It is also likely that from his teaching we get “the beat” as a term of art in acting and writing. Stanislavski called a character’s basic unit of action a “bit.” When the task/problem changes, a new bit begins. Line the bits up, and you have the basic shape of your role, what Stanislavski called the throughline of action. When you feel overwhelmed, all you have to do is focus on the bit immediately in front of you. Boleslavsky and Ouspenskaya both used this term. Owing to their thick Russian accents, however, “bit” was heard as “beat.”
