French mime performs in Beijing

2009-11-03 09:23 BJT

Silence is golden. And in this next story, it's silence that highlights the emotional power of the actor.

Renowned French mime Philippe Bizot brought his brand new play "Fragments of Esmeralda" to the Peng Hao Theater in downtown Beijing giving audiences much more than imaginary walls and invisible boxes.

Mime play "Fragments of Esmeralda" is adapted from Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame". Philippe Bizot plays four roles in the play including a 19th-century mime master, the famous hunchback, a clergyman, and a guardian.

Chinese dancer Man Li was cast as the Esmeralda.

With no props and no dialogue, the two performers simply use body movements, gestures, facial expression, and musical accompaniment, to deliver emotion and move the plot forward.

Philippe Bizot, mime actor, said, "Emotions are universal. It sees no national boundary. Our performance is like a mirror from which audience members can see their own emotions. Merriment, sorrow, and sadness, these belong to all people around the world."

No words means the audience has more freedom to release its imagination. And mime can touch to the deepest depths of the human heart.

Man Li, Chinese dancer, said, "I used to think that mime was a comical art. But through cooperation with Philippe Bizot in this performance, I know it's an art with great depth, using gestures and body movements that can be seen, to express abstract human feelings."

After the show, Bizot communicated with audience. He announced his plans to open a mime school in China, where the students will be mute and deaf people, and people with infantile autism.

Editor: Liu Fang | Source: CCTV.com