Mime and movement

Mime is one of the oldest forms of theatre. The word mime comes from the word Pantomimus, which was the name of a dancer who was popular in Imperial Rome. The origin of Pantomime dates back to the ancient Greece. In the beginning, a pantomime performer was called mummer in English. Mummer plays were derived from pantomime, and later dumbshows evolved in medieval Europe. Elizabethan Dumb Show, for example, consists of silent enactment and many Elizabethan playwrights used mimed sections within or around the acts. Mime helped to express the plays’ concept by visual representation.

Pantomime came to England in the 18th century from France as Italian Mimic Scenes and from the Italian commedia dell’arte. The English developed their form of mime based on fairy tales, children’s plays and songs. During the 20th century, there were a lot of creative artists who developed the mime that are popular in vaudeville, music halls and circus. In the second half of the 20th century, it stayed popular in concert halls, streets, circuses and the television. Today, using of imaginary props and sets has become popular among the mimes. The mime these days are purely silent art based solely through gesture, movement and expression. These days many dancers like Rudolf Laban incorporate mime in their dance work. We can also see its influence in ballet.
Other forms of theatre that have been influenced by mime are Indian kathakali, Native American performance, african festivals, commedia dell’arte, clown traditions and Balinese Masked comedies. Mime was highly popular in movies, especially in the olden days because of the restrictions of early motion pictures with minimal dialogue. The movie actors learnt the craft of mime in the theatre and brought it to movies. Charles Chaplin is the best documented mime in the history. There are different forms of mimes: illusionary mime, mimodramas and statuary mime.