Biographies

Svetlana Efremova is Professor of Acting at California State University at Fullerton. She is a MFA graduate of the Yale School of Drama and a BFA graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater, Russia. She has taught at Harvard University, Muskingum College, University of Rio Grande and The Academy of Humanities in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has conducted numerous workshops on the Stanislavsky method of Acting at Miami University, Bennington College, Bowling Green State University and Oswego University.
She participated in acting workshops conducted by J. Grotowski, P. Stein, and Peter Brook. As an equity actress she appeared on Broadway in a touring production of "Uncle Vanya" and in numerous shows at the Yale Repertory Theater and South Coast Repertory Theater. Her film and Television credits include "Gideon's Crossing", "The Prince of Central Park", "Evident Kiss", "Hotel Lobby", "K-19", "White Oleander", "Phone Booth", "Spiral" and others. Her acting awards include Yale University's Herschel Williams Award for outstanding actress of 1997, the Best Actress Award at the Prague International Festival of European Acting Schools and a nomination for an Outstanding Actress Award from the Connecticut Critics Circle.

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Alex Kuz is a substitute teacher at California State University at Fullerton. He is a MFA graduate of the B. Schukin’s Drama University, Vakhtangov Theater, Moscow, Russia. He is a professor of Acting in Russia, has taught at his Alma Mater and was one of the organizers of acting workshops in Moscow conducted by P. Stein and Peter Brook. His international expertise in theater and films and on-going research helped him develop a unique method, which combines best approaches and techniques used by Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Vakhtangov and Michael Chekhov with his own ideas and exercises. He successfully taught in many countries of Europe. His workshops and seminars help students on different levels develop their acting skills and improve their performance by providing them with inspiring, informative and constructive ideas and exercises merging gymnastics, dance and strong physical characterization. The program offers an introduction to the crafts of theater with training focused on creative self-expression, movement, improvisation, scene study, as well as on-camera techniques.

His film career started in 1982 with the film “Greetings from the Front- line”, which received international recognition at the Canadian television film festival. Since then Mr. Kuz has been a very successful film actor and twice was recognized as a Best Actor of Russia (1987 and 1989). His international career began in 1990 with a European and American productions. TV-series Alaska Kid, a joint German-American production, shot in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Russia, brought Mr. Kuz European recognition. In 1991 American production of Ice Runner introduced him to the American audience.

Since 1995 Mr. Kuz has been successfully working in Hollywood. His major acting credits are Peacemaker, Space Cowboys, Agent Red, JAG recurring, VIP, 7 Days, Dukes of Hazard, NYPD Blue, ALIAS, Jordan Crossing, as well as working as a Russian Tech Advisor and dialect coach on TV shows like JAG and ALIAS.