Pantomime is a type of stage art known since ancient times and always popular, the main means of expression of which are the artist’s facial expressions and plasticity. Elements of pantomime are often found in folk dances, are common in modern acting and are widely used in training young artists in the art of acting on stage.
“Pantomime is the poetry of silence.” Joseph Michael Kreutzer.
The tasks facing a mime actor are, in essence, indistinguishable from the tasks of a dramatic actor. This:
- Creating a bright stage image.
- Continuous action in the fight against proposed circumstances.
- Emotional expressiveness and recognition.
The main difference is that the mime does not use speech, the absence of which is compensated by a variety of non-verbal expressive means - plasticity, facial expressions, and gestures.
Despite the grotesque and exaggerated nature of the gestural, facial and plastic techniques used in pantomime, they all come from life, from human emotional reactions and their physical expressions. That is why pantomime lessons are taught not only at the Faculty of Theater Arts, but also in areas not related to stage practice: from lessons in seducing girls to methods of investigation and diplomatic negotiations.
At the Benefis theater studio, great attention is paid to the art of pantomime. It is taught to both adults and children. Our teachers know that pantomime is a great way to master stage movement and plastic techniques. Our students explore the capabilities of their body and learn to convey their thoughts and emotions through gestures. The art of pantomime relieves psychological tension, develops reaction and balance, and increases joint mobility. This type of physical activity is very beneficial for both children and adults.
Choose the most suitable course for yourself. We conduct classes for adults and children in the center of Moscow.
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Pantomime for children
Any modern children's pantomime theater in Moscow or theater group begins training little artists with pantomime. Most often, kids learn to pretend to be animals and play charades, when one child shows a certain scene, and the rest try to guess the word. The benefits of such exercises for child development are enormous, including:
- development of imagination
- developing the ability to correctly express emotions
- liberation and strengthening of self-esteem
- taste for creativity and creative thinking
- broadening your horizons and gaining valuable emotional experience
- development of communication skills and interaction with other children.
The pantomime game for children is suitable for any age and is recommended for home activities. This is a fun, exciting and exciting way to spend time usefully, which can replace your children's mindless sitting in front of a computer or TV screen. You can play comic pantomime games together or in a large group of children, at birthdays, Christmas trees, school matinees, or just every day in your free time.
Children's tasks
Funny tasks for pantomime can be of varying complexity, depending on the age of the child. For the youngest children (up to 4 years old), the option of simply repeating after adults is suitable. Children love to imitate their mothers and fathers, showing how they do the cleaning, prepare dinner, get ready for work, and so on. This is exactly what you should do with children, gradually complicating the tasks. You can invite children to depict various domestic and wild animals, inanimate objects (for example, transport), representatives of professions (for example, policeman, fireman, doctor), etc.
Choose games and competitions based on your child’s interests! The most important thing is to arouse his interest and taste for creativity.
Children 4–6 years old can quite use their imagination and come up with ideas for pantomime on their own; you only need to offer them simple topics. The child learns to remember what he usually does in different situations and reproduce small scenes from his own life.
Examples of topics:
- Seasons,
- kindergarten,
- in the courtyard.
Pantomime for primary school children may include tasks for expressing feelings and experiences. The experiences should be simple and familiar to the student, for example, fear, joy, grief, surprise, etc.
Examples of tasks:
- dad brought a new toy;
- It is your birthday;
- a dog is running towards you;
- you got a D (A).
It is best to work with teenagers in a group, because the first thing that arouses interest in a teenager is communication with peers. Fairy tales, role-playing pantomimes for company, charades and similar games are perfect. It’s better to think of complex words for pantomime, which require imagination and a search for non-standard approaches.
These may be interesting animals:
- chameleon,
- ladybug.
Popular TV shows:
- "Fashionable sentence"
- "House 2",
- "A big difference".
Stars:
- Sergey Zverev,
- Timati,
- Boris Moiseev,
- Ksenia Sobchak.
Teenagers appreciate humor, so it is better to come up with funny words for pantomime. When making jokes about celebrities or famous TV shows, stick to the ones that lend themselves best to parody.
Fairy tale script without words for children
Staging a full-fledged fairy tale performance without words can be a wonderful pastime for your child and his friends on the occasion of a holiday or just in his free time. To do this, you do not need a special adapted script for a pantomime fairy tale for children without words; you can choose any fairy tale with roles and adapt it for production. Here's how it's done:
- Search for a fairy tale. When choosing a fairy tale, read the text carefully; it should contain as little “water” as possible and as much action as possible. You can check this very easily: as you read the lines, try to imagine how you express their essence without words, with the help of gestures and facial expressions. It turns out? This means that this is a good text, feel free to take it to work.
- Distribution of roles and preparation. Discuss the fairy tale with the children, invite them to choose their own roles, tell the plot of the fairy tale in detail, but in your own words.
- Conditional location and mise-en-scène. Agree with the little artists on how you will equip the playground, what zones you will divide into in accordance with the requirements of the fairy tale (palace, tower, cave, dark forest, etc.). Each hero must understand where he is supposed to be and what to do. Of course, children will not be able to remember everything, but do not worry about this, because you have the role of the leader of the fairy tale - the only person who can and should speak. You will direct all the action and will be able to help the actors.
- When the preparatory work is completed, the performance can open. You, as the presenter, announce the characters' exits and read their text, and child actors translate this text into sign language. It looks something like this:
Presenter: “I am King Pea, the king of the distant kingdom!”
The child proudly beats his chest, adjusts his imaginary crown and shows with his hand how wide his domain is.
Opera "The Snow Maiden"
Date: November 10
Time: 18:00–19:45
Place: Moscow New Opera Theater, Karetny Ryad street, building 3, building 2
The story of the beautiful Snow Maiden unfolds against the backdrop of Maslenitsa - a short boundary between winter and spring, eternal peace and eternal love. She bursts into the lives of fairy-tale people and changes a lot. In this opera, the mythical is intertwined with the earthly, and the earthly is elevated to the mythical.
Pantomime for adults
Pantomime is not only a set of educational exercises for children, but also a way to diversify any adult party. The game “Crocodile” is not inferior in popularity even to “Mafia”, because it perfectly liberates the company and lifts the mood. In addition to leisure time with friends, “Crocodile” can be used as training for employees, since valuable skills are developed during the game:
- sense of team, cohesion;
- ability and desire to interact with each other;
- intelligence and logic;
- imagination and creative approach to problem solving.
No matter how far two people are from each other, during the game they become allies, acquire common interests and have a pleasant time together. Barriers and distances disappear by themselves. It is much easier for people to communicate after such practices, so the pantomime fairy tale for corporate parties in roles is widely used to create a healthy and positive atmosphere within the team.
Rules of the game "Crocodile":
- The player who shows the hidden word is prohibited from speaking, pronouncing the word with his lips or using any sounds.
- It is forbidden to show the word by letter.
- It is allowed to show each word separately if a phrase or phrase is guessed.
- Spectators can ask questions, and the acting player can answer them only through pantomime.
Example words
Difficult:
- hydroelectric power station,
- magnitude,
- historical materialism,
- natural selection,
- binomial theorem.
Funny:
- polite deer,
- elusive Joe,
- delirium tremens,
- childbirth,
- enema,
- horse in a coat,
- cheerful drug addict,
- homeless optimist.
Scene:
- desert Island,
- spaceship,
- Submarine,
- North Pole,
- Ocean floor.
Circumstances:
- salary was delayed
- got married
- divorced
- quit,
- won the lottery
- drank too much
- underdrank.
Characters and heroes:
- D'Artagnan,
- Winnie the Pooh,
- Headless horseman,
- Master Yoda,
- Kenny from South Park
- Bender from Futurama.
Musical "Flint"
Date: November 11
Time: 18:00–20:00
Place: “Theatrium on Serpukhovka”, Pavlovskaya Street, building 6
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "Flint" in the "Theatrium on Serpukhovka" turned into a musical. The love story of a simple soldier for a spoiled and wayward princess looks modern - with fashionable choreography, stunt fights and spectacular scenery.
The rapidly developing events are accompanied by live orchestral music. Spectators will be treated to an unusual mixture of jazz, trip-hop, dub, afrobeat, ethno, ambient and other modern musical styles.
Musical "Mowgli"
Date: November 12
Time: 12:00–14:00
Place: Moscow State Academic Operetta Theater, Bolshaya Dmitrovka street, building 6
The law of the jungle is cruel, where the weak are prey for the strong. The tiger Sherkhan and the jackal Tabaqui are sure of this. The law of the jungle is fair, because “you and I are of the same blood, you and I.” This is what the pack leader Akela, the she-wolf Raksha, the panther Bagheera, and the bear Baloo, who saved and raised Mowgli, think so.
In the operetta theater, guests will enjoy a fireworks display of music and bright colors, acrobatics and dances. In the spotlight, the mysterious jungle and its inhabitants - the heroes of Rudyard Kipling's most famous fairy tale - will come to life.
Performance “My phone rang”
Date: November 13
Time: 11:00–11:45, 13:30–14:15
Place: Moscow Children's Shadow Theater, Izmailovsky Boulevard, 60/10
The play “My Phone Rang,” based on the famous fairy tale by Korney Chukovsky, perfectly combines buffoonery, pantomime and music. From the short plots of the poem, funny stories of its characters are born - crocodiles, pigs, bears, gazelles and others. A surprise for the audience will be the images of the main characters of the production: the writer himself and the telephone.
Performance "Aladdin's Magic Lamp"
Date: November 13
Time: 12:00–13:45
Place: Moscow International House of Music, Kosmodamianskaya embankment, building 52
The fairy tale is based on the story of the potter Aladdin, who fell in love with the beautiful princess Budur and, with the help of a magic lamp, defeated the evil sorcerer Jafar. Spectators can expect a quick change of action, colorful characters, musical numbers and elegant decorations made of oriental fabrics. And the highlight of the program will be a genie, whose appearance can only be explained by magic.
Performance "Blue Bird"
Date: November 12
Time: 12:00–14:15
Place: Moscow Art Academic Theater, Tverskoy Boulevard, building 22
Incredible miracles happen on stage: milk, bread, fire come to life. Together with the heroes Tiltil and Mytil, viewers will go on a journey through a mysterious world. They will go “in a long line after the blue bird” - in search of happiness.
This search at the Moscow Art Theater has been going on for 108 years. The play was staged by Konstantin Stanislavsky in 1908, and since then it has been running unchanged with constant success. Now “The Blue Bird” is played by a new generation of Moscow Art Theater actors. There is no such old-timer in any theater in the world.
The fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich, the Gray Wolf and others”
Date: November 13
Time: 12:00–14:15
Place: Theater "Commonwealth of Taganka Actors", Zemlyanoy Val Street, building 76/21, building 1
Incredible adventures await young spectators of the play “Ivan Tsarevich, the Gray Wolf and Others” based on the work of Vladimir Maslov. At a crossroads, Ivan Tsarevich reads the warning inscriptions that are carved on the stone. Where to go? Of course, to where adventures and trials await, and as a reward for them - the love of Vasilisa the Beautiful.
The audience and characters on stage help the hero, although he does not always listen to their advice and acts in his own way, sometimes even the opposite. What will the prince be like? Will he become like the second Tsar, who loves rosy bagels? Or the third Tsar, who dispersed all his subjects? Or will he take after his father and see support in those who only want to sleep well and reap the fruits of others?
