Introduction to pantomime
Mime y m:j u[ mime; Mime; Mime] a drama that expresses the plot only with actions and expressions without dialogue or singing. The art of pantomime is called a "wordless poet", which requires not only the foundation of drama performance and dance skills, but also high literary accomplishment. Some people who once dabbled in pantomime quit. Finally, Chen and others are still struggling in the pantomime circle. As an independent drama, pantomime has been stagnant and aging. Benchang You pointed out that the mistakes in pantomime are also closely related to the ideas of some actors today.
The origin of pantomime
In the 3rd century BC, there were pantomime performances in Rome. In Britain and France, the silent performances of ancient clowns are mostly performed before large-scale drama performances. Modern pantomime originated from French pantomime master De Bro (1796 ~ 1846), who created a character Pietro and created a series of pantomime works around him. Contemporary pantomime includes one-man show and collective pantomime, and most actors paint white faces when performing. China has already had pantomime sketches, but as an independent form of drama, it only appeared in the early 1980s and was borrowed from the West.
Mime has a long history. Although pantomime has its own tradition in Britain, its origin is international after all, and many of its storylines come from all over the world.
Mime master Philip:
The word "pantomime" comes from Greek, meaning "imitator". Obviously, its original meaning refers to the performer, not the drama itself. In fact, this kind of performance was performed in ancient China, Persia and Egypt. In Roman times, mime was the most popular.
With the decline of the Roman Empire, pantomime began to be sold. /kloc-In the 5th century, a new drama similar to pantomime began to appear in Italy. In these plays, people first saw a funny character (or clown) wearing a mask and colorful clothes, and soon this role spread from France to Britain-first as a mime, and then as a vocal actor on the British stage.
About a hundred years ago, people first used fairy tales as the storyline of pantomime. There was also a funny character in the play at that time. However, at that time, this kind of play was called "a clown-based play". By the end of19th century, performances became more complicated-stage scenery with new stage lighting and mechanical manipulation began to appear. At this time, more zaju actors also joined the ranks of pantomime performances. Today, pantomime is still changing and developing, and songs, jokes or characters in movies and TV series appear in many performances.
Mime language
Basically, the so-called pantomime is a combination of body posture and gestures. Although pantomime can be an imaginary, emotional and storytelling way of communication, the communication of pantomime will not go beyond the scope that words can convey. Mime is not conveyed through words, but through the body.
For example, if a person points to another person (meaning "you"), then waves to him (meaning "come here"), and then points to the floor in front of him (meaning "here"), you can certainly understand that he uses body language, and all the actions of this guy who performs "you come here" are literal. For him, he uses his body to convey information. In fact, all he needs in pantomime is the gesture of "coming", which is much more economical in terms of "you come here". If an actor wants to convey the message of "I love you" to an actress, he doesn't have to say these three words. He just needs to point to himself ("I"), to her heart or a heart type ("love"), and then to her ("you"). He looked at her with his eyes and conveyed his love with some indicative gestures, not through abstract written language. This is a pantomime.
So the language of pantomime must be global, so that everyone on earth can understand the story he wants to tell. If you say the word "I love you" in Finnish, not everyone will understand it. It will take some time to look it up in the dictionary. But if the word "love" is seen with eyes and conveyed by some body behaviors, it will be clear at a glance, because body language belongs to a global language.
pantomimist
Famous mime artists include C. Chaplin (England) and? Mr. Malsot (French), Mr. Moshau (Austrian), etc.
Current situation of China
Mime is a western drama style, which is very funny and has a long history. As we all know, the development of pantomime in Europe is more and more integrated with real life. The Spanish "tricycle" physical comedy "stool chair sofa", which landed in Shanghai twice, is a traditional and innovative pantomime, showing modern civilization in a humorous way.
Most viewers also classify pantomime as a comedy sketch, which is inaccurate. Mime is not a funny comedy sketch. Mime is not only a comedy, but also a tragedy and tragicomedy. Others think that pantomime is just a vulgar and superficial art, which greatly reduces the artistic value and status of pantomime.
