The origins It is amazing how easy it is to verify in the story of famous people connected to Merlo’s parentage a clear correspondence and an unbelievable identity of careers. The study, the art of voice – spoken and sung: from phonetics to linguistics, from philology to stage interpretation and acting, from generation to generation it has been put forward again; beginning with Alessandro Romano (Merlo), born in 1543 and died in Rome on 22nd of April 1601 (see Enciclopedia della Musica – UTET). Prof. Clemente Merlo follows, the famous linguist and expert of Indian culture, the same as Carlo Merlo himself, he was born in Naples in 1879 and died in Milan on the 13th of January 1960, having written many works about linguistics and epistemology of dialects. These artistic ancestries confirm the inclination to art that has marked so much Carlo Merlo’s multifaceted life. Master Merlo graduated in Scenic Interpretation, Singing and Direction at the Teatro Colón Superior Institute of Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1963.
The Artistic Training Gifted of great interpretative and technical talent, he makes his debut as an actor in the Italian Culture Centre of BsAs in Italian language and as a singer at the Teatro Colón with protagonist roles. In 1963 he is finalist at the II International Competition of Young Performers of Sofia, in Bulgaria; he was on tour in Berlin and in Paris and in 1964 he comes from Milan to Rome, where he continues to teach Interpretation and Voice at the Theatre School of Rome.
The Years of Academy He won in 1975 the “Voice Education” Chair at the Italian Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio D’Amico (Drama Academy Silvio D’Amico) of Rome which he keeps for more than 20 years. He makes courses, workshops, stages of Voice and Scenic Interpretation in Italy and in the best Centers and Schools: RAI (Italia Radio Television), CSC (Experimental Center of Cinematography) of Rome, INDA (National Institute of Ancient Drama) of Siracusa, Gigi Proietti’s School, CTA (Theatre Ateneo Center) at the university LA SAPIENZA of Rome etc. The continuous research and the study about different methodologies of both oriental and occidental Scenic Art led him to develop his own innovative avant-garde technique of classical values and modern sensibility, entirely Italian, the GLOBAL METHOD V.D.A.M. (Dynamic Artistic Vocalism Merlo).
International Courses V.D.A.M. He teaches in the most prestigious Cinema and Theatre Schools in the world, among which: in France, Versailles, Teatre de l’Octroi; in India, Pondicherry, at the ICE (International Center of Education); in Costa Rica at the Teatro Nacional of San José; in Spain, Zumaia, at the CAM (Centro de Actividad Musical) Festival Internacional de Música y Teatro; in the USA, Los Angeles, at the UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) of Hollywood, etc.
A continuous commitment Master Merlo has always pursued the defense of the “ECOLOGY OF SCENIC ART” which rejects technological supports in the dramatic interpretation, during the formation and the technical improvement of the Actor, in the Direction and in the theatre set, in order to regain the memory of western interpretation tradition and to hand down this heritage to the 3rd Millennium.
Great Results PREMIO PERSONALITA’ EUROPEA ’80 (80’s European Personality Award) for his contribute to the artistic-cultural field, in the Capitol of Rome. Master Merlo only Italian acting coach contacted by the Knights of Malta (Cavalieri di Malta) to prepare in the “tragic” role the great American actor Robert De Niro, for the Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King”, to be represented at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse (then not performed – see the interview on “Prove Aperte” June 2002). In 50 years of career more than 30.000 among students and the most famous professionals of the Show business (actors, singers, dancers, directors, scriptwriters, speakers, journalists etc.) have taken a course with Merlo, individually or in group.
Now and Tomorrow Strong with an exceptional innovative professional experience, cumulated with success during the years of career in the show business, other than the Authors’ adaptations and directions, Merlo offers to the future generations the instruments and the technique to face the Scenic Interpretation of any style: Comedy, Drama or Tragedy on a stage or in front of a television camera and allows people with talent or artistic predispositions to develop to the top their own expressivity and personality, in contrast to the spreading mediocrity and to the improvisation that damages so many careers.
