Pantomime The art of acting without words Basic

Pantomime The art of acting without words

Basic Pantomime Movement • Non-verbal communication – Communicating without words – Much of our daily life • Physical coordination and poise are more a matter of training, not heredity. • Actors must develop a talent for moving the body as a whole. – Top of the head to tip of toes: Be expressive! • Your body is your tool for expressing a character’s personality.

Basic Pantomime Movement • Behind bodily poise and skill in action is relaxation. • Relaxation is a matter of inner composure and mental awareness as well as physical flexibility. • Posture is fundamental to your health and personal appearance. • Practice both relaxation and proper posture.

Basic Pantomime Movement • Walking on stage requires careful observation. • Sitting on stage can be problematic for new actors. • Crossing is to move from one place on stage to another. – Lead with foot farthest from audience for entrances.

Basic Pantomime Movement • Turns are normally all made to the front or audience. – Rotate on the balls of the feet • Falling requires practice in safety. • Gestures are the movement of any part of the body to help express an idea or an emotion. – Facial and hand/arm

Principles of Pantomime • The techniques of pantomime are based on what human beings do physically in response to emotional stimulation, other people and the objects around them.

Principles of Pantomime • Basic Principles of Body Language – Your chest is the key to all bodily action. – Your wrists lead most hand gestures. – Move your elbows away from your body when making arm and hand gestures. – Do not gesture above your head or below your waist. – Opposite action emphasizes physical movement. • Pulling arm back for a punch emphasizes the punch.

Principles of Pantomime • Basic Principles of Body Language – Arms and hands should move in curves, not straight lines, unless deliberate. – Use your upstage arm. – All actions must be definite in concept and execution and all movements must be clearly motivated.

Principles of Pantomime • Basic Principles of Body Language – Positive Emotions – Negative Emotions – Facial Expressions • Eyes, eyebrows, mouth • Usually precedes other physical actions – Other thoughts • Some exaggeration of movement is essential. • Always keep the audience in mind and direct action towards them.

Principles of Pantomime • Characterization – Emotion affects your body in various ways. – Practice feeling the emotion first. – Then let your face and body respond. – It requires two mental processes: • Imitation • Imagination – Draw on your observations to create characters. – Create a memory bank from which you can pull out the necessary emotions for a character.

Individual Pantomimes • Pantomime and Objects – You must portray size, weight, resistance, texture, placement and condition of the object. – Make it evident to your audience. – Consider the object’s height, length and width. – All objects have different shape. – Every object has weight. – All objects have a quality called resistance.

Individual Pantomimes • Pantomime and Objects – The firmness or solidity of an object. – The surfaces of the objects have definite textures. – Kinesthesis is helpful in placing objects in space. – Kinesthesis is a neuromuscular awareness of how the body feels in a particular physical position. • Relate placement to how things are placed in regards to your body. • Eye level, shoulder height, tiptoe height, etc.

Group Pantomimes