Irina E. Sirotkina

Biomechanics is used as a concept in both scientifi c and theatrical circles to signify various lines of study of the movements of the human body. Although its history has been researched only episodically, several myths about biomechanics have already taken shape. One holds that A. K. Gastev, director of the Central Institute of Labor, and his colleague, physiologist N. A. Bernshteyn, invented the science of biomechanics in 1921-22. This assertion has become so commonplace that it has even appeared in Wikipedia. Another myth concerns biomechanics in the theater, which V. E. Meyerhold supposedly opposed to the existing system for training actors at the Moscow Art Theatre. Although both myths contain a grain of truth, neither the fi rst nor the second description of events is entirely accurate. The present essay describes other sources of biomechanics and analyzes professional and personal relationships between its founders.