h1

Corporeal Mime/Etienne Decroux

Etienne Decroux’s Corporeal Mime is a technique and a practice, an actor’s art that is easy to misunderstand, even by those who have seen and done a little of it. It is difficult to describe or explain or pin down in words, never mind trying to encapsulate it in a blog entry.

“According to Eugenio Barba, Corporeal Mime encompasses a ‘knowledge of the actor’s pre-expressive level, how to build up presence, and how to articulate the transformation of energy,’” [from Etienne Decroux, by Thomas Leabhart. Routledge, 2007, see below.]

At its most basic the technique is a way to divide up the body into parts, especially along the spine in the trunk, to isolate and understand each part’s possibility for articulation. Then, to learn to move these parts as an ensemble in space using gravity, resistance and counterweight together with an awareness of spatial geometry, rhythm and phrasing in time that allows the maximum possibilities for expression.

“Corporeal Mime movements begin in the deepest parts of the body …, and do not primarily aim at entertainment.” [Etienne Decroux, by Thomas Leabhart. Routledge, 2007.]

The aim of all this is to give an actor the ability to play the body like a keyboard and the means to create presence in performance.

Beyond this basic unit, Corporeal Mime dissolves, or should dissolve, like salt, into the work of each artist who uses it. Etienne Decroux was an innovator, reformer and constant explorer. His technique was always evolving even as he taught it and is evolving still through his students. The best way to know what it is is to see it or better still, to find an opportunity to do it.

Books about mime and Etienne Decroux: