Mimes Jean and Brigitte Soubeyran

A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving the acting out of a story by a mime artist through body motions, without use of speech. This article is about Performance art For other uses see Performance (disambiguation Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of Sounds used in Spoken language. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer. Miming is to be distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a seamless character in a film or sketch. Silent comedy refers to a style of acting related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring Comedy into the medium of film in the Silent film era (1900s&ndash1920s

History

The performance of pantomime originates at its earliest in ancient Greece; the name is taken from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus, although performances were not necessarily silent. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In Medieval Europe, early forms of mime such as mummer plays and later dumbshows evolved. Dumbshow also dumb show or dumb-show is a traditional term for pantomime in drama actions presented by actors onstage without spoken dialogue In early nineteenth century Paris, Jean-Gaspard Deburau solidified the many attributes that we have come to know in modern times — the silent figure in whiteface. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Jean-Gaspard Deburau (also Debureau (born Jan Kašpar Dvořák on July 31, 1796 - June 17, 1846) was a Bohemian - French

Marcel Marceau was perhaps the most well-known modern mime. Marcel Marceau (born Marcel Mangel) ( 22 March 1923 &ndash 22 September 2007) was a well-known French Mime artist

In film

Prior to the work of Etienne Decroux there was no major treatise on the art of mime, and so any recreation of mime as performed prior to the twentieth century is largely conjecture, based on interpretation of diverse sources. Étienne Decroux ( July 19, 1898 in Paris, France - March 12, 1991 However, the twentieth century also brought a new medium into widespread usage: the motion picture. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press"

The restrictions of early motion picture technology meant that stories had to be told with minimal dialogue which was largely restricted to intertitles. In Motion pictures an intertitle (also known as a title card) is a piece of filmed printed text edited into the midst of (i This often demanded a highly stylized form of physical acting largely derived from the stage. Thus, mime played an important role in films prior to advent of talkies (films with sound or speech). A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. The mimetic style of film acting was used to great effect in German Expressionism film. German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin

Silent film comedians like Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton learned the craft of mime in the theatre but through film had a profound influence on mimes who work in live theatre even decades after their death. Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr ( April 20, 1893 &ndash March 8, 1971) was an American Film actor and producer Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton ( October 4 1895 &ndash February 1 1966) was an Academy Award -winning American Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Indeed, Chaplin may be the best documented mime in history.

The famous French comedian, writer and director Jacques Tati achieved his initial popularity working as a mime, and indeed his later films had only minimal dialogue, relying instead on many subtle expertly choreographed visual gags. Jacques Tati (October 9 &ndashNovember 5) was a noted French comedic Filmmaker. Tati, like Chaplin before him, would mime out the movements of every single character in his films and ask his actors to repeat them.

Another French actor who began his career as a mime was Jean-Louis Barrault. Jean-Louis Barrault ( September 8, 1910 – January 22 1994 in Le Vésinet) was a French Actor, director In the film Les Enfants du Paradis he portrayed the famous 19th century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau. Les Enfants du Paradis (released as Children of Paradise in North America, but more correctly translated as Children of the Gods Jean-Gaspard Deburau (also Debureau (born Jan Kašpar Dvořák on July 31, 1796 - June 17, 1846) was a Bohemian - French

In non-Western theatre traditions

While most of this article has treated mime as a constellation of related and historically linked Western theatre genres and performance techniques, analogous performances are evident in the theatrical traditions of other civilizations. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings

Classical Indian musical theatre, although often erroneously labeled a "dance," is a group of theatrical forms in which the performer presents a narrative via stylized gesture, an array of hand positions, and mime illusions to play different characters, actions, and landscapes. Classical Indian musical theatre is a sacred art of the Hindu temple culture Recitation, music, and even percussive footwork sometimes accompany the performance. The Natya Shastra, an ancient treatise on theatre by Bharata Muni, mentions silent performance, or mukhabinaya. The Nātya Shastra ( Sanskrit: Nātyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र is an ancient Indian treatise on the Performing arts Bharata was an ancient Indian Musicologist who authored the Natya Shastra, a Theoretical Treatise on ancient

Notable mime artists or movement theatre artists

A Mime artist on the Ponte Sant'Angelo

• Alejandro Jodorowsky
• Achille Zavatta
• Adrian Pecknold
• Bill Bowers
• Bill Irwin
• Blue Man Group
• Buster Keaton
• Carlos Martínez
• Charles Chaplin
• Daniel Stein
• Dario Fo
• Ennio Marchetto
• Etienne Decroux
• Gene Sheldon
• George L. Fox
• Harpo Marx (The Marx Brothers)
• Henryk Tomaszewski
• Jacques Lecoq
• Jacques Tati
• Janet Carafa
• Jean-Gaspard Debureau
• Jean-Louis Barrault
• Jean-Luc Picard USS Enterprise
• Jean-Jacques Menais
• Ladislav Fialka
• Lenka Pichlíková – Burke
• Lon Chaney
• Marcel Marceau
• Mummenschanz
• Oleg Popov
• Pablo Zibes
• Pan Tau
• Samuel Avital
• Samy Molcho
• Shields And Yarnell
• Stan Laurel
• Teller (Penn and Teller)
• Thomas Leabhart
• Tik and Tok
• Tony Montanaro
• Wolfe Bowart

See also

• Corporeal mime
• Dumbshow
• Floating (dance)
• Liquid dancing
• Mummers Play
• Popping (dance)
• Physical theatre

Educational

• Naropa University Master of Arts Lecoq Actor Based Theater

External links

• The world of mime theatre International mime theatre information, including a library, resources, performer contacts, and events calendar
• International mime and physical theatre centre, researches, creation, training.