I was born in February 1971 in the family of Russian circus artists Alexandra and Viacheslav Shátin, in the city of Moscow. I traveled throughout the Soviet Union with the circus company where my parents worked and lived, so to speak, the ordinary life of a circus kid. My life consisted of a very simple routine that was repeated day after day and could be defined something like: school-rehearsals-homework-performance-sleep. At the age of 15 I followed the family tradition and begin study a circus career.
The four-year career of the State Circus School is a technical career with an academic level of Specialist. I specialized in Acrobatics-Gymnastics and thus began one of the most important stages in my life, since all the previous knowledge and experience crashed against a professional methodology. Add to this the hormonal changes of the puberty and you will have an unparalleled symptom picture. But well, I survived and graduated as a Circus Artist in 1990. However, my path was different.
When all the normal kids played at being firefighters or astronauts, I played at being a stuntman. When I watched action movies, it was very clear to me that it's not the actors who do all these amazing tricks, but there's a stuntman back there who does it for them. Thus, my mind, first as a child and then as an adolescent, formulated the idea of the existence of a super elite group, of extremely prepared people capable of absolutely everything. So when I was invited, after finishing circus school, to join the International Stunt-Acrobatic Association, I didn't hesitate to respond. To my surprise my dreams were not entirely innocent.
The members of the association had a high level of preparation in different disciplines. We designed and use the very much own training system. I can proudly say that I was part of this project directed by Nikolay Astapov.
Also at this time took place my collaboration with "The Theater of Humor and Fight" of the Eccentric Center of Aleksandr Zheromskiy.
I have to say that before my contact with dramatic art I did not consider this profession as something serious. Perhaps this happens to anyone who is used to doing physical work and living from real effort. However, I discovered another aspect of teaching, I discovered what an analysis really means, I learned that behind the abstract and ephemeral art of the actor hides a solid base of research and methodology. I finished my degree in 1994 with M.F.A.
How did I get to Mexico? It is the question I hear most often. Well here is the story. When I was studying at the Institute of Cinematography, Roger Nevarez devised the project of opening a branch of the institute in Mexico. The idea was that part of the acting career, is taught in Mexico City and the last fourth year the students would conclude at the main headquarters in Moscow where they would present their final exam. The project was developed for a year and in September 1994 the Russian School of Acting was inaugurated in Mexico. I was part of the school's teaching staff for three years, taking charge, together with Danil Artamonov, of the chair of scenic movement and body expression.
I have always loved collaborating with educational institutions, in my teaching career I have worked with many schools and groups, among which:
During my career in Mexico I have worked with more than 20 production companies for film, television, theater and live show projects. Usually taking care of artistic or technical directing, design of flight effects and action scenes, also doing artistic coaching. I am the founder of the Action Arts Academy (ACARAC) and Sigma Unit group.
