Biography
Sharon Marie Carnicke a professor of critical studies and acting at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. She is internationally acclaimed for her groundbreaking research on Stanislavsky and her master classes on Active Analysis, which was created by Stanislavsky and developed by the renowned Russian director Maria Knebel.
She has published widely on acting for stage, screen and new media. Her books include Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis (forthcoming with Methuen); Stanislavsky in Focus, which illuminates the ways in which the American Method and the Stanislavsky System differ; Anton Chekhov: 4 Plays and 3 Jokes, which include her translations of his full-length and short plays; Checking out Chekhov, which is a guide to reading and staging Chekhov’s plays; and Reframing Screen Performance (co-authored). She has won many awards, including a citation for translation from the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) and grants from prestigious organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Association for Theatre Studies and the US National Science Foundation.
Carnicke has conducted master classes in the United States and globally at such institutions as the National Association of Acting Teachers, the National Academy of the Arts (Norway), MetodiFestival (Italy), NIDA (Australia) and The Moscow Art Theatre School. Her work with scientists has applied active analysis to the study of emotional expression through motion capture and interactive digital storytelling. She is also the founder of the Stanislavsky Institute for the 21st Century.
Carnicke earned her PhD in Russian from Columbia University, while maintaining an active career in theatre as actor, dancer and director. She performed in New York and has directed in New York, Los Angeles, Moscow and Oslo. She holds a joint appointment in Slavic Languages and Literatures in Dornsife at USC.