Mime and pantomime are a Greek and Roman dramatic entertainment representing scenes from life, often in a ridiculous manner. By extension, the mime and pantomime have come to be in modern times the art of portraying a character or a story solely using body movement (as by realistic and symbolic gestures). Analogous forms of traditional non-Western theatre are sometimes also characterized as mime or pantomime.
due to their ability to portray emotion, experience, and thought through the body and transcend cultural barriers, mime and pantomime have remained significant in the art sector. Although often sued synonymously, these two have differences.
What is Mime
Many people associate mime with French culture. However, mime is an ancient art that dates back to the early Greeks and Romans. Contemporary mime, evolving from the 1811 artistry of Paris acrobat Jean-Gaspard Baptiste Deburau and the ancient Greeks before him, is a theatrical medium or performance art that involves acting out a story through body motions, without the use of speech.
Mime is a form of silent art that involves acting or communicating using only movements, gestures, and facial expressions.
Some masters in the ancient tradition include Charlie Chaplin and Ben Turpin who were silent film mimes and television entertainers. The practice was, however, perfected in France, where mime flourished. It became so popular that mime schools were established throughout France, and a great tradition of French mimes soon followed with the likes of Jean-Louis Barrault, Etienne Decroux, and Marcel Marceau.
What is Pantomime (in the UK)
Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the UK and other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year seasons. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy, and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humor with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable, or folk tale. A pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th-century commedia dell’arte tradition of Italy and other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques and music halls.
Outside Britain, the word “pantomime” is often understood to mean miming, rather than the theatrical form.
What is Pantomime (Rest of the World)
Pantomime has come to be in modern times the art of portraying a character or a story solely employing body movement (as by realistic and symbolic gestures). Analogous forms of traditional non-Western theatre are sometimes also characterized as pantomime.
Usually, the two terms of “Mime” and “Pantomime” are used as syllables, where “Pantomime” refers to the older, more ancient Roman style of the craft and “Mime” refers to the newer French style of it.
There are some differences between the two.
Difference Between Mime and Pantomime
The Oriental style of pantomime is something that today will be on the border of “not being a mime at all”. It is very elaborate and includes the use of wigs, detailed makeup, props, and music. Usually, it involves the portray of characters familiar to the audience and may include exciting gymnastic movements.
The classic Roman pantomime differed from mime in two ways: its themes were usually loftier, and, unlike the mime actor, the pantomime wore various masks, which identified his characters but deprived him of speech and the use of facial expressions. Thus his art was primarily one of posture and gesture, in which hand movements were particularly expressive and important.
The pantomime, dressed like a tragic actor in a cloak and long tunic, usually performed solo, accompanied by an orchestra that included cymbals and other rhythm instruments, flutes, pipes, and trumpets.
Art similar to mime was first recorded as an art form called “hypotheses” in ancient Greece. The ancient actors wore masks and performed stories of everyday life for the audience, sometimes by the thousands. Roman and Greek pantomimes also integrated dance into their performances.
While mime mostly uses one artist, pantomime can involve a larger group of performers. Also, while mime act focuses on the use of imaginary objects and the artist’s body as an expression of an idea, pantomime focuses more on showing recognizable actions as opposed to showing a specific theme (which is closer to the literal school of mime).
Mime and Pantomime – Summary
Mime and Pantomime usually refer to the same thing, as the speaker does not know the minor differences between the art forms. in the UK, the term “Pantomime” sometimes refers to a different type of stage performance.
While both are the act of portraying different theoretical movements and situations in silence, mime focuses on the use of imaginary objects and the artist’s body as an expression of an idea, and pantomime refers to the art of using the same things to create a realistic illusion of reality. It focuses more on showing recognizable actions as opposed to showing a specific theme. In both, however, actors show emotion through body movements.