Mime Tips

Tips

This article only addresses one specific style of mime - 'style mime' or 'illusion mime'. There are hundreds of other forms that have little to no resemblance to Marcel Marceau or Charlie Chaplin.

• If you are really interested in pursuing a career in mime, consider taking a mime course with a school or dramatic arts group.

mime artists are renowned for using blank white face make-up with black outlining the eyes and other facial features to exaggerate the emotions. A black and white striped top, white gloves and a black top hat are also features of a traditional mime artist's costume. This outfit and make-up has been a tradition of many famous mime artists, including the legendary Marcel Marceau. However, you do not need to dress this way; in fact, it is considered so cliché by modern mime artists that the majority of them avoid it.

• A very good mime artist is highly sought after in such fields as theater, movies and the circus. Think of Cirque du Soleil and science fiction films, where mime artists can express emotions without words and create a bridge between our human expectations and those of the dreamworld and other-wordly manifestations.
• "Mimes must have the bodies of gymnasts, minds of actors, and hearts of poets" - Etienne Decroux: the 'father of modern mime'
• Though mime may seem cartoony, don't be afraid of more serious subject matter. Most well known mimes, including Marcel Marceau and Charlie Chaplin, mainly performed as courageous, but pitiful characters (Bip and The Tramp respectively). Mime is a very human art form.
• Many mime-trained individuals now operate under the term 'physical theatre' in order to avoid the social stigma that mime often inspires today. Most of these artists do not use traditional mime costumes or make-up.
• Did you know that moonwalking and breakdancing have borrowed from mime?
• Did you know that the 'traditional' mime costume of black and white was popularized by Marcel Marceau?
• Did you know Marcel Marceau's teacher - Etienne Decroux - didn't use make-up or costumes? He actually hid his performer's faces and clothed them in form-fitting loin cloths to more specifically focus on communicating through the human body alone.
• Did you know that the white make-up worn by mimes is actually borrowed from the clown tradition? It is used in both cases to emphasize character traits and expressions so they can be clearly seen at a distance. The white make-up was originally meant to express a simple, innocent character. The mime make-up tradition has come to use more stylized symbols while at the same time simplifying the color scheme and lines.
• Did you know that instead of white faces, ancient mimes wore masks or simple stage make-up?

• To avoid stretch injuries, always warm up prior to attempting mime exercises; miming requires as much agility as dance or acting.
• Mime can be extremely strenuous to perform or practice. Do not attempt mime exercises if you have trouble exercising normally.
• Antagonism or fear towards street mime performers can sometimes get out of hand. Never perform in a public place without a friend or manager nearby watching the performance.
• In the same manner as above, never perform in a public place without a safe place to retreat to. (a.k.a. a car, changing room or friendly business - do not use public restrooms.)
• Do not confuse mime with clowning. Mimes and clowns represent distinct brotherhoods of comic acting, and while the two disciplines may seem related, at depth they could not be more distinct.

   More Information

• There are however celebrated circus and theatre artists that have succeeded in embracing and combining various disciplines of mime and clowning to great effect. Joseph Grimaldi - the father of English Pantomime theatre in the late 1700's used comic mime and patter songs to establish his enduring legacy.
• 200 years before that, the lines between clowns and mime blurred as well in the grand tradition of the commedia dell arte and it's stock companies that scattered throughout Europe having been banned by the Roman church. Our moon faced french mime Pierrot has a strong comic lineage in the Italian Comedy characters of Gian Farina, Peppe Nappa and Pedrolino. An art form that strongly influenced the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, and Lope de Vega to name a few. The popularity of this art form had endured for over three hundred years across many nations.
• The 20th Century also has a bevy of artists that celebrated their skills as a clown mime. From the circus field, one can cite the Swiss clown Grock, the legendary Lou Jacobs & Otto Griebling from Ringling Bros. as well as Leonid Yengibarov, and Anotoly Nikulyn from the Soviet era of the Moscow Circus. As clowns, they could embrace their audiences in pantomime alone.
• From the theatre, music hall, film and television, it is hard not to fall under the spell of Bert Williams, Chaplin, Keaton, Stan Laurel, Harpo Marx, Red Skelton, Marcel Marceau, Georges Carl and Dick Van Dyke. Their influence can easily be seen today in the celebrated artists of the New Vaudeville Movement.
• Penn & Teller, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Geoff Hoyle, Robin Williams, and John Gilkey are great examples for aspiring mimes and clowns. The more you practice your discipline, the sooner you begin to embrace other techniques in mime and clowning to elicit laughter.
• Mime is easy to understand through the facial and physical expressions.

How to Mime

How to Mime ( 6-7 )

Steps(6-7)

06. Make the mime interesting. You can go for a one-off laugh or you can try to raise mime to a higher art form. If you create a story from your mime, you will be engaging your audience and providing true artistic resonance to the art of miming. Think in advance of a "tale" you would like to tell. Keep in mind that mime can be very beautiful and moving if done well. To take some of the examples above:

• It is a windy day (wind/umbrella mime) and you wish to walk to the hamburger stand where you meet a friend who has a cat stuck up a tree. Your friend asks you to climb the ladder to rescue the cat (ladder mime). When you return the cat (mime holding a squirming and ungrateful cat), your friend treats you to a hamburger (sloppy, ketchup mime) and just as you leave, you fail to notice a banana peel lying on the ground...

If you wish to mime something more serious, adopt a mood with your clothing, make-up and lighting. Think out a serious tale in advance. For instance, you may wish to highlight the plight of the homeless sleeping out in the cold during winter. Paint on a sad face, wear tattered clothing and use dim lighting. Think through a story that allows you to mime trudging despair as the homeless person seeks shelter for the night. Mime setting up a sleeping space under a bridge with only a cardboard box for a bed. Mime shivering and inability to sleep well. Project sadness to reflect the plight of this person.

07. Fundamental Constructs of Mime: While there are many 'tricks' that form the basis of mime training, there are a few underlying 'building blocks' that make up most techniques:

• Fixed Point: This may be more commonly referred to as 'pointe fixe', however that is simply the original French wording of 'fixed point'. This is an incredibly simple idea: The mime locates a point with his body, and then keeps it motionless in space. This technique is the basis of all illusions a mime can create.
• Line: The line builds upon Fixed Point, at first, by simply adding a second fixed point in space. What makes this a unique technical skill is the added difficulty of keeping two points the same relative distance from each other. Also, the relative distance between the two points becomes the definition of this 'construction block'. As such, the line may become 'un-fixed' as long as the two points are kept steady in their relation to one another. A good application of this concept is the 'mime wall'.
• Dynamic Line: Whereas the Line did not apply force to its points, the dynamic line adds that element. This is the idea applied to 'pulling the rope', but it can be applied to virtually any use of force in an illusion. The secret to this concept is synchronizing the impact of an imaginary force throughout the body. In that respect Dyanamic Line is essentially an understanding of physics applied to the human body. This may seem complicated but you can get a sense for it very easily:
  
  Find a wall and place both of your hands on it at approximately shoulder height. Push lightly into the wall with your hands. As you push try to feel where pressure builds up in your body. You should feel pressure in your hands, of course, but you should also feel some tension in your shoulders and hips. If you can't feel anything, gently increase the pressure until you do. Also try different positions and feel how they change the pressures in your body.
  
  Dynamic Line calls upon the memory of forces like the ones in the above exercise to create realistic illusions of imaginary forces.
• Space/Matter Manipulation: This is a fancy phrase for "making things out of thin air". This is the most complicated technique to explain because it makes use of many of the elements from the previous three. It is best served by an example illusion: dribbling a basketball. Using only one hand, the mime imitates much of the idea behind Dynamic Line, however by using only one hand, he only uses one point. Instead of two points, the mime transforms his remaining point into a shape: a rounded palm with fingers gently curled over it. This shape defines the 'space' where the illusion exists and allows the basketball, the 'matter', to exist in the illusion.
  
  Space/Matter Manipulation can be used to create any number of objects, characters, or events by utilizing this principle.
• The 'Fundamental Constructs of Mime' are the work of Dr Louis Campbell - founder and director the 1974 1st International Mime Institute & Festival. This event brought together over 150 top international mime artists and thousands of students; deriving the above concepts from their work, performance, and input.

Mime Hasan in Bangladesh

How to Mime

Mime is one of the most ancient forms of theatre, appearing around the time of the Greek tragedies. Throughout the ages of theatrical history, mime has made its mark on everything from religious rituals to street theatre and the classical ballet.

Miming appears very simple but it takes a lot of skill and practice to make it appear realistic. Mime study can be very useful, not only for actors and other performers, but for anyone who needs to communicate clearly.

Steps(1-5)

1. Use your body to speak. When miming, talking or mouthing the words is not necessary. Instead, use facial expressions and make use of your whole body to do the 'talking'. Use a mirror (or an audience) to assess what movements are the most successful in conveying emotions, feelings, attitudes and reactions. A full length mirror is a necessity for beginners but bear in mind the mirror is a friend you will need to leave behind at performance time. A video camera, if available, is also an invaluable tool to utilize.

2. Start with basic mime actions. There are some fairly standard techniques that most mime artists begin with. These include manipulating imaginary objects (such as walls, balls, ropes, etc.), walking in place, climbing imaginary ladders, leaning, and so on.

• Imaginary Objects & Use of the Imagination:
  
  Using the imagination cannot be overemphasized in creating illusions. Most important is for a mime to truly believe the illusion is real. Naturally the more real the illusion is for the mime, the more realistic it will be for your audience.
  
  This can be accomplished through practice. Practice all illusions in this same manner.
  
  e.g. (in practicing a wall) Pretend the wall is real. See the wall in different colors. Feel the wall in different textures i.e. feel it rough, smooth, wet, dry, cold or hot.
  
  Use these same techniques while practicing ALL illusions. You will also find your body reacting naturally to the illusion if you are convinced it's real.
  Consider what you might do and how you would react if interacting with the real thing.
• Grab a rope. Pretend to have a rope dangling before you and attempt to climb it. Slide down and clamber back up for best effect. When you reach the top, wipe the perspiration off your brow. Climbing a rope is a very difficult illusion if done correctly. Imagine and feel your full body weight. If you are really climbing a rope, your muscles will stretch and strain. Your face will grimace in painful effort. Wiping sweat from your brow will be a natural reaction. If you have never climbed a real rope, do so with supervision in a padded gym. Make mental notes of your actions and reactions even though many illusions may not be done with the exact movements as used in reality, the mental attitude (a.k.a. imagination) should be the same as the real thing. (See first note below under "Warnings" and be sure to warm up before attempting this illusion.)
• A ladder. To show climbing a ladder, grab at imaginary ladder rungs going up in the air. Place the ball of one foot on the ground, as you would put it on a ladder rung. Pull down on the rungs (keep the hands moving together!) as you go up on your toes, and then drop back down with the opposite foot now "on a rung." Alternate feet and hands each time you "climb." Keep your focus upwards, as though you were looking at the place to which you are climbing. (If it's a tall ladder, look downwards occasionally for comic effect - tilt your head slowly and carefully, just enough to look downwards, and then look forward quickly, with an expression of alarm!) Make your legs do the same movements as if your feet were clambering up a real ladder.

Pretend to be in a box. If you are in an invisible box, you can press the air out in front of you with your hands, first your palm and then your fingers. Act as if you are trying to find a way out of this invisible box by identifying its corners and sides. Run one hand across the "edges" of your imaginary box, as you try to find the lid and your way out. If you want, you can eventually find the lid and flip it open dramatically with both arms, in a triumphant gesture.

The lean. Pretend to be leaning against a lamp post, wall or a counter. It might sound easy but takes quite a lot of strength and coordination to "lean" on nothing. The basic lean has two parts. Start with the feet about shoulder-width apart.

·  For the top part: Hold your arm slightly away from your body, with the elbow bent so that your forearm is parallel to the ground and your hand (wrist relaxed slightly) is near your torso. Now raise your shoulder as you move your chest towards your elbow (keeping the elbow at the same point in space!).

·  The bottom part: at the same time, bend your knee slightly, taking your weight onto the bent leg. The net effect should be that your elbow stays where it is, but it looks as though your weight has settled onto the imaginary place where your elbow rests. Make sure you only bend the leg under your raised arm. Keep your opposite leg perfectly straight as this adds to the illusion.

·  Watch in a mirror, or use a video camera to see how effective the technique is. It's sometimes most effective to do this technique casually, with very little exaggeration at all.

·  For a more active show of leaning, the act can also incorporate stumbling, sliding off and missing the leaned-on object altogether.

2. Take on the wind. Pretend that it is very windy and that you are having a hard time standing up in it. Let the wind buffet you to and fro. For added amusement, include a struggle with an umbrella that keeps turning inside out.

3. Mime eating. It can very amusing to watch a mime of eating. Pretend to be consuming a very sloppy hamburger or hot dog, with all the contents slopping down the front of your clothing. Accidentally squirt some ketchup towards your eye. Or try peeling a banana and then slipping over on the peel.

5. Walking in place One of the icons of mime is the stationary walk. It also one of the most physically demanding feats. There are two major versions, the simplest of which is the 'impulse march'.

• It is very important to begin with a good posture. You should hold your abdomen in fairly tightly as it will be prone to moving when you're not paying attention. Keep your shoulders up and back - don't slouch, your chest and neck should be erect as well - not puffed out.
• To begin, place your entire weight on the ball on one foot. This is your 'forward' foot. Bend the knee over the forward foot slightly as you do this. With your other foot (the 'trailing' foot) position the toes parallel to the toes of the forward foot. However, keep your trailing foot from touching the ground while maintaining the sole of the trailing foot parallel to the floor. Keep this leg perfectly straight.
• It is helpful here to explain the illusion. This walk reverses the pattern of actual walking. The 'trailing' foot in the mime walk does not support any weight, but itthe weight-bearing foot of a normal walk. This is why the leg must remain straight in the illusion - it appears to be bearing the weight. represents
• With your forward foot, slowly lower your heel to the ground and straighten the leg. As you do this, move your trailing foot backwards while keeping the sole of the foot parallel to the ground and the leg straight - you should feel an intense stretch along the back of your leg. Push the trailing leg as far back as you can while maintaining all of the above qualities, and your balance.
• Once the trailing foot is as far back as it can go, bring it back to parallel with your forward foot. Try to pick up the heel on your trailing foot first, like a natural step. Bend the your leg as you bring the trailing foot forward.
• Now touch down with the ball of your trailing foot. If you look at your feet, they are now in an exact reverse of their starting position. The 'forward' foot is now in the 'trailing' position and vise versa.
• The transition of weight between these feet is the most crucial aspect of the illusion! You must smoothly transfer weight from your former 'forward' foot to your new 'forward' foot. At the same time, you must lift the newly freed foot and begin trailing it behind you. This will take quite a bit of practice to master.
• With all of the activity in your feet, don't forget to move your upper body! Swing your arms so that the forward foot is always opposition to your forward hand. Also, inhale when you lift your trailing foot to come forward; exhale as you slide your trailing foot back.
• Now, repeat the process.
• Side Note: If you don't bring your trailing foot back to parallel with your forward foot, you can simply transfer your weight to it and begin moonwalking!

Master of Mime” Partha Pratim Majumder

partho protim mojumder

Profile

Partha is undoubtedly a forerunner in the field of mime in Bangladesh. He started as a musician and his keen sense of rhythm enabled him to let his limbs move and express his surroundings through gestures.

Initally Jogesh Dutta of Calcutta imparted some education in mime craft, but Partha's thirst was for world class artists under whom he could develop. He attended the school of Etienne Decroux, the founder of corporal mime and later he worked with world's greatest mime Marcel Marceau.

Partha's artistic excellence has unfolded during the past fifteen years on the illuminated stages of both at home and Europe and North America. His devotion and sensitivity uplift an ordinary theme to a sublime height.

Partha wrote and choreographed a mimodrama (Cauchemar), in a record time of two months, which was staged in Bangladesh in 1994. This was achieved with the collaboration of different group theatres and professional dancers from Dhaka. The mimodrama concerning child abuse was the first of its kind to be shown on South East Asian stages and its enormous success was acclaimed by the press and media.

Partha travels all over the world to teach the art of mime, organizes workshops with young people and create productions with the attendees.

Currently he is in the process of creating a new episode on the theme of environmental pollution.

Partha also teaches the art of mime to speech-impaired (dumb) people.

