achamila press- Ministry of Culture, Arts and AntiquitiesCultural Heritage Protection and Promotion Branch Prepared by: Ghadeer Sheikh Yassin Head of the secretarial and archiving branch
Which is what is known as “the art of suggestive movements”, that is, conveying information by gesture without the need to speak, only through body language. It is a type of ancient dramatic theatrical literature known as “pantomimie” and the origin of word (panto) is Greek and means fascination, while the word (mime) means imitation to become fascinated by imitation. This art has become one of the most important types of acting, and it is a difficult and complex arts. You must have high skills and agility with movements to apply body language and then employ it in the theater.
It was the silent expression presented to us by an artist or group of artists, in order to express their feelings or thoughts through their suggestive movements. It became an independent art in itself that presents a variety of theatrical performances.
– It was known to the Greeks who used to present it on the stage, so its popularity varied, which reached its maximum in (improvised comedy). In Italy in the sixteenth century, actors used masks, gestures, and nodding to convey their idea.
– It was also first known to the ancient Egyptians, where the palace acrobatics were performed and danced in front of the king to explain to him what happened on the battlefield through imitation and dance movements.
As for the Romans, the suggestive representation for them was for clowning, fun and entertainment and was known for its simplicity, so clowns and circus players showed their talents in the art of body language wearing funny clothes and masks in public squares, parties and birthdays, and in Greece the first one who express this art is the writer (Decimus Labros). And the writer (Lucian Samosa)
In France, at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the School of Silence was established, where its main language was silent expression, and the wourldly French actor (Jean Le Barry) and the actor (Marcel Marceau) emerged from it.Where their performances gained worldwide fame, which is still known until now. Even cinemas benefited from the strength of the performance of pantomime artists and used them in their first pantomime film. The most famous film artist participating in this art is the suggestive actor (Charlie Chaplin).
the art of pantomime also was interacted with the art of dance, to create rhythmic pantomime show , in which movements are performed to the melodies of music, so the art of pantomime entered the designs of many globally dancing, creating the so-called “pantomime ballet”.
Pantomimie among Contemporary Arabs:
Where the first Arab pantomime play was presented to us with high professionalism and integrated in Lebanon at the Fourth Damascus Festival for Theatrical Arts. The art of pantomime has spread in the Arab world and there are many pantomime performances and most famous actors was from Syria (Nada Al-Homsi) and also from Egypt in his artist performance ( Ahmed Nabil) and from Morocco (Abdul Haq Al-Zawali).
Many Arab directors also resorted to pantomime in order to enrich their directorial content, such as the Lebanese director (Yacoub Al-Shadrawi), who presented a beautiful pantomime scene in his play “A Rural Picnic”.
And the Tunisian director (Mohamed Idris) used the art of gesture in his play “Ismail Pasha”.
Many Arab writers have dedicated books that talk about pantomimie and the first one
Who wrote about this art is the writer Essam Mahfouz, and the writer Paul Shaul and Dr. Farouk Saad, who presented several mimetic theatrical books, the most bolder was the play Carmen mime.
In conclusion, we find that the expression of silent art has become one of the basic pillars of theatrical performances that cannot be dispensed with because of the aesthetic movements and performances it gives us.
Sources:
wikipedia
allttihad
qafilah