Enhancing Young Violinists' Musical Identities Using a Dialectical Approach Drawn from the Stanislavsky System

This paper draws on the fields of music education and actor training. It describes the use of acting techniques based on the Stanislavsky system in music education as a means of facilitating the exploration of musical identity in young violinists. It also investigates how acting activities can enhance students' development through the social interactions of group teaching, and how the power of language, storytelling, imagination, and fiction can trigger meaningful processes and influence behaviour by shaping and shifting young students' beliefs about a performer's musical identity. The focus of this article is on the application of approaches and activities, based on the Stanislavsky system, to music education, in the context of violin pedagogy.