Career Development

• Partha was born into an artistic family in Bangladesh in 1954
• He trained in Jogesh Dutta's mime academy in Calcutta from 1966 to 1972
• In 1981 Partha moved to Paris to study mine with Etienne Decroux
• From 1982 to 1985 he studied at Marcel Marceau's mime school in Paris and was a member of his touring company; Partha is still based in Paris and still works regularly with Marceau
• Since the mid-1980s Partha has given solo and company performances throughout Europe and in the United States, Malaysia and Bangladesh
   

Professional Interests

• Partha spans the western and oriental mine traditions and seeks ways in which these can build on each other to create new forms of artistic expression which transcend cultural barriers
• Partha delights in conducting mime classes and workshops with fellow artists and students to promote the art of mime and share his expertise

Partha works frequently with deaf and dumb children, using mime to develop skills in self-expression and communication

Biography

Partha is undoubtedly a forerunner in the field of mime in Bangladesh. He started as a musician and his keen sense of rhythm enabled him to let his limbs move and express his surroundings through gestures.

Initally Jogesh Dutta of Calcutta imparted some education in mime craft, but Partha's thirst was for world class artists under whom he could develop. He attended the school of Etienne Decroux, the founder of corporal mime and later he worked with world's greatest mime Marcel Marceau.

Partha's artistic excellence has unfolded during the past fifteen years on the illuminated stages of both at home and Europe and North America. His devotion and sensitivity uplift an ordinary theme to a sublime height.

Partha wrote and choreographed a mimodrama, in a record time of two months, which was staged in Bangladesh in 1994. This was achieved with the collaboration of different group theatres and professional dancers from Dhaka. The mimodrama concerning child abuse was the first of its kind to be shown on South East Asian stages and its enormous success was acclaimed by the press and media.

Partha travels all over the world to teach the art of mime, organizes workshops with young people and create productions with the attendees.

Currently he is in the process of creating a new episode on the theme of environmental pollution.

Partha also teaches the art of mime to speech-impaired (dumb) people.

Commedia dell'arte

                        Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte (Italian pronunciation: ), the closest translation being "comedy of craft", (shortened from commedia dell'arte all'improviso, or "comedy through the art of improvisation") is a form of theatre that began in Italy in the mid-16th century characterized by masked "types", the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Here, "arte" does not refer to "art" as we currently consider the word, but rather as "gli artigiani" that is as made by artisans. In fact, the term "arte" was coined much later, for in the early period the term used in contemporary accounts is commedia all'improviso. This was to distinguish the form from commedia erudita or learned comedy that was written by academicians.

Italian theatre historians, such as Roberto Tessari and Ferdinando Taviani, believe commedia developed as a response to the political and economic crisis of the 16th century and, as a consequence, became the first entirely professional form of theatre.

The performers played on outside, temporary stages, and relied on various props (robbe) in place of extensive scenery. The better troupes were patronized by nobility, and during carnival period might be funded by the various towns or cities, in which they played. Extra funds were received by donations (essentially passing the hat) so anyone could view the performance free of charge. Key to the success of the commedia was the ability of the performers to travel to achieve fame and financial success. The most successful troupes performed before kings and nobility allowing individual actors, such as Isabella Andreini and Dionisio Martinelli, to become well-known.

The commedia's genesis may be related to carnival in Venice, where by 1570 the author/actor Andrea Calmo had created the character, Il Magnifico, the precursor to the vecchio (old man) Pantalone. In the Flaminio Scala scenari for example, Il Magnifico persists and is interchangeable with Pantalone, into the seventeenth century. While Calmo's characters (that also included the Spanish Capitano and a dottore type) were unmasked, there is no certainty at what point the characters donned the mask. However, the connection to carnival (the period between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday) would suggest that masking was a convention of carnival and was applied at some point. The tradition in Northern Italy is centered in Mantua, Florence, and Venice, where the major companies came under the aegis of the various dukes. Concomitantly, a Neapolitan tradition emerged in the south and featured the prominent stage figure, Pulcinella. Pulcinella has been long associated with Naples, and derived into various types elsewhere--the most famous as the puppet character, Punch (the eponymous Punch and Judy shows) in England.

History

Although Commedia dell'arte flourished in Italy during the Mannerist period, the roots date to the period of the Roman Empire, and descend from Greek theatre and from Etruscan festivals, which shared characteristics with the Commedia dell'arte of the later medieval period. Some historians draw links to the Atellan Farces of the Roman Empire which featured crude "types" wearing masks with grossly exaggerated features. More recent accounts establish links to the medieval jongleurs, and prototypes from medieval moralities, such as Hellequin (as the source of Harlequin, for example).  Paul C. Castagno's The Early Commedia dell'Arte (1550–1621): The ManneristContext explores the aesthetic and cultural links to mannerism and maniera across the arts.

The first records of commedia dell'arte performances come from Rome as early as 1551. Commedia dell'arte was performed outdoors in temporary venues by professional actors who were costumed and masked, as opposed to commedia erudita, which were written comedies, presented indoors by untrained and unmasked actors.This view may be somewhat romanticized since records describe the GelosiTasso's Aminta, for example, and much was done at court rather than in the street. By the mid-16th century, specific troupes of commedia performers began to coalesce, and by 1568 the Gelosi became a distinct company, with a name and the logo of two headed Janus. The Gelosi performed in Northern Italy and France where they received protection and patronage from the King of France. Despite fluctuations the Gelosi maintained stability for performances with the "usual ten": "two vecchi (old men), four innamorati (two male and two female lovers), two zanni, (a captain) and a servetta (serving maid)".It should be noted that commedia often performed inside in court theatres or halls, and also as some fixed theatres such as Teatro Baldrucca in Florence. Flaminio Scala, who had been a minor performer in the Gelosi published the scenarios of the commedia dell'arte around the turn of the century, really in an effort to legitimize the form—and ensure its legacy. These scenari are highly structured and built around the symmetry of the various types in duet: two zanni, vecchi, inamorate and inamorati, etc. performing

