A new phenomenon took 19th-century Paris by storm. Jean-Gaspard Deburau (1796-1846) invented pantomime blanche, or whiteface mime, at his Theatre des Funambules in Paris. Since the “hypotheses” (or mimed dramas) of the ancient Greeks, no one had fused acrobatic expertise with real artistry and emotion. His “Pierrot” character was a whimsical loser.
Deburau’s tomb reads: “Here lies the man who said everything without ever speaking a word.” His life was celebrated by 20th-century mime artist Jean-Louis Barrault in the film “Les Enfants du Paradis” (1945). Barrault had studied with Etienne Ducroux, as had Marcel Marceau, today the world’s most famous mime artist and creator of the character “Bip”.
Contemporary artist Will Cleary, seen here, has received a grant from pioneering trainers Circus Space for his “sneaky peek at a playful and surreal world of clown, mime”.
www.geocities.com.Broadway5222history.html www.thecircusspace.co.uk www.marceau.org Victoria Neumark
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