Corporeal mime
Encyclopedia
One subgroup of physical theater is corporeal mime. Its objective is to place drama inside the moving human body, rather than to substitute gesture for speech as in pantomime
. In this medium, the mime must apply to physical movement those principles that are at the heart of drama: pause, hesitation, weight, resistance and surprise. Corporeal mime accentuates the vital importance of the body and physical action on stage.
It was developed primarily by Étienne Decroux
, who was heavily influenced by his training with Jacques Copeau
at the Ecole du Vieux-Colombier. He created this method and technique for creative performers wishing to transform their ideas into a physical reality, in order to devise a new style of theater "making visible the invisible," as Decroux put it.
The objectives of corporeal mime are to enable the actor to become more autonomous in creating metaphor-based physical theater pieces, which may include text, but are not based on text, i.e., to give the actor greater access to physical metaphors in work in traditional plays, and to increase the actor's strength, agility, flexibility and imaginative powers.
While Decroux’s movement style was quite different from the commedia dell'arte
from which 19th century pantomime took as its model, Decroux was influenced by this classical art form. Decroux worked extensively with Teatro Piccolo in Milan
, training actors and choreographing Arlecchino an adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters directed by Giorgio Strehler
. Concidentally, Jacques Lecoq
, another famous mime teacher worked as a movement teacher at Piccolo Teatro until he was succeeded by Decroux.
Unlike classical pantomime, corporeal mime was also no longer an anecdotal art that used conventional gestures to create illusions of objects or persons.
Corporeal mimes seek to express abstract and universal ideas and emotions through codified movements of the entire body (but most especially the trunk--the face and hands are confined to a secondary role in this movement form) Some corporeal mimes write their own texts, as did the Greek mime-authors, integrating the mime-actor's art with the author's. They also include props, costumes, masks, lighting effects and music. Because it contains movement expression along with other elements, it is often loosely alluded to as physical or movement theater.
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. In this medium, the mime must apply to physical movement those principles that are at the heart of drama: pause, hesitation, weight, resistance and surprise. Corporeal mime accentuates the vital importance of the body and physical action on stage.
It was developed primarily by Étienne Decroux
Étienne Decroux
Étienne Decroux studied at Jacques Copeau's Ecole du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsession–Corporeal Mime...
, who was heavily influenced by his training with Jacques Copeau
Jacques Copeau
Jacques Copeau was an influential French theatre director, producer, actor, and dramatist. Before he founded his famous Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris, he wrote theater reviews for several Parisian journals, worked at the Georges Petit Gallery where he organized exhibits of artists' works...
at the Ecole du Vieux-Colombier. He created this method and technique for creative performers wishing to transform their ideas into a physical reality, in order to devise a new style of theater "making visible the invisible," as Decroux put it.
The objectives of corporeal mime are to enable the actor to become more autonomous in creating metaphor-based physical theater pieces, which may include text, but are not based on text, i.e., to give the actor greater access to physical metaphors in work in traditional plays, and to increase the actor's strength, agility, flexibility and imaginative powers.
While Decroux’s movement style was quite different from the commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
from which 19th century pantomime took as its model, Decroux was influenced by this classical art form. Decroux worked extensively with Teatro Piccolo in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, training actors and choreographing Arlecchino an adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters directed by Giorgio Strehler
Giorgio Strehler
Giorgio Strehler was an Italian opera and theatre director.-Biography:Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste to an Austrian father and a Franco-Slovene mother; he grew up speaking Italian but spoke French well and his German was passable. He became suddenly fatherless at the age of three, his...
. Concidentally, Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Pierre Lecoq born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in...
, another famous mime teacher worked as a movement teacher at Piccolo Teatro until he was succeeded by Decroux.
Unlike classical pantomime, corporeal mime was also no longer an anecdotal art that used conventional gestures to create illusions of objects or persons.
Corporeal mimes seek to express abstract and universal ideas and emotions through codified movements of the entire body (but most especially the trunk--the face and hands are confined to a secondary role in this movement form) Some corporeal mimes write their own texts, as did the Greek mime-authors, integrating the mime-actor's art with the author's. They also include props, costumes, masks, lighting effects and music. Because it contains movement expression along with other elements, it is often loosely alluded to as physical or movement theater.
External links
- International School of Corporeal Mime in London
- International Corporal Mime School in Paris, France - Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique - Atelier de Belleville, Paris, France
- Pas de Dieux company
- The World of mime theatre
- International Corporeal Mime School in Barcelona - Centre for training and creation in corporeal mime and physical theatre MOVEO
- Pontine Theatre in Portsmouth NH USA
- Tooba Physical Theatre Centre in Vancouver, Canada
- International Physical Theater Company in Paris
- Mime, Clown and Physical Theater School in Chicago USA
- Mime School, Amsterdam, Netherlands