Commedia dell'arte is notable in that female roles were played by women, documented as early as the 1560s, In the 1570s, English theatre critics generally denigrated the troupes with their female actors with Ben Jonson referring to one female performer of the commedia as a "tumbling whore". By the end of the 1570s Italian prelates attempted to ban female performers, however, by the end of the century, actresses were standard on the Italian stage. The Italian scholar Ferdinando Taviani has collated a number of church documents opposing the advent of the actress as a kind of courtesan, whose scanty attire, and promiscuous lifestyle corrupted young men, or at least infused them with carnal desires. Taviani's term negativa poetica describes this and other practices offensive to the church, while giving us an idea of the phenomenon of the commedia dell'arte performance.

By the early 17th century, the "zanni" comedies were moving from pure improvisational street performances to specified and clearly delineated acts and characters. Three books written during the 17th century — Cecchini's Fruti della moderne commedia (1628); Niccolò Barbieri's La supplica (1634); and Perrucci's Dell'arte rapresentativa (1699) — "made firm recommendations concerning performing practice." Katritzky argues, that as a result, commedia was reduced to formulaic and stylized acting; as far as possible from the purity of the improvisational genesis a century earlier. In France, during the reign of Louis XIV, the Comédie-Italienne created a repertoire and delineated new masks and characters, while deleting some of the Italian precursors, such as Pantalone. French playwrights, particularly Molière, gleaned from the plots and masks in creating an indigenous treatment. Indeed, Molière shared the stage with the Comédie-Italienne at Petit-Bourbon, and some of his forms, e.g. the tirade, are derivative from the commedia (tirata).

Commedia dell'arte moved outside the city limits to the théâtre de la foire, or fair theatres, in the early 17th century as it evolved toward a more pantomimed style. With the dispatch of the Italian comedians from France in 1697, the form transmogrified in the 18th century as genres like comédie larmoyante gained in attraction in France, particularly through the plays of Marivaux. Marivaux softened the commedia considerably by bringing in true emotion to the stage. Harlequin achieved more prominence during this period.

It is possible that this kind of improvised acting was passed down the Italian generations until the 17th century, when it was revived as a professional theatrical technique. However, as currently used the term "Commedia dell'arte" was coined in the mid-18th century.

Curiously, commedia dell'arte was equally if not more popular in France, where it continued its popularity throughout the 17th century (until 1697), and it was in France, where commedia developed its established repertoire. Commedia evolved into various configurations across Europe, and each country accultrated the form to its liking. For example, pantomime which flourished in the 18th century, owes its genesis to the character types of the commedia, particularly Harlequin. The Punch and Judy puppet shows, popular to this day in England, owe their basis to the Pulcinella mask that emerged in Neapolitan versions of the form. In Italy, commedia masks and plots found their way into the opera buffa, and the plots of Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini.

During the Napoleonic occupation of Italy, commedia dell'arte was outlawed.

Companies

Compagnie, or companies, were troupes of actors, each of whom had a specific function or role. These compagnie traveled throughout Europe from the early period, beginning with the Soldati, then, the Ganassa, who traveled to Spain—never to be heard from again—and the famous troupes of the Golden Age (1580–1605): Gelosi, Confidenti, Accessi. These names which signified daring and enterprise were appropriated from the names of the academies—in a sense, to lend legitimacy. However, each troupe had its imprese (like a coat of arms) which symbolized its nature. The Gelosi for example, used the two-headed face of the roman god, Janus—to signify its comings and goings and relationship to the season of carnival—which took place in January. Janus also signified the duality of the actor, who is playing a character or mask, while still remaining oneself.

Magistrates and clergy were not always receptive to the traveling compagnie (companies), particularly during periods of plague, and because of their itinerant nature. The term vagabondi was used in reference to the comici, and remains a derogatory term to this day (vagabond). A troupe often consisted of ten performers of familiar masked and unmasked types, and included women.

Characters

Castagno posits that the aesthetic of exaggeration, distortion, anti-humanism (as in the masked types), and excessive borrowing as opposed to originality was typical of all the arts in the late cinquecento.Theatre historian Martin Green points to the extravagance of emotion during the period of Commedia's emergence as the reason for representational moods, or characters, that define the art. In Commedia each character embodies a mood: mockery, sadness, gaiety, confusion, and so forth.

According to 18th century London theatre critic Barretti, commedia dell'arte incorporates specific roles and characters that were "originally intended as a kind of characteristic representative of some particular Italian district or town." The character's persona included the specific dialect of the region or town represented. Additionally, each character has a singular costume and mask that is representative of the character's role.

Commedia dell'arte has three main stock roles: servant, master, and innamorati,(lovers) and the characters themselves are often referred to as "masks", which according to John Rudlin, cannot be separated from the character. In other words the characteristics of the character and the characteristics of the mask are the same. The servants or the clowns are referred to as the Zanni and include characters such as Arlecchino, Brighella and Pedrolino.Some of the better known commedia dell'arte characters are Arlecchino (also known as Harlequin), Pantalone, Dottore, Brighella, Il Capitano, Colombina, the Innamorati, Pedrolino, Pulcinella, Sandrone, Scaramuccia (also known as Scaramouche), La Signora, and Tartaglia.

