Mime Basics: Acting Tips and Techniques

Learn how to perform a variety of basic mime moves such as picking a flower and walking against the wind in mime in this circus performance and modern dance video from our expert mime performer and director.

Series Summary

Very little is known about the lost civilization of Mime, in spite of the fact that its descendants continue to live among us, recreating their odd and ancient rituals for art patrons, carnival revelers and any passerby with some spare change. Until quite recently, the only thing we knew for sure about the citizens of Mime was that they are quite obviously related to the French. However, here at Expert Village we have finally uncovered the truth about Mimes.

Long, long ago, there existed a subterranean colony of actors and dancers who would venture to the earth's surface to entertain Greek and Roman aristocracy. Evidence of these forays can be found in the ruins of Pompeii, where casts made from entombed human remains revealed a man posed to drink a non-existent glass of water as well as a woman trying to open a door that was never there. Contemporary Mime apologists claim that these findings prove nothing, but their silent protests continue to be ignored. The unfortunate truth is that the Romans blamed the people of Mime for the volcanic eruption which destroyed Pompeii and proceeded to seal off the Mimeans in their underground city.

Without light, the Mimeans became very pale, and without possessions they were forced to interact with imaginary objects and play with imaginary toys. While these aspects of their seclusion corresponded to their stage makeup and routine, heretofore they had appeared and acted just like the citizens on the surface while not performing. But with their extended interment, their performance routine and their lives fused into one singular lifestyle. How did they survive without sun and without food? More than one Mime historian has suggested that they began to believe their own illusions, that an invisible leg of lamb filled their stomaches just as much as the real thing. Yet this seemingly inexhaustible food source must have dried up, for after centuries of hiding, they have returned to the earth's surface.

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Pat Fenda

Mime Basics: Acting Tips and Techniques

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