Documents 

Mikhail Berkut's ability to tackle every subject from practical as well as an analytical point of view is always remarkable. Be it in his many publications, his excellent and lively Videos on Character and Historical Dance or his approach to choreography and to the many dance students he taught over decades, his refreshing spontaneity and his ultimate knowledge paired with an instinctive way, to make himself understood, are outstanding and are dictated by the rare determination, always to get to the roots of any specific subject within his enormous span of interests.|Therefore, it goes without saying that his newest publication, an extensive investigation of every possible aspect of the origin of mime and dance, covers this complex and far reaching subject matter with incredible detail, with a thorough knowledge of anthropology and all related facts and with the ability to come to fascinating conclusions. Encouraged as early as 1957 by his mentor and teacher Prof.Shatin A.V. at the Moscow Theatre Institute, this work is the culmination of his life long interest for ?the phylogenetic transformation of natural everyday movements, gestures and mimicry into the motions of body language and the performing arts?. His scientific mind created an overall structure of two parts: Natural Motion dealing with the Genesis of Communication and the Evolution of Mimetic Culture and Artificial Motion dealing with Sacred Ceremonies and Secular Events as well as Ritual Dance as a Key Social Activity. This allows him to confront the reader with the tiniest detail in an ingenious and logical order. Well illustrated and despite the nature of the subject matter easily accessible and based on the newest scientific evidence, this comprehensive work fills an important gap within the relevant literature. It is a must for all dance related organisations as well as for scientists in various fields.?|http://www.berkutdance.com/books.html

Jean Dorcy, dans À la rencontre de la mime fait cette remarque à propos des mimes blancs (Debureau, Séverin...): «Avec chaque interprète l'art disparaît.» C'est ainsi. Mais peut-on imaginer que la peinture s'arrête à la mort de Cézanne ou de Rembrandt? C'est à cette question que Daniel Dobbels répond ici; historiquement, philosophiquement, au fil de digressions autour de cet art du mime qui n'est pauvre qu'en apparence.

La réponse pratique nous est connue, il a fallu attendre Étienne Decroux, le père du mime moderne qui a formé Barrault, Marceau... Pour que les outils survivent au créateur et permettent l'efflorescence de l'art du mime, il a forgé une grammaire corporelle. Mais l'art de Decroux et Barrault qui illumine Les Enfants du Paradis est secret et rarement visible. [résumé de l'édtieur]

This book examines the way clown was transformed into a serious character in twentieth-century theater. Modernist theater practitioners recognized that clown's approach to performance is profoundly different from other modes of theatrical representation. The paradox of clown, a traditionally marginal, comic character thrust into center stage as the focus of the agon, provided a stimulating new way to renovate tragedy. Experiments with clown by Jean Cocteau, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Giorgio Strehler, Dario Fo, and Roberto Benigni are examined as a means of exploring how and why clown became, in contemporary theater and film, a character from whom audiences expect philosophizing, angst, or political criticism as much as physical comedy and fractured language.[editor summary]

Dossier "Arts du mime" sous la direction de Joëlle Garcia
Mode d'expression aux sources mêmes des arts de la scène, le mime connaît un spectaculaire renouvellement au XXe siècle. Ce dossier rappelle la démarche pionnière du mime Farina, évoque le rôle fondamental de Jacques Copeau et Charles Dullin, puis de l'enseignement des jeux dramatiques et des techniques d'improvisation, se penche sur la rencontre entre le mime Étienne Decroux, théoricien d'une grammaire fondamentale au développement des arts du geste, et le photographe Étienne Bertrand Weill. La présence de Marcel Marceau dans les collections du département des Arts du spectacle est tout particulièrement soulignée. Enfin trois praticiens, Peter Bu, Pascale Lecoq et Claire Heggen, témoignent de leur naissance au mime, de leur action, de leur rapport à la création, au silence et à la mémoire.