In the 17th century as commedia became popular in France, the characters of Pierrot, Columbine and Harlequin were refined and became essentially Parisian, according to Green

Subjects

Conventional plot lines were written on themes of adultery, jealousy, old age and love. Many of the basic plot elements can be traced back to the Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence, some of which were themselves translations of lost Greek comedies of the 4th century BC. However, it is more probable that the comici used contemporary novella, or, traditional sources as well, and drew from current events and local news of the day. Not all scenari were comic, there were some mixed forms and even tragedies. Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is drawn from a popular scenario in the Scala collection, his Polonius ("Hamlet") is drawn from Pantalone, and his clowns bear homage to the zanni.

Comici performed written comedies at court. Song and dance were widely used, and a number of innamorata were skilled madrigalists, a song form that uses chromatics and close harmonies. Audiences came to see the performers, with plot lines becoming secondary to the performance. Among the great innamorate, Isabella Andreini, was perhaps the most widely known and a medallion dedicated to her reads: "eternal fame." Tristano Martinelli achieved international fame as the first of the great Arlecchinos, and was honored by the Medici and the Queen of France. Performers made use of well-rehearsed jokes and stock physical gags, known as lazzi and concetti, as well as on-the-spot improvised and interpolated episodes and routines, called burle (singular burla, Italian for joke), usually involving a practical joke.

Since the productions were improvised, dialogue and action could easily be changed to satirize local scandals, current events, or regional tastes, while still using old jokes and punch lines. Characters were identified by costumes, masks, and props, such as a type of baton known as a slapstick. These characters included the forebears of the modern clown, namely Harlequin (arlecchino) and Zanni.

The classic, traditional plot is that the innamorati are in love and wish to be married, but one elder (vecchio) or several elders (vecchi) are preventing this from happening, leading the lovers to ask one or more zanniinnamorati and forgiveness for any wrongdoings. There are countless variations on this story, as well as many that diverge wholly from the structure, such as a well-known story about Arlecchino becoming mysteriously pregnant, or the Punch and Judy scenario. (eccentric servants) for help. Typically the story ends happily, with the marriage of the

While generally personally unscripted, the performances often were based on scenarios that gave some semblance of plot to the largely improvised format. The Flaminio Scala scenarios, published in the early 17th century, are the most widely known collection and representative of its most esteemed compagnia, I Gelosi.

Marcel Marceau

                                              Biography for
                                        Marcel Marceau

Date of Birth

22 March 1923, Strasbourg, France

Date of Death

22 September 2007, Cahors, Lot, France

Birth Name

Marcel Mangel

Mini Biography

Marcel Marceau was the legendary mime, who survived the Nazi occupation, and saved many children in WWII. He was regarded for his peerless style pantomime, moving audiences without uttering a single word, and was known to the World as a "master of silence."

He was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, and was brought up in Strasbourg and Lille. There he was introduced to music and theatre by his father, Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher, who also sang baritone and was a supporter of arts and music. His mother, Anne Mangel (née Werzberg), was a native Alsatian, and the family was bilingual. At the age of 5, his mother took Marcel to a Charlie Chaplin's movie, and he was entranced and decided to become a mime. Young Marcel was also fond of art and literature, he studied English in addition to his French and German, and became trilingual.

At the beginning of the Second World War, he had to hide his Jewish origin and changed his name to Marceau, when his Jewish family was forced to flee their home. His father was deported to Auschwitz, where he was killed in 1944. Both Marceau and his brother, Alain, were in the French underground, helping children to escape to safety in neutral Switzerland. Then Marceau served as interpreter for the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle, acting as liaison officer with the allied armies.

Marcel Marceau gave his first big public performance to 3000 troops after liberation of Paris in August of 1944. After the war, in 1946, he enrolled as a student in Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris. There his teacher was Etienne Decroux, whose other apprentice Jean-Louis Barrault hired Marcel Marceau, and cast him in the role as Arlequin. His biggest inspirations were Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Marx Brothers. In 1947, blending the 19th century harlequin with the gestures of Chaplin and Keaton, Marceau created his most famous mime character, Bip, a white-faced clown with a tall, battered hat and a red flower. In 1949 he created his own company and toured around the world.

Marcel Marceau shone in a range of characters, from an innocent child, to a peevish waiter, to a lion tamer, to an old woman, and became acknowledged as one of the world's finest mimes. In just a couple of minutes, he could show a metamorphosis of an entire human life from birth to death. Through his alter ego, Bim, he played out the human comedy without uttering a word. His classic silent works such as The Cage, Walking Against the Wind, The Mask Maker, In The Park, and satires on artists, sculptors, matadors, has been described as works of genius. For many years Marceau's 'Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau', also known as 'Compagnie de Mimodrame', was the only company of pantomime in the world. Marceau played several silent film roles and only one with a speaking part, as himself, speaking the single word "Non" in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie (1976).

In 1959, Marcel Marceau established his own school in Paris, and later the Marceau Foundation to promote the art of pantomime in the United States. His latest performances in 2000-2001 received great acclaim. He was made "Officer de la Legion d'Honneur" (1978) and "Grand Officer de la Legion d'Honneur" (1998), and was awarded the National Order of Merit (1998). He won the Emmy Award for his work on television, and was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, the Academie des beaux-arts France and the Institut de France, and was declared "National treasure" in Japan. In 2002 he was UN Goodwill Ambassador at the international conference on aging in Madrid.

