The Artist |
Well the unthinkable has happened – a French silent film has won best picture at the Oscars! You might think that as a voice coach I would be a bit peeved, but far from it, I’m delighted! I have always been fascinated by mime and when I was studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (many years ago….) I really enjoyed the mime sessions.
You may wonder why actors study mime? Well, an actor needs to be able to show every emotion on the face and in the body as well as in speech and they therefore study mime to quite a high level. I remember as a child being fascinated by a mime artist called Marcel Marceau who was frequently shown on TV doing his famous ‘Bip’ character sketches. He was French too so there is obviously something in the water over there.
Marcel Marceau |
Nowadays we don’t see mime so much in mainstream entertainment but it’s still there on the fringes if you look for it. I suppose the Cirque du Soleil employ it most successfully in their shows which have no words and therefore no barriers of country, language or religion. Have I seen ‘The Artist’ yet, you ask? NO! – the diary has not been helpful but with a bit of luck I’ll make it this weekend and I can’t wait!
February has been very busy with two open and six bespoke voice workshops for BT, National Grid, Notts & Manchester Councils. I also spoke for the Coventry Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Internal Communication plus two networking breakfasts.
Early in the month my speech and drama school celebrated its 40th anniversary with ‘Alice’s Adventures’ at the Concordia Theatre, Hinckley. We expect to have raised in excess of £9500 for the theatre which runs entirely by voluntary support. March begins with a pretty packed diary involving working 16 days without a break but mustn’t complain…
There won’t be any open workshops now until the autumn as I’ve got some traveling coming up but you’ll find all the details on my website here.
So get to see ‘The Artist’ if you can and see for yourself the power of mime. Mind you, use your voices too – it would be a strange world without them!
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