| Mime is the most ancient performing Art
in the world and, still today, attracts people in a very
deep, intuitive way. Why? In its portrayal of emotion,
thought and experience through the body, mime transcends
cultural barriers because it is based on expression and
not on appearance. Mime is a spontaneous language.
History
Historically, mime has passed through many different
forms, from Primitive Dance to Greek and Roman Pantomime,
from Commedia del Arte to the tradition of Debureau,
from Asian Theatre to the Russian and Polish Schools
of Mime, from the Music hall and Vaudeville to the Cinema...
Over centuries, in both the west and east, many artists
and masters contributed to the evolution of this art
form. The art of mime is a multi-faceted world, at times
totally silent and at others welcoming the use of spoken
text and music.
Etienne Decroux
In the 20th century, Etienne Decroux (1898-1991), student
of Jaques Copeau, actor with Charles Dullin, Louis Jouvet,
Gaston Baty, Antonin Artaud, Marcel Carne...) known
as the “Father of Modern Mime and one of the great
luminaries of the theatre world” (Sunday Times),
gave Mime a true autonomy with a specific vocabulary,
Repertoire and philosophy. He invented the most modern
form of mime, “Dramatic Corporeal Mime”,
an innovative method and precise technique focusing
on the vital importance of the body and physical action
in theatre.
To many theatre historians, Etienne Decroux belongs
to that family of Director/Pedagogues such as Gordon
Craig and his theories of the super marionnette, the
biomechanics of Meyerhold, Stanislavsky’s actor
as the master of physical action, Chekov’s psychological
gesture, Grotowski’s laboratory and the visions
of Artaud.
The difference
The difference is that Etienne Decroux is the only one
to affirm that corporeal expression is not only the
base of theatre, but also, more importantly, a new,
independant, theatrical art form. “Mime has better
things to do than complete another art.”(E.D.)
He went further then exploring exercices for actors
by creating a Repertoire of physical theatre pieces
which stand apart from any adaptations of written plays
or literary texts. “The theatre will only
be worthy of it’s name when the one who acts breaks
free from the one who writes. First one must improvise
without even knowing on what. Then, one must find a
theme, then a second and then a third. In other words,
one must act in order to think. By putting a logical
order to ideas encountered through movement, a piece
will emerge.” (E.D.) This Repertoire is alive
and evolving today. It is being taught and performed
by a new generation of performing artists inspired by
Decroux’s adage, “making visible the invisible.“
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