His "art of silence" filled a remarkable acting career that lasted over 60 years. He was an actor, director, teacher, interpreter, and public figure, and made extensive tours in countries on five continents. Outside of his mime profession, Marcel Marceau was a multilingual speaker and a great communicator, who surprised many with his flowing speeches in several languages. In his later years he was living on a farm at Cahors, near Toulouse, France. He continued his routine practice daily to keep himself in good form, never losing the agility that made him famous. He also continued coaching his numerous students.

Marcel Marceau passed away at his home in France, on September 23, 2007, like an Autumn leaf after the Autumn Equinox, and after Yom Kippur in Jewish calendar, having the Day of Atonement as his final curtain. His burial ceremony was accompanied by the Mozart's piano concerto No21, and the music of J.C. Bach. Marcel Marceau was laid to rest in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France.

He brought poetry to silence.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov

Spouse

Anne Sicco	(1975 - 22 September 2007) (his death) 2 children
Ella Jaroszewicz	(16 June 1966 - ?) (divorced)
Huguette Mallette	(? - 1958) (divorced) 2 children

Trade Mark

Performs mime in whiteface as his character "Bip"

Trivia

Born at 8:00am-UT

Had the only speaking part in Mel Brooks' film Silent Movie (1976).

One of the world's finest mime artists.

Spoke in an interview for the documentary Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003).

His father, Charles, perished in Auschwitz in 1944.

Notably talkative off-stage.

Likened his character, Bip, to a modern-day Don Quixote.

Studied at Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art, studying with the renowned mime Etienne Decroux.

In the early 1950s, he was virtually unknown in his native France (which has a strong mime tradition). Laurel & Hardy were doing a world tour and, while they were playing Paris, someone tipped them off that Marceau was doing incredible mime in an insignificant suburban theatre. They went to see him and, a few days later, instead of doing the second half of their regular show after the interval, Stan introduced Marceau and, more or less, scolded the audience for ignoring such a talent... and then Laurel & Hardy walked offstage and gave the second half of their show to Marceau.

Interred in Père Lachaisse Cemetery in Paris (2007).

His "Walking Against the Wind" routine inspired Michael Jackson's moonwalk.

New York City declared 18 March the Marcel Marceau Day (1999).

Held honorary doctorates from Ohio State University, Linfield College, Princenton University and Michigian University.

Born to Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher, and his wife Anne Werzberg, he grew up in Strasbourg until World War II.

Marcel Marceau's costumes and belongings have sold for a staggering $700,000 at an auction in Paris, France, almost double the amount anticipated. The auction sale included Marceau's famous top hat, sailor suit, paintings and art objects. Part of the money raised will pay off Marcel's debts left after his death. Many of the objects were acquired by the National Library and the ministry's own heritage fund, where they will be put on display in the National Library.

Great-grandfather of Vanessa Marcil.

Personal Quotes

Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug. That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another. - on the children killed in Auschwitz.

If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on. You have to keep working. - 2003 Associated Press interview.

I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello. - Associated Press interview.

Yes, I cried for him. - on his father's death in Auschwitz

The people who came back from the [concentration] camps were never able to talk about it. My name is Mangel. I am Jewish. Perhaps that, unconsciously, contributed towards my choice of silence. - on a reason for his interest in the wordless art.

Definition of Pantomime

 

 

 

 

What is pantomime?

No definition will please everyone but that said, pantomime is the art of using movement and facial expressions rather than primarily the spoken word to communicate. The word pantomime has been used to refer to both an individual as well as an actual production or performance. An individual can also be called a mime but the contention of some that pantomime can only refer to a production is contrary to both the historical and modern popular usage of the word.

In contrast to pantomime skills which evolved from dance and circus related acrobatics which is recognizable in the early silent films, there seems to be a deficiency of pantomime as an independent modern art form. Most pantomime is presently seen presented within other forms of theatre rather than as an art to itself. Many clowns use elements of pantomime rather than presenting themselves strictly as a mime.

In addition, one acting things out in a situation to communicate where one doesn't speak the local language might easily be described as "mimicking". Dance interpretation of music has also long been regarded by some as a form of pantomime. These are all example of using the pantomime's skill of silently communicating through body movements without actually being a mime.

History

The beginning

The Greek "pantomimus" which literally translates to "imitating all" was a highly regarded form of solo dancing often accompanied by music which encompassed both comedy and tragedy. It's popularity was also widespread amongst the Romans until the Christian church forbade it's public display. Some contended that this Roman dance form managed to survive through the middle-ages but this is often disputed due to a lack of evidence. Different forms of theater have tended to justify their legitimacy by claiming to be based on such older traditions which might suggest a motive to such questionable claims.

The Italian renaissance improvisation theater known as Commedia dell'arte ushered in a new form of pantomime during the 16. Hundreds which spread throughout Europe, England and the world but particularly established itself in Paris. Specific characters including Pagliaccio or Pedrolino (known as Pierrot in English) or Arlecchino (Harlequin) were the set stars of these productions.

The term pantomime is closely associated with the general ability to communicate beyond the barriers of language or class. With this in mind, many performing troups travelling from England performed throughout Europe from around the year 1600 without needing to learn the local languages. Many elements from the Commedia dell'arte were to be seen in their repertoire.

18th Century

By then a popular alternative to the royal ballet was a danced form of Comedia dell'arte which was known as a pantomime. Throughout Europe dance companies performed these musically rich pantomimes which tended towards multiple set and costume changes. In Paris, such pantomime shows were limited to the fairground theaters and were exclusively without spoken text due to fears of financial competition to the normal theater.