Since 1980s, some playwrights have taken mime as an art form to express real life, and gradually formed a new drama form. The pantomime troupe composed of Hunan Opera Troupe has written and directed a combined pantomime "All Living Things", which has been staged for nearly 100 times in urban and rural areas of the province. 1986 participated in the opera and drama performances in the whole province and won the director award and actor award. 1987 1 went to hong kong to attend the first kwai tsing art festival, and the response was good. Later, he was invited to perform in Zhengzhou and Beijing. On June 12 of the same year, at the symposium held by the Chinese Dramatists Association, it was considered that the troupe had taken a unique road different from other pantomime in foreign countries and China, and established the "Hunan model of China pantomime". The dramas such as Under the Tree, Noise and Melody, and Sculptor performed by the crew also received high praise.
There is no pantomime major in art colleges in China, and there is no pantomime troupe in China. However, China became a mime artist overnight. He is a drama actor who graduated from the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama, and Wang Jingyu, who performed the pantomime sketch "Eat Chicken" at the first CCTV Spring Festival Evening in 1983. His performance has no lines, no training tone. He only uses his body movements to highlight the word "eat", so that people all over the country can enjoy the Spring Festival and have a reunion dinner with laughter. Because of this, Wang Jingyu is a household name all over the country, and everyone simply calls him "the chicken eater".
Wang Jingyu, specializing in "psychosomatic action" performance. Comedy is nervous, short, strong and dexterous, with a big mouth with unique personality, a pair of expressive big hands, quick thinking and easy observation of life.
1962, Wang Jingyu went to Guangdong to collect folk songs and eat canned chicken, which inspired him. Describe the process of a person eating chicken with vision, smell, taste and touch. The chicken he ate was delicious, but it was not boiled. Chicken tendon is stronger and more elastic than rubber band, so it is difficult to deal with. He tried his best to subdue it, punching and kicking, sweating, and eating chicken upside down, which was generous. 1963, at the New Year's Eve Gala of Beijing Hotel, Wang Jingyu premiered the pantomime sketch "Eat Chicken", and the audience burst into laughter. Premier Zhou and Vice Premier Chen Yi present shared the joy with the people and wept. In this regard, pantomime became an instant hit and spread all over Beijing. The playwright Benchang You immediately joined the pantomime. His humorous ballet and Wang Jingyu's tightrope walking are comparable to Qi Fei's. One imitates the movements of dancers and the other imitates the movements of acrobats, performing exaggerated humor, so that the audience can enjoy pantomime performed with limbs in laughter, which is not only a tool for imitating movements, but also a creator of body art. Later, he created and performed a large number of "people-oriented" pantomime sketches. For example, the absent-minded orchestra conductor portrayed in Wang Jingyu's Overture, the bluff and ignorant coach portrayed in Benchang You's Teaching and Practice, and so on. It became the "new darling" of the Beijing stage at that time and the "pistachio" loved by the audience. Peking Opera has influenced the whole country, which prompted the first Spring Festival Evening to invite Wang Jingyu to "eat chicken" again. This led to pantomime creation all over the country, and also produced pantomime performances in Shanghai, such as Wei Zongwan's "I am ugly, but I am gentle" and Xi 'an Deshun Wang's "White Ugliness" performance. China pantomime with different styles, the audience neither knows the names of the stage characters, nor the exact time and place of the plot, and even their age, nationality, appearance and characteristics can be ignored. This kind of pantomime with certain abstract stage roles has become the pantomime feature of China.
The pantomime craze in China ushered in the 1994 international pantomime festival. Performing artists from France, Britain, Germany, Russia, Poland, the United States, Canada and Israel, as well as pantomime troupes from China, Wang Jingyu, Benchang You, Wei Zongwan and Deshun Wang, gathered at the first international pantomime festival in Shanghai, China, for more than a week to exchange pantomime performances and hold special discussions. Thus, the friendship between the artists of Swordsman International has been enhanced, and the vast number of Chinese and foreign audiences who love pantomime art have also been fascinated. Since then, China pantomime has occupied its due position in the international arena.
1990, pantomime appeared on the stage of CCTV Spring Festival couplets, and the program was the pantomime sketch "Weightlifting" performed by Wang Jingyu.