Henryk Tomaszewski (mime)
Encyclopedia
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
and theatre director, born in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. He settled in Cracow in 1945 to study theatre after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
during which he studied at Iwo Gall's Theatre Studio from 1945 to 1947 and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
under Feliks Parnell. Tomaszewski left Parnell's company in 1949 and resettled in Wrocław, where he taught ballet and began to develop his concepts in mime.
In 1956, Tomaszewski's Mime Studio had its premiere performance at the Polski Theatre in Wrocław. In 1958 the Mime Studio was renamed the Wroclaw Mime Theatre and was granted the status of State theatre in 1959. Tomaszewski ceased performing in the mid-1960s but continued to direct, train, and choreograph the ensemble and all productions.
Tomaszewski's conceptions of mime technique are modern much in the same way as Etienne 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...
's or 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...
's but developed along different lines owing to the differences in Polish and French theatre traditions. Little reference is made to 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...
traditions.
Two of Tomaszewski's thoughts concerning theatre:
"Always this contact or clash of these two poles - these two elements, which can be classically named as "Apollonian” and "Dionysian” – have been for me, even from the point of view of pure movement, a sort of leading motive of my stage works, the whole of my way of seeing and thinking” (1976).
"I see the theatre as twofold: as a dream, which is an activity of man in an unreachable sphere of his dreams, vision, intimacy, and as a circus with the whole of its corporeality, muscles and strength. When I introduce this dream on the stage, at this moment, I wonder where the truth of life is, where its dangers are and where its breakneck somersault is... or the opposite” (1976).
Notable students and members of his company include Stanisław Brzozowski, Ewa Czekalska, Leszek Czarnota, Danuta Kisiel-Drzewinska, Jerzy Kozlowski, Krystyna Marynowska, Stefan Niedzialkowski
Stefan Niedzialkowski
Stefan Niedziałkowski mime artist, author, director, teacher and choreographer.- Poland :In 1964, Stefan was invited by director Henryk Tomaszewski to become member of the Tomaszewski’s Wrocław Pantomime Theater...
, Janusz Pieczuro, Paweł Rouba,and Andrzej Szcuzewski.
Tomaszewski's early work is documented in English in "Tomaszewski's Mime Theatre" by Andrzej Hausbrandt (Poland: Interpress, 1975).