Felix Ivanoff, associate professor of acting in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Drama, passed away on Saturday, May 14, in Syracuse. He was 72.
Born in Moscow, Russia, Ivanoff came to the United States in 1991. A teacher of acting, movement, stage combat, and clowning, he taught at numerous international and American colleges and universities and joined the Syracuse University faculty in 2008.
Ivanoff developed an original dynamic training for actors and gained an international recognition for his teaching method. He was also an accomplished martial artist and teacher of kung fu who won many competitions and also held a third-degree black belt in judo.
Ivanov’s choreography of stage movement/combat was seen at such venues as the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C.; the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; the Shakespeare Theater Festival in Cleveland; and the Acting Company, the Lincoln Center Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Theater Workshop, the Wooster Group, at the Pearl Theater, the Cherry Lane Theater, the Soho Repertory Theater, Soho Playhouse, and Tele/Vest (TV serial) in New York City, among others in the U.S.
Ivanoff is survived by his wife, Olga, and many former students and friends. Funeral services were held in Syracuse. Messages of condolence may be posted and a full obituary may be found on the New Comer website.