, I show up with more of an outline, but today I come in raw and real with a wish (seriously, I am hearing voices!).
I am getting the message from all over: R E S T.
Oh, and add a spoonful of Fun.
Just because.
Because we all need a collective hug right now, today, I am inviting you into the space of Rest.
Raw
Resonant
REST.
We go deep into why we seek what we do, in the arts and beyond (*hint*: it has something to do with reverberations of emotions/feelings/sensations across spaces. And - you guessed it - the theatre is where it happens most powerfully!).
I share a belief I uncovered about myself this year that shocked me. Grab your hammer and poke holes alongside me into the facades we all have, the masks we all wear. Let's dig below the surface of rest, of art, of ourselves.
Like creativity, rest cannot be contained. It’s unpredictable. Just like chairs being thrown out of the sky (yes, this DID happen, at completely resonant moments. Universe, we hear you!)
Instead of DO-ING, let’s focus on BE-ING.
As on the stage, as in life, the be-ing is what’s most interesting.
We are speaking the melody of slowing dowwwn, so take it at your own pace -
#speechforthestage
a e i o u
R
ray - ree - rai - roh - roo
Also, after you listen or before you listen: V O T E !!!
Play with me on IG: @serabanda
Want to write me a wish letter?: impulse@actortoartist.com
Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
This week, we’re zooming in on the mechanics of what gives an ensemble its essence: feeling of the partner! Attention on the partner, love of the partner, existing onstage for the partner.
Join my first guest - my partner in life and onstage - Akmal Rakhimov and I as we dive deep into how to build relationships offstage to create room for magic onstage. Akmal offers insight into his own unique artistic journey and the ways one can turn the craft of making breakfast into a daily creative process.
We explore how to communicate beyond language, why all our senses need to be activated onstage and how different resources get turned on with the desire to know your partner inside and out.
Join us for laughs, surprises, and Akmal's innate ability to have an audience leaning in.
#speechforthestage
Because we are STILL learning each other and ‘mistakes’ make it juicy.
a e i o u
T → B
B → T
tay-bay tee-bee tai-bai toh-boh too-boo
bay-tay bee-tee bai-tai boh-toh boo-too
Russian version:
Тби Тбэ Тбо Тбу Тба Тбы
Dip your toes into our story in The Guardian
Let Akmal know how you’re feeling: @the_akmal_rakhimov
Check out Akmal’s études (scenes)!
Test your articulators: Actor to Artist
Play with me on IG @serabanda
Want to write me a wish letter? impulse@actortoartist.com
Join the International Electr(on)ic Ensemble: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Ensemble.
Why do we need it?
I believe the ensemble is the missing piece of the puzzle, to our own individual process, the collective process and our culture as a whole.
So how do we create the im-possible? (for reference, 99% of folx in the West have told me it’s not possible).
We break the rules.
And here’s a secret *hint hint*: by tuning in and planting the possibility into our imaginations, we’re already at work!
We cover a lot today, from how you call your artist-self, to the necessary safety and trust of the ensemble (required for risk + improv), to the greater picture. Theatre is a mirror of society; when we only play bits and parts of ourselves before hurling into the next shiny task, what are we reflecting back?
Today, we are flipping No on its head: Yesssssss!
#speechforthestage
N → Y
Y → N
a e i o u
nay - nee - nai - noh - noo
yay - yee - yai - you - yoo
nay-yay nee-yee nai-yai noh-yoh noo-yoo
yay-nay yee-nee yai-nai you-noh yoo-noo
Want to write me a wish letter?: impulse@actortoartist.com
Come visit me on IG! @serabanda
Test your articulators with me: Actor to Artist.
Dig in further: actortoartist.com
Disclaimer:
Your use of the content on this podcast, content on actortoartist.com, content on our social media or content from our email list is at your own risk. Actor to Artist does not guarantee any results from using this content and is for educational purposes only. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult, and obtain a professional for your medical, psychological, legal, financial, health or other help that you may need for your situation.