Mime artist
A performer who communicates stories or actions through gesture, facial expression, and bodily movement, often without spoken words.
Pantomime: A theatrical form that tells stories chiefly through gesture, movement, and facial expression. Mime artists draw on pantomime’s wordless storytelling, though the terms can describe different traditions.
Mime technique: A set of physical methods for representing actions, objects, and situations without speech. These methods turn empty space into an apparent world of objects and forces.
Ancient Greek mime: A form of ancient Greek popular performance featuring imitation, comic scenes, and sometimes speech. It is an early theatrical use of the word mime, distinct from modern silent performance.
Silent film: Motion pictures made before synchronized recorded dialogue became standard. Silent-film performers used expressive movement and gesture to communicate without spoken dialogue.
Dance: An art form that uses patterned bodily movement, often organized by rhythm and space. Mime prioritizes represented action and dramatic meaning, while dance commonly foregrounds movement’s form.
Gesture: A bodily movement that conveys meaning, intention, or emotion. Meaningful gestures are the basic signs mime artists arrange into actions and stories.
Pantomime wall: A mime illusion in which a performer appears to press against an invisible vertical surface. The fixed hand position and resistance make an absent wall seem solid.
Jean-Gaspard Deburau: A nineteenth-century French mime performer known for developing the Pierrot character at the Théâtre des Funambules. His Pierrot helped establish a lasting image of the white-faced, silent stage mime.
Street performance: Live performance presented in public spaces for passersby and gathered audiences. Mime artists can use open spaces and immediate audience response as their stage.
Physical theatre: Theatre in which performers use the body as a primary means of expression. Physical theatre is broader than mime and may combine movement with speech and other media.