In the 18. hundreds such pantomimes served another function for the high society. After the death of the "dancing" king Louis XIV in 1715 they were used to justify the absolving of rules which limited the use of music in their performances by French royal customs. Loosening the rules of the high society performances which mandated narrow corsets for opera singers or certain poses or regulated lines from the tragic actors was seen as a new unlimited freedom, truth and naturalness which pantomimes helped to put in the dustbin of history. Writings from Jean-Baptiste Dubos (Réflexions critiques sur la poésie et la peinture, 1719) and Denis Diderot (De la poésie dramatique, 1758) to Johann Georg Sulzer (Allgemeine Theorie der Schönen Künste, 1771) give plenty of examples of such developments.

In his writing Ideas for a Mimic (1786) Johann Jacob Engel brought together many of the ideas of his times. One basic concept was that in contrast to manipulated spoken rhetoric, the art of silent gestures and mimicry expressed the true inner spirit of an individual. Such expressions were seen as genuine instead of artificial, bursting forth unaltered from the very soul of the actors. This theory was unseparable from the social and political environments of the time. The fairground theater pantomimes were quite popular, their authenticity highly valued despite their lowly origins - just like some modern forms of music (jazz) and dance (tango).

In England in 1688 the Glorious Revolution had brought many social freedoms to the theater which influenced the Continent and which were carried further by the French Revolution of 1789. The dance instructor John Weaver justified dance innovations in his writing History of the Mimes and Pantomimes (1728) based on their expressiveness. The French dancer and choreograph Jean George Noverre partially based his reform of the royal dance on Weaver's ideas. He distinguished dance on the stage from classical ballroom dancing by it's use of "natural movements" and promoted a new form of action-packed ballet. But his developments seem more based on the traditions set by the fairground pantomimes and visiting English actors like David Garrick rather than the theories of the time.

19th Century

The popular pantomimes of the 19. Hundreds were still seen as an oppositional form of entertainment to the royal ballet and were limited to theatres where such ballets were not presented. The English pantomimes were based on these dancing pantomimes and closely related to the circus world. One of the best known English pantomimes Joseph Grimaldi was a well known founder of early clowning. Grimaldi set each story to certain fixed characters. There is still an ongoing tradition with strict rules in England of such performances being presented at Christmas time. From the 1850's music halls perfected the commercial aspects of certain pantomime skills which were later to be seen in the silent film comedies.

"Living picture" was the name given to scenes posed for painters or photographers, cultivated by Henriette Hendel-Schütz which became known as another form of pantomime. A further source of influence on pantomime was the gymnastics of the early 19. Hundreds which contained much more theatrical elements than today. The modern pantomime Jacques Lecoq started out as a gymnast and Jean-Gaspard Deburau was an expert in the martial art of staff fighting. Deburau was really the creater of the modern stylish French mime. He developed the poetic, melancholy "Pierrot" figure and his performance in the film Children of Olympus (1945) from director Jean-Louis Barrault is an icon.

The soaring popularity of pantomime after the French Revolution was tied to the heavy censorship of the theater. Pantomime became associated with subtle criticism of politics or society without the risk of openly using inflammatory text or rhetoric.

The starring role of many a melodrama through the ages, for example The Dog of Aubry (1814) was done in pantomime. These principles of silent expression were incorporated into the opera by Portici in "The Mute" (1828). And many of the circus programs of the 19. Hundreds gave prominent roles to multi-talented mimes.

20th Century

The careers of Variety performers like Carl Godlewski showed that after 1900 the borders between pantomime, circus arcrobatics and dance were very fluid even at the highest levels. Modern pantomimes like Étienne Decroux (who was also to be seen in Children of the Olympia) showed influences not only of the Music halls and silent film techniques but also by attempts to reform the Ballet by François Delsarte, likewise by expressionist dance developments by Emil Jaques-Dalcroze and Rudolf von Laban. These forms of experimental movement theatre were presented at the Monte Verità a Swiss commune of vegetarian pacifistic artists and by the end of W.W. I had established a genre distinctly different than Ballet or ball dancing. Silent film stars like Buster Keaton and Charly Chaplin were examples of mime skills being taken from the theater, used in a new media (film) which in return had great counter influence on the theater.

In the 1930's Decroux founded the first pantomime school in Paris based on the ideal of "pure mime" independent from dance and acrobatics. Some of his better known students were Jean-Louis Barrault who incorporated his mime skills into his acting and Marcel Marceau who perfected and popularized the stereotype of the solo mime performance. Decroux's interpretation incorporated efforts by reformist influences in the theatre by Max Reinhardt, Bertolt Brecht and Meyerhold which reduced acting to clear bodily expressions and movements which were stylized rather than natural. New ideas for mimes were also taken from the martial arts.

The Austrian/Israeli pantomime and expert in body language Samy Molcho rejoined the modern pantomime skills once again with ballet as did the Swiss performer Dimitri with clowning, which itself had a new growth in the clown, fool and jester movement of the late 1970's and early 1980's. While Marceau mostly performed solo, Ladislav Fialka in Czechoslovakia, Henryk Tomaszewski in Poland and Jean Soubeyran in Germany were instrumental in dancing or acting troups.

The École Internationale de Théâtre from Jacques Lecoq in Paris and the Scuola Teatro Dimitri in Verscio, Switzerland are schools for the professional development of pantomime. Despite many efforts towards a "pure" pantomime the word today is very loosely used the skills are often incorporated into other forms of dance or performance art. The influence of pantomime can often be seen today in street performances or breakdancing. The "classical pantomime" as stereotyped by Decroux or Marceau seems at present to have lost much of it's popularity and many contemporary pantomimes struggle to find the opportunity to present their art in a pure form. Some might say that the idea of Marceau's L' Art du Silence has itself become nearly silenced.

Jean-Gaspard